Durga Puja Special: Stree Shakti: Sarojini Naidu

Today is Maha Ashtami, the most auspicious day in the Durga Puja festival. As we pray to Maa Durga (the symbol of Stree Shakti) – I pay my homage to another Bengali braveheart as part of my Stree Shakti series.

Today I am going to talk about Sarojini Naidu (born Sarojini Chattopadhyay).

Sarojini Naidu (nee Chattopadhyay)

Sarojini Chattopadhyay Naidu was born on 13th February 1879. She was born in a Bengali family in Hyderabad where her father was a principal in Nizam’s college. She was well-read and well educated having passed out from the University of Madras and later finished her higher studies at Cambridge University.

She joined the Indian Independence movement in wake of the Bengal partition in 1905. She joined Gandhiji’s Satyagraha movement and later went onto become the first Indian woman to become the president of the Indian National Congress in 1925. She was arrested by the British for participating in the Salt March.

Later she played significant roles in the Civil Disobedience Movement and the Quit India movement and was subsequently arrested and jailed for 21 months.

Following India’s Independence, she was appointed as the Governor of Uttar Pradesh making her India’s first woman Governor. She remained in office till her death on 2nd March 1949.

She was a writer and a poet and some of her writings are, The Golden Threshold, The bird of time & The broken wing.

Her work as a poet earned her the name, “The Nightingale of India” by Mahatma Gandhi. Rabindranath Tagore called her “Bharat Kokila”.

Let’s salute this Great Lady who played a significant role in getting us independence from British rule.

Stay Safe Everyone. 

May Maa Durga bless us all.

The final Part of this Seven Part Series will release tomorrow where we will discuss another firebrand Bengali lady who left an indelible mark in Indian history. 

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