Google today released a striking doodle to honour the life and achievements of Subhadra Kumari Chauhan, a trailblazing writer and freedom fighter whose work rose to national prominence during a male-dominated era of literature.
On the occasion of the Indian activist and author’s 117th birth anniversary, the doodle recreated the iconic image of the trailblazer, sitting with a pen and paper, in a saree. The doodle is created by New Zealand-based guest artist Prabha Mallya.
Her evocative nationalist poem “Jhansi ki Rani” is widely regarded as one of the most recited poems in Hindi literature.
On this day in 1904, Subhadra Kumari Chauhan was born in the Indian village of Nihalpur. 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.
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. 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. She continued to make revolutionary statements in the fight for freedom both on and off the page into the 1940s, publishing a total of 88 poems and 46 short stories.
