Subhadra Kumari Chauhan was an Indian freedom fighter and poet who is recognized as the first woman 'Satyagrahi' of the country. Chauhan was born on August 16, 1904 in Nihalpur village in Uttar Pradesh's Allahabad, now Prayagraj.
Chauhan's poetry and prose primarily centered around the hardships that Indian women overcame, such as gender and caste discrimination. Her poetry remained uniquely underscored by her resolute nationalism.
As part of her contribution to the freedom struggle, Chauhan continued to make revolutionary statements on and off the page and she published a total of 88 poems and 46 short stories.
Last year in August, Google marked the 117th birth anniversary of Chauhan with a striking doodle on its homepage.
Illustrated by New Zealand-based artist Prabha Mallya, the doodle showed Chauhan dressed in a saree and sitting with a pen and paper. The background depicts a scene from her poem 'Jhansi ki Rani', one of the most iconic poems in Hindi literature, on one side and freedom fighters on the other.
In a statement, Google described Chauhan as a "trailblazing writer and freedom fighter" who "rose to national prominence during a male-dominated era of literature".
"In 1923, Chauhan's unyielding activism led her to become the first woman satyagrahi, a member of the Indian collective of nonviolent anti-colonialists, to be arrested in the struggle for national liberation," the internet search giant said.
"She was known to write constantly, even in the horse cart on the way to school, and her first poem was published at just nine years old. The call for Indian independence reached its height during her early adulthood. As a participant in the Indian Nationalist Movement, she used her poetry to call others to fight for their nation's sovereignty," Google said.
Today, Chauhan's poetry remains a staple in many Indian classrooms as a symbol of historical progress, encouraging future generations to stand up against social injustice and celebrate the words that shaped a nation's history.
The biography of Subhadra Kumari Chauhan, 'Mila Tej Se Tej', was written by her daughter, Sudha Chauhan.
On Chauhan's death anniversary, let's take a look at some of the most powerful lines from her iconic poems.
Jhansi wali Rani thi
Lakshmi thi ya Durga thi woh swayan veerta ki avatar,
dekh Marathey pulkit hotey uski talwaron key vaar,
nakli yudh-vyuh ki rachna aur khelna khub shikar,
sainya gherna, durg todna yeh they uskey preeya khilwad.
Maharashtra-kul-devi uski bhi aaradhya Bhavani thi,
Bundeley Harbolon key munh hamney suni kahani thi,
Khoob ladi mardani woh to Jhansi wali Rani thi.
Jallianwala Bagh mein Vasant
In ‘Jallianwala Bagh mein Vasant’, she explains how time and the cycle of seasons never stop, no matter how bad the tragedy. There had been thousand of men and women, children and elderly who fell helplessly to bullets or were left with no option and jumped into the well when they found all exits blocked on that unfortunate day. However, the spring will still revisit and nightingales will sing again. So Chauhan urges rituraj vasant or spring itself in this poem, to teach the upcoming season of colors on the decorum it must follow in a place of unabated mourning that Jallianwala Bagh had become.
Komal balak mere yaha goli khaa-khakar
kaliyaan unke like girana thodi laakar
aashao se bhare hriday bhi chhin hue hai
Apne priya pariwar, desh se bhinn hue hue hai.
These and her other poems, Veeron Ka Kaisa Ho Basant, Rakhi Ki Chunauti, and Vida, openly talk about the freedom movement. They are said to have inspired great numbers of Indian youth to participate in the Indian Freedom Movement.
Veero Ka Kaisa Basant
Bhushan athva kavi chand nahi
bijli bhar de vah chhand nahi
hai Kamal bandhi swachhandh nahi
fir hume bataye kaun?
Hant-veero ka kaiso ho basant
Rakhi Ki Chunauti
Mujhe garv hai kintu raakhi suni hai
vah hota, khushi to kya hoti na dooni?
hum mangal manaave, vah tapta hai dhooni
hey ghayal hriyad, dard uthta hai khuni
aate ho bhai? punha puchhti hu-
ki mata k bandhan ki hai laaj tumko
to bandi bano, dekho bandhan hai kaisa,
chunauti yeh raakhi ki hai aaj tumko
Vida
Apne kaale avgunthan ko
rajni aaj hatana mat
jala chuki ho nabh mein jo
ye deekap inhe bujhana mat
Aao aaj vikalte!
jag ki pidiyaein nyaari-nyaari
mere aakul praan jala do,
aao tum baari baar
Jyoti nasht kar do naino ki,
lakh na saku unka jana
fir mere nishthur se kahna,
kar le ve bhi manmana