Sarojini Naidu was born Sarojini Chattopadhyay in Hyderabad on February 13, 1879. She was the eldest sibling of a comparatively large family that was educated in England. She passed her matriculation at the tender age of 12 from the then Madras University. Her early life was full of struggle. She fell on love with Dr. Govinduraju Naidu who was not a Brahmin as she was. This led to opposition from both side. She was thus sent to England for her studies much against her will. She remained in England till 1898, studying first at King's College, London and then at Girton. She returned to Hyderabad in September 1898 and married Dr. Naidu.
[[वर्ग:बंगाली कवी|नायडू, सरोजिनी]]
Though she went England much against her will but it was here that her poetic soul got liberated. It was here only that she met Arthur Simons, a poet and critic. The struck chord in the very first meeting and kept on corresponding even after her return to India. Simons persuaded her to publish some of her poems. She published her first collection of poems in 1905 under the title "Golden Threshold". The book sold like hot cakes both among natives as well as among the Indian Diasporas. Riding on the success, she published two other collections of poems namely "The Bird of Time" and "The Broken Wings". In 1918, " Feast of Youth" was published. Later, "The Magic Tree", "The Wizard Mask" and "A Treasury of Poems" were published. It is said that people of such caliber as Rabindra Nath Tagore and Jawaharlal Nehru were among the thousands of admirers of her work. Her works were characterized by their contents that were though English in wording, had an Indian soul.
Then in 1916, she met Mahatma Gandhi, and she totally directed her energy to the fight for freedom. The independence of India became the heart and soul of her work and most of her poems that were composed during that period reflected hope and aspirations of common Indians who were marred by slavery. She was responsible for awakening the women of India. She brought them out of the kitchen and was successful in reestablishing self-esteem, among the women in India. In 1925, she chaired the summit of Congress in Kanpur. And in 1930, when Gandhi Ji was arrested for a protest, she took the helms of his movement. In 1931, she participated in the Round Table Summit, along with Gandhi Ji. In 1942, she was arrested during the "Quit India" protest and stayed in jail for 21 months. After independence she became the Governor of Uttar Pradesh. She was the first woman governor. She passed away on March 2, 1949.
