The Mahatma and The Poetess

A selection of letters exchanged between Gandhiji and Sarojini Naidu


The Mahatma and The Poetess

THE MAHATMA AND THE POETESS

Compiled by : E. S. Reddy
Edited by : Mrinalini Sarabhai


Table of Contents

  1. Gandhiji To Sarojini Naidu Feb 23, 1915
  2. Sarojini Naidu To Gandhiji Mar 6, 1915
  3. Gandhiji To Sarojini Naidu May 4, 1915
  4. Gandhiji To Sarojini Naidu Sep 20, 1918
  5. Gandhiji To Sarojini Naidu Nov 18, 1918
  6. Sarojini Naidu To Gandhiji Jun 14, 1919
  7. Sarojini Naidu To Gandhiji Jul 17, 1919
  8. Cable from Gandhiji To Sarojini Naidu and others Jul 28, 1919
  9. Sarojini Naidu To Gandhiji Nov 6, 1919 (extract)
  10. Sarojini Naidu To Gandhiji [before Mar 17,] 1920
  11. Sarojini Naidu To Gandhiji Jul 15, 1920
  12. Correspondence Between Mr. E. S. Montagu and Sarojini Naidu
  13. Sarojini Naidu To Gandhiji September 2, 1920
  14. Sarojini Naidu To Gandhiji Feb 13, 1924
  15. Sarojini Naidu To Gandhiji Feb 29, 1924
  16. Cable from Gandhiji To Sarojini Naidu Mar 1924
  17. Sarojini Naidu To Gandhiji before May 15, 1924 (extract)
  18. Sarojini Naidu To Gandhiji before Jul 2, 1924 (extract)
  19. Telegram from Sarojini Naidu To Gandhiji Aug 4, 1924
  20. Telegram from Gandhiji To Sarojini Naidu Aug 4, 1924
  21. Telegram from Sarojini Naidu To Gandhiji Aug 11, 1924
  22. Telegram from Gandhiji To Sarojini Naidu [on or after Aug 12,] 1924
  23. Gandhiji To Sarojini Naidu Mar 2, 1925
  24. Gandhiji To Sarojini Naidu May 30, 1925
  25. Telegram from Gandhiji To Sarojini Naidu Jun 17, 1925
  26. Gandhiji To Sarojini Naidu Jul 6, 1925
  27. Sarojini Naidu To Gandhiji Nov 26, 1925
  28. Postcard from Gandhiji To Sarojini Naidu Dec 2, 1925
  29. Gandhiji To Sarojini Naidu Dec 20, 1925
  30. Gandhiji To Sarojini Naidu Mar 9, 1926
  31. Gandhiji To Sarojini Naidu Mar 11, 1926
  32. Gandhiji To Sarojini Naidu Mar 24, 1926
  33. Gandhiji To Sarojini Naidu Apr 11, 1926
  34. Sarojini Naidu To Gandhiji Jul 20, 1926
  35. Gandhiji To Sarojini Naidu Jun 25, 1927
  36. Gandhiji To Sarojini Naidu Jul 1, 1927
  37. Telegram from Sarojini Naidu To Gandhiji Aug 6, 1927
  38. Telegram from Gandhiji To Sarojini Naidu [on or after Aug 6,] 1927
  39. Gandhiji To Sarojini Naidu Apr 16, 1928
  40. Sarojini Naidu To Gandhiji Aug 7, 1928
  41. Sarojini Naidu To Gandhiji Sep 2, 1928
  42. Sarojini Naidu To Gandhiji Sep 17, 1928
  43. Gandhiji To Sarojini Naidu Oct 12, 1928
  44. Sarojini Naidu To Gandhiji Nov 19, 1928
  45. Sarojini Naidu To Gandhiji Dec 16, 1928
  46. Sarojini Naidu To Gandhiji Feb 11, 1929
  47. Sarojini Naidu To Gandhiji [before Apr 11,] 1929
  48. Sarojini Naidu To Gandhiji Jun 18, 1929
  49. Gandhiji To Sarojini Naidu Jul 21, 1929
  50. Gandhiji To Sarojini Naidu Aug 7, 1929
  51. Sarojini Naidu To Gandhiji Nov 9, 1929
  52. Telegram from Gandhiji To Sarojini Naidu Nov 14, 1929
  53. Cable from Gandhiji To Sarojini Naidu Dec 5, 1929
  54. Gandhiji To Sarojini Naidu Apr 16, 1930
  55. Gandhiji To Sarojini Naidu May 6, 1932
  56. Gandhiji To Sarojini Naidu Aug 8, 1932
  57. Gandhiji To Sarojini Naidu Sep 17, 1932
  58. Gandhiji To Sarojini Naidu Feb 22, 1934
  59. Sarojini Naidu To Gandhiji [before Aug 17,] 1934
  60. Gandhiji To Sarojini Naidu Nov 26, 1938
  61. Gandhiji To Sarojini Naidu Feb 12, 1940
  62. Gandhiji To Sarojini Naidu Apr 18, 1941
  63. Gandhiji To Sarojini Naidu Jul 18, 1941
  64. Gandhiji To Sarojini Naidu Jul 18, 1941
  65. Gandhiji To Sarojini Naidu Aug 4, 1941
  66. Gandhiji To Sarojini Naidu Sep 22, 1941
  67. Gandhiji To Sarojini Naidu Jun 13, 1942
  68. Pyarelal and Sushila Nayyar To Sarojini Naidu Jul 6, 1942
  69. Gandhiji To Sarojini Naidu Jul 17, 1944
  70. Gandhiji To Sarojini Naidu Aug 20, 1944
  71. Gandhiji To Sarojini Naidu Mar 3, 1945
  72. Gandhiji To Sarojini Naidu Apr 12, 1945
  73. Pyarelal To Sarojini Naidu May 25, 1945
  74. Gandhiji To Sarojini Naidu Jun 9, 1945
  75. Gandhiji To Sarojini Naidu Jun 16, 1945
  76. Telegram from Gandhiji To Sarojini Naidu Feb 15, 1946
  77. Gandhiji To Sarojini Naidu Jul 30, 1946
  78. Sarojini Naidu To Gandhiji Dec 26, 1946
  79. Gandhiji To Sarojini Naidu Oct 7, 1947

