Page 160 - DENG105_ELECTIVE_ENGLISH_II

Unit 12: Indian Weavers by Sarojini Naidu

President of the Congress Notes

In 1925, Sarojini Naidu presided over the annual session of Indian National Congress at
Kanpur. In 1929, she presided over East African Indian Congress in South Africa. She was
awarded the Hind a Kesari medal by the British government for her work during the plague
epidemic in India. In 1931, she participated in the Round Table Conference with Gandhiji and
Madan Mohan Malaviya. Sarojini Naidu played a leading role during the Civil Disobedience
Movement and was jailed along with Gandhiji and other leaders. In 1942, Sarojini Naidu was
arrested during the “Quit India” movement and was jailed for 21 months with Gandhiji. She
shared a very warm relationship with Gandhiji and used to call him “Mickey Mouse”.
Literary career
Sarojini Naidu began writing at the age of 12. Her play, Maher Muneer, impressed the Nawab
of Hyderabad. In 1905, her collection of poems, named “The Broken Exes” was published. Her
poems were admired by many prominent Indian politicians like Gopal Krishna Gokhale and
Jawaharlal Nehru .
Marriage
During her stay in England, Sarojini met Dr. Govindarajulu Naidu, a non-Brahmin and a
doctor by profession, and fell in love with him. After finishing her studies at the age of 19,
she got married to him during the time when inter-caste marriages were not allowed. Her
father approved the marriage and her marriage was a very happy one.
The couple had five children. Jayasurya, Padmaja, Randheer, Nilawar and Leelamani. Her
daughter Padmaja followed in to her footprints and became the Governor of West Bengal. In
1961, she published a collection of poems entitled The Feather of The Dawn.

12.2 Indian Weavers

WEAVERS, weaving at break of day,
Why do you weave a garment so gay?...
Blue as the wing of a halcyon wild,
We weave the robes of a new-born child.

Weavers, weaving at fall of night,
Why do you weave a garment so bright?...
Like the plumes of a peacock, purple and green,
We weave the marriage-veils of a queen.

Weavers, weaving solemn and still,
What do you weave in the moonlight chill?...
White as a feather and white as a cloud,
We weave a dead man’s funeral shroud.

Stanza 1
Weavers, weaving at break of day ………. a new-born child.
Have you ever noticed the colours we choose for a new born baby’s clothes? Why do you
think we choose these colours? In the first stanza the poet, Sarojini Naidu describes weavers
weaving cloth in the early morning. She asks the weavers why they are weaving a cloth of a

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