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Prof. Nitesh Solanki Towards Excellence ISSN No. 0974-035X An Indexed, Refereed & Peer Reviewed Journal of Higher Education Towards Excellence UGC-HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT CENTRE, GUJARAT UNIVERSITY, AHMEDABAD, INDIA INDIANNESS IN SELECT WRITINGS OF TORU DUTT AND SAROJINI NAIDU Prof. Nitesh Solanki Toru Dutt (1856-77) Toru Dutt, or Thorulata Dutt, was born on March 4, 1856 in Calcutta. She belonged to a very respectable and gifted family. Her father, Govind Chandra Dutt, was a poet himself. Toru was the youngest of three children, all short-lived like herself. Toru’s father devoted his personal attention to her education. She attended schools in France, Italy and England and also took a course of lectures at Cambridge. Naturally, she was acquainted with the culture of the West. Her literary works, in English and French, reveal a striking back-ground of her wide European learning. Toru learnt many languages. She was proficient in Bengali, English, French and Sanskrit. She left behind an impressive collection of prose and poetry. Her two novels, the unfinished Bianca or The Young Spanish Maiden written in English and Le Journal de Mademoiselle d’Arvers, written in French, were based outside India with non-Indian protagonists. A Sheaf Gleaned in French Fields was published in 1876 without preface or introduction. When Toru’s collection of Sanskrit translations Ancient Ballads and Legends of Hindustan was published posthumously in 1882, Edmund Gosse wrote an introductory memoir for it. In this he wrote of Toru: "She brought with her from Europe a store of knowledge that would have sufficed to make an English or French girl seem learned, but which in her case was simply miraculous." In Ancient Ballads and Legends of Hindustan, Toru has effectively endeavoured to interpret the spirit of the East to the West. The treatment in her poems of the simple and DEC, 2016. VOL.8. ISSUE NO. 3 www.ascgujarat.org Page | 18 Towards Excellence: An Indexed Refereed Journal of Higher Education / Prof. Nitesh Solanki / Page 18-23 universal passions of humanity, in the garb of tales from Hindu mythology is extraordinary and enriching. In her Savitri, Toru has praised the great heroine of Hindu mythology. If Savitri is the ideal wife, in the pathetic tale of Sindhu, there is the ideal son. She ahs beautifully narrated other Hindu mythological male characters as Buttoo (a true shishya of Drona), Lakshman (an ideal brother), Prehlad (a boy-devotee), and female characters as Sita and Uma. Toru’s poetry is essentially of her race and her country. The sketches of Indian life and scenery are as faithful as they are vivid and poetic. Though Toru pursued most of her academics in foreign land, her love for Indian themes, scenery and characters can be seen quite clearly from her works. A fine example of the people stirring out early in the day in an Indian village can be seen below: “A ragged herd-boy, here and there, With his long stick and naked feet; A ploughman wending to his care, The field from which he hopes the wheat; An early traveller hurrying fast To the next town; an urchin slow Bound for the school.” And here a sunset on an Indian lake: “Upon the glassy surface fell The last beams of the day, Like fiery darts, that lengthening swell, As breezes wake and play.” or “And softly, softly, hour by hour Light faded and a veil Fell over tree, and wave, and flower, On came the twilight pale.” It is the Champak and the Lotus and the Kokil, that inspire her song and the atmosphere is always Indian in every poetic detail. There are occasionally within this short compass, vivid sketches of Indian social life and reflections on social problems. DEC, 2016. VOL.8. ISSUE NO. 3 www.ascgujarat.org Page | 19 Towards Excellence: An Indexed Refereed Journal of Higher Education / Prof. Nitesh Solanki / Page 18-23 In 1873 Toru and her sister Aru returned to their beloved home in Calcutta, where the four remaining years of Toru's life were passed. During those four years, Toru Dutt endured an enormous tragedy. In July, 1874, her beloved sister Aru died at the age of twenty. It had been their cherished project to publish an anonymous novel, which Toru was to write and Aru, who possessed a striking talent for design, was to illustrate. Toru began the novel—Le Journal de Mademoiselle d'Arvers—before leaving Europe, but Aru died without having seen a page of it. Toru also died before it was published. Sarojini Naidu (1879-1949) Sarojini Naidu was born on 13 February, 1879 in Hyderabad to a well to do Bengali Hindu Brahmin family. Her father, Aghorenath Chattopadhyay, was a teacher. Her mother, Varada Sundari Debi, was a famous singer. Sarojini struggled a lot for her health since childhood. Aghorenath established the Nizam college in Hyderabad, an important