Sarala Debi Chaudhurani: a poignant personality of Bengal renaissance

 An exceptional woman who performed multifaceted roles of a social activist, female educationist, writer and singer, Sarala Devi Chaudhurani was acclaimed as the founder of the first women's organisation in India – The Bharat Stree Mahamandal. Due to her towering personality she is often referred to as ‘Bengal’s Joan of Arc’.

Being born to a renowned Bengali family in 1872, Sarala Devi’s talents and leadership skills were nurtured in her formative years. Her father Janakinath Ghosal was the secretary of the Bengal Congress and a prolific writer while her mother, Swarnakumari Devi was a successful woman novelist of Bengali literature. From her maternal side, she was the granddaughter of Debendranath Tagore and the niece of Rabindranath Tagore. She spent a significant part of her growing years at Jorasankho as her father was pursuing his legal studies at England. Samir Sengupta writes in his book ‘Rabindranather Attiyo Sojon’ that Sarala Devi got opportunities to interract with several noted leaders of the freedom movement at Jorasankho, which helped shape her thoughts and perceptions. Swami Vivekananda opined that Sarala Devi had received perfect education which should be embodied by all women. Swamiji urged her to travel overseas to represent the cause of rights and freedoms for women in the subcontinent, however, why she did not undertake such a venture is unknown.

Sarala Devi overcame societal obstacles regarding women pursuing higher education and went on to obtain her Bachelor’s degree in English from the erstwhile Calcutta University. While answering the history paper at the Entrance exam she sturdily protested against Macaulay’s attempt to underestimate Bengali people. This made both her teachers and family members aware of her personality. Not only was she awarded the highest marks by examiner N. Ghosh but was also showered with praises. She was a student of Bethune College pursuing English Honours and was the recipient of the prestigious Padmavati Gold Medal for her excellence and was proficient in Persian, French, and Sanskrit. She is said to have attended classes conducted at the Science Association by physician Mahendralal Sarkar, accompanied by her brothers, as women attending such scientific meets was frowned upon by the society at that time. After her graduation, she worked as an assistant superintendent at the Maharani Girls School, Mysore. Later she founded The Bharat Stree Shiksa Sadan – a school for girls in 1930.

An active participant of the freedom movement, Sarala Devi imbibed patriotism amongst fellow natives by writing and singing songs. She composed the music of Bande Mataram, only the music of the first two lines being done by Tagore himself. Her rendition of the song at Banaras Congress Session despite the British Government’s ban on it was quite a sensation. It was while staging her songs that she met Gandhi in 1901, who accepted her hospitality in later years as well. This association was often viewed as controversial by the society. However, Sarala Devi supported Gandhi in all his political activities and even entered in marital association between her only son Deeepak and Radha, the granddaughter of Gandhi. She also took part in the Swadeshi Movement and is also believed to have launched an underground revolutionary group. In 1904, she opened a shop called “Lakhir Bhandar” in the Bowbazar neighbourhood of Calcutta that sold only Swadeshi products. Contrastingly, she was also deeply influenced by Subhash Chandra Bose’s political views of achieving freedom only through violence against the British. She travelled extensively over undivided India speaking openly at national conferences.

Married at the age of 33 years to lawyer and journalist Pandit Rambhuj Dutt Chaudhary, a member of the Indian National Congress, Sarala Devi assisted her husband editing in an Urdu weekly newspaper named Hindustan and also started an English edition of the paper. She and her husband vehemently spoke against the Jallianwalla Bagh Massacre resulting in the arrest of the later. After marriage, she continued with her revolutionary work in Punjab and opened organisations for women such as “Widhwa Shilpashram”, where widows were given education and vocational skills. The Bharat Stree Mahamandal aimed at women empowerment irrespective of their caste, societal status and religion. After its inception at Allahabad, this organisation spread out to Lahore, Hazaribagh, Delhi, Karachi, Kanpur, Calcutta, Hyderabad, Amritsar, Bankura and Midnapur.

Sarala Devi inherited her mother’s passion for music and was deeply inspired by the bard himself. She was trained in eastern vocals from an early age and had a foreign tutor to impart lessons in western vocals and piano recitals. She composed the music of verses penned by Tagore from the tender age of twelve. She composed about 40 songs each having a distinct flavour. Her composition was sung at various occasions to commemorate the achievements of Sir A.J.C. Bose. She rendered music to the Rig Veda sloka ‘Sangachhadhwam Samvadadhwam’ at the request of Nehru which was sung as chorus at the Indian National Congress, Allahabad session. Her musical brilliance received immense appreciation not only from Rabindranath Tagore but Maharshi Debendranath Tagore as well. In her book of songs called Satagan the compilation of lyrics and notations composed by Raja Rammohan Roy, Dwijendranath, Satyendranath, Jyotirindranath, Rabindranath Tagore, Soudamini, Swarnakumari Devi, Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay, Gobindo Das and others can be found. She organised several musical recitals and dance dramas. ‘Mayar Khela’ was staged for the first time by the students of Bethune College in the year 1883 under her direction.

Sarala Devi edited various magazines including Bharati, founded by Tagore. She started the practise of giving remuneration to the writers of the magazine and was monumental for recognising the narrative brilliance of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay. She also translated the works of Sister Nivedita and Gandhi.  Some of her notable publications include Nababarsher Svapna, Banalir Pitradhan and her autobiography Jibaner Jharapata. She also authored a book titled Ahitagnika for school students to generate awareness concerning the freedom struggle. She was a passionate believer of courage, adventure, physical strength, protest of misdeeds and service to others and initiated the Birashtami Utsav (Festival of Heroes), on the second day of Durga Puja. This was marked by commemorating and worshipping heroic men.

She retired from public life in 1935 and indulged in religious pursuits, accepting Bijoy Krishna Goswami as her spiritual teacher. Sarala Devi died on 18^th August 1945 leaving a poignant mark on freedom movement and renaissance of Bengal. To her goes the credit of collection and preservation of notations despite several odds till her last days and thus enriched the treasure trove of Bengali music.  In her memoir, revolutionary Bina Das mentions a public address delivered by Sarala Devi as alumna of Bethune College. At the Albert Hall, students of Bethune College and Presidency College gathered and were felicitated for their courage in protesting against the Simon Commission along with forcing the expulsion of the college principal who opposed it. At this gathering, Sarala Devi said in a public address: “My place today is by the side of students. I am proud to have been a student at Bethune College.”

 Published in Bethune College Magazine 2021

References:

Bethune School and College Centenary Volume, 1849-1949

Chitra Deb- Thakurbarir andormahal

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