151. Sarojini Naidu

Sarojini Naidu was born as the eldest daughter of a scientist-philosopher father, Aghornath Chattopadhyaya, and mother Varasundari, who was a Bengali Poetess, on 13 February, 1879. Her father was a pioneer in education, a linguist and an original thinker. He established the Nizam’s college in Hyderabad in 1878, pioneering English and women’s education. She was bought up in a house of intellectuals, poets, philosophers and revolutionaries. She claims that she was bought up in a home of Indians, not Hindus or Brahmins.

She passed Matriculation at the age of 12, and came out first in Madras Presidency. Young Sarojini was a very bright girl. Her father wanted her to become a mathematician or a scientist. But she loved poetry from a very early age. With her father’s support, she wrote a play called “Maher Muneer” in the Persian language. The Nawab of Hyderabad reading a copy of it sent by Sarojini’s father was impressed by the beautiful play written by the young girl. The college gave her a scholarship to study abroad. At the age of 16, she got admitted to King’s College of England.

At the age of 15, she met Dr. Govindarajulu Naidu and fell in love with him. He was from South India. After finishing her studies at the age of 19, she married him during the time when inter-caste marriages were not allowed. Her marriage was a very happy one. They were married by the Brahmo Marriage Act (1872), in Madras in 1898. They had four children. Their house in Hyderabad is the renowned Golden Threshold.
In 1916, she met Mahatma Gandhi and from then on she totally contributed herself to the fight for freedom. The independence of India became the heart and soul of her work.

She was responsible for awakening the women of India. She re-established self-esteem within the women of India. In Hyderabad she was awarded the Kaiser-I-Hind Gold Medal for her outstanding work during the plague epidemic. In 1925, she became the Chairperson to the summit of congress in Kanpur. She went to USA in 1928 with the message of the non-violence. In 1929 she presided over the East Africa Indian Congress in Mombassa, and gave lectures all over South East Africa. In 1942, she was arrested during the “Quit India” protest and stayed in jail for 21 months with Gandhiji.