institution in English and female education. Sarojini passed the matriculation examinations at the age of twelve in 1891. Between 1892 and 1895, she read widely English poetry and also composed some English poems. She arduously studied English literature and profoundly studied mathematics. When she was 12 years old, she got admission to the university. At a very young age, Sarojini fell in love with Dr. Govind Naidu, a young doctor. Her parents did not give her permission to marry as Govind belonged to the lower caste. She suffered physically a lot throughout her life. Sarojini left India when she was just 16. With the scholarship aid from the Nizam of Madras, Sarojini went to England to pursue education. Her favourite belief was: “Human strength lies in infinite knowledge”. Because of her father Sarojini had a superb command of English language at a young age. In England, Sarojini went to King’s College in London and then to Girton College, Cambridge. She passionately studied English literature, especially the works of Byron, Shelley, Wordsworth, Keats, Tennyson and Swinburne. Due to her ill health due to cold climate in England, Sarojini could not complete any course for a degree. On her return to India, Sarojini married to Dr. Govind Naidu. They had four children in next four years. The famous poet and critic, Edmund Gosse, was a key figure in Sarojini’s life. Gosse observed her exceptional talent and motivated her to write poetry related to Indian themes. She DEC, 2016. VOL.8. ISSUE NO. 3 www.ascgujarat.org Page | 20 Towards Excellence: An Indexed Refereed Journal of Higher Education / Prof. Nitesh Solanki / Page 18-23 readily took the counsel and a real poet in her emerged. She started depicting everything Indian and revealing her soul. Love became the inspiration in her poems. Sarojini remarked about herself: “I have come so near life that its fires have burnt me”. Her connection with life can be observed beautifully in her collections, The Golden Threshold, The Bird of Time and The Broken Wing. These poems are the gems of Indian literature. The Golden Threshold was published in 1905 and was received well by the readers instantly. Her poems had a humanitarian touch. Sarojini has beautifully picturized the Indian woman mourning after her husband’s death in a poem ‘Suttee’: “Life of my life, Death’s bitter sword Hath served us like a broken word, Rent us in twain who are but one... Shall the flesh survive when the soul is gone?” (Pg. 18- The Sceptred Flute) After the immense success from first collection of her poems, Sarojini Naidu was affectionately called “The Nightingale of India”. Next appeared the collection of poems, The Bird of Time in 1912. The religiously-mystical views related to traditional Hinduism have been depicted in these poems. “Life is a prism of My light, And Death: the shadow of My face”. (Cited from K R S Iyenger’s, Indian Writing in English, p.-182) Next collection appeared was The Broken Wing, published in 1917. Maternal love is described nicely in the poem “To My Children”, “In the Night”, “At Dawn” and “The Lullaby”. The poem, “Awake!”, reveals her feelings of patriotism: “Waken, O mother! thy children implore thee, Who kneel in thy presence to serve and adore thee!” Sarojini’s poems are beautiful folklore songs showing ancient Indian tradition. Except the earlier poems, most of her later poems have the national traits. DEC, 2016. VOL.8. ISSUE NO. 3 www.ascgujarat.org Page | 21 Towards Excellence: An Indexed Refereed Journal of Higher Education / Prof. Nitesh Solanki / Page 18-23 Another landmark figure in Sarojini Naidu’s life was Mahatma Gandhi. She was highly influenced by his views and ideals. She dedicated a poem “The Lotus” to him. Sarojini compares him with the unfading flower lotus: “O Mystic Lotus, sacred and sublime, In myriad-petalled grace inviolate...” Sarojini then started having complete faith in Gandhism. She involved herself sincerely in the independence movement of India. She started believing that she should compose the poems in her mother tongue. But she was not fluent in her mother tongue. Agitating, addressing meetings, courting imprisonment and going to jail, meant sacrificing her poetry. (A K Mehrotra, 2003). Sarojini stopped writing poetry at the age of just 38 and she died when she was 70. For Sarojini, love for the country was more vital than her poetic talent. Many still lament that the great poet in her was sacrificed at the alter of politics and feminism. A posthumous collection of her later poems was published under the title Feather of the Dawn. She passed away on 2 March 1949 in Lucknow. D. C. Sharma called her “The Goddess of inspired word”. Sarwapalli Radhakrishnan gave her fitting tribute in the following words: “Sarojini was the most outstanding Indian woman of her generation.
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