Speech on Sarojini Naidu
“To quench my longing, I bent me low. By the streams of the spirits of Peace that flow. In that magical wood in the land of sleep.”
With these phrases from the Nightingale of India, I would like to start my speech on Sarojini Naidu.
Sarojini Naidu was born in 13th Feb 1879. She was an Indian political activist & poet. She was an essential figure in the struggle for freedom from colonial rule. She was also actively involved in civil rights, women’s emancipation.
Sarojini Naidu was born to a Bengali family in Hyderabad. Her father was Aghorenath Chattopadhyay, who was principal of Nizam’s College in Hyderabad. Her mother, Barada Sundari Devi Chattopadhyay, was a poet & used to write poetry in Bengali. She was the eldest of all eight siblings.
Her family was well regarded in Hyderabad. Sarojini Naidu passes her matriculation from the University of Madras & then took a four-year break from studies. Later she was offered to study in England first at King’s College, London and later at Girton College, Cambridge.
She married Paidipati Govindarajulu Naidu at the age of 19. It was an inter-state marriage approved by both the families as Sarojini was from Bengal & Paidipati was from Andhra Pradesh.
Sarojini was into writing since the age of 12. She wrote a play Maher Muneer which impressed the Nizam of Hyderabad. In 1905, her first collection of the poem was published, which is named as “The Golden Threshold”.
“The Bird of Times” is another poem collection which was published in 1912. For her work in poetry, she was given the title of “The Nightingale”.
Sarojini joined the Indian Independence movement in 1905. Soon she met other leaders like Krishna Gokhale, Rabindranath Tagore & Mahatma Gandhi & was inspired by their work & determination.
She joined the movement in the wake of the partition of Bengal. She travelled to different parts of India to make people aware of Nationalism, social welfare by delivering speech between 1915-1918.
Later in 1917, she was also accompanied by her colleague Annie Basant. She also helped to establish the Women’s Indian Association in 1917. In 1925 she also presided over the annual session of Indian National Congress in Kanpur.
Naidu also presided over East African Indian Congress 1929 session in South Africa. She was the one who got arrested with other congress leaders for participating in the salt march. She headed the Civil Disobedience & Quit India Movement as a leader from the front.
She also spent around 21 months in jail due to repetitive arrest by the Britishers. After the independence of India she was appointed as Governor of Uttar Pradesh & she served the position till his death in March 1949.
Naidu died of a cardiac arrest in Lucknow at the age of 70. She was a lady full of energy, intellectual, sweet, courageous, with a charming personality.
She was a great leader as well as a speaker with humour & emotions. She was a leading face of the freedom fighters. She will always be remembered in history for her great doing for India.
Thank You.
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