APPENDIX I

  1. Speech at Reception to Gandhiji in London, August 4, 1914
  2. Foreword To A Collection of Gandhiji's Speeches, 1917
  3. "My Father, Do Not Rest": Broadcast on the All India Radio, Delhi, February 1, 1948
  4. Foreword to Mahatma Gandhi, by H.S.L. Polak and others, 1949

APPENDIX II

  1. Comment on April 11, 1918
  2. Sarojini the Singer, 1924
  3. A Call to India's Poetess, 1928
  4. Foreign Propaganda and Sarojini Devi, 1928

About This Book


The Mahatma and the Poetess

Compiled by :E. S. Reddy
Editor : Mrinalini Sarabhai
Volume Published by :
Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan,
Mumbai,


Introduction

Sarojini Naidu, the daughter of Aghorenath Chattopadhyaya, was born on February 13th, 1879. She described her father as a great dreamer and alchemist. "The makers of gold are the makers of verse, they are the twin creators that sway the world's secret desire for mystery and what in my father is the genius of curiosity ..... is in me the desire for beauty." As a leading political figure in India's freedom movement, an orator of distinction, a fighter for women's rights, she still sang her way through life with joyful laughter. With passionate fervour she fought for the freedom of her country and for Hindu-Muslim unity. She was a superb ambassador of Gandhiji and the Indian national movement in her travels at crucial times to East and South Africa, Britain and the United States. Mahatma Gandhi whom she called 'The high priest or honoured guru' of the Satyagraha movement must have been glad of her clear thinking, her integrity and her sense of humour which he shared. As he once said, 'I would love to find that my future army contained a vast preponderance of women over men'.
The great depth of friendship, respect and affection between the Mahatma and his devoted disciple, a unique and rare relationship, is brought alive and meaningful in their letters- revealing a side of the great personality that perhaps very few people knew - the Mahatma who writes "Dear Mother, Singer, Guardian of My Soul" and then chides her gently for asking him not to fast. There was a marvelous rapport between them, based on a deep understanding of each other.
In a deeply moving letter to Sarojini on the eve of his fast against the communal award in 1932,he wrote :

"It may be that this is my last letter to you.
I have always known and treasured your love. I think that I understood you when
I first saw you and heard you at the Criterion (in London) in 1914. If I die
I shall die in the faith that comrades like you, with whom God has blessed me, will continue the work of the country which is also fully the work of humanity in the same spirit in which it was begun."

And in the same letter he conveyed two of is most deeply-felt convictions which deserve our constant and complete attention.
"If Hinduism is to live, untouchability must die."
"If the interests of country are to be one with those of humanity, if the good of the one faith is to be the good of all faiths, it will come only by the strictest adherence to truth and non-violence in thought, world and deed." 
For me as a child whenever she visited our home, always dressed in bright South Indian sarees, a flower in her hair, talking and laughing with my mother, it was as though a rainbow lit by the sunlight entered the room. It is a privilege to be able to present her correspondence with Gandhiji to the public.
It is sad that much of the correspondence between Sarojini Naidu and Gandhiji has not been preserved. And the text here has several ellipses where words could not be transcribed from the old letters. Yet I trust this collection will shed new light not only on the relationship between two great children of India, but also on their vision and their dedication and most of all on their love for the country and its people for which they made great sacrifices.

Mrinalini Sarabhai
Chidambaram,
Ahmedabad
Deepavali
October 30, 1997