Biography
Subhadra Kumari Chauhan was an Indian poetess distinguished Indian poetess, whose compositions used to be very emotionally charged. Her most well-known composition is Jhansi Ki Rani narrating the life of the brave Jhansi Ki Rani, Lakshmi Bai. Of the entire Hindi literature, it is this poem that's most recited and sung by the people of India. The government of India has named an Indian coast guard ship in her remembrance.
Early Life and Marrige
Born in 1904 at Nihalpur village in Allahabad District in Uttar Pradesh. Her father's name was Dileep Chauhan. She initially studied in the Crosthwaite Girls? School in Allahabad and passed the middle-school examination in 1919. After her marriage to Thakur Lakshman Singh Chauhan of Khandwa in the same year, she moved to Jabalpur.
Career
Subhadra Kumari Chauhan joined the famous Non-Cooperation Movement launched by Mahatma Gandhi in 1921 and became the very first woman Satyagrahi to court arrest in Nagpur. She was jailed twice for her involvement in protests against the British rule in 1923 and 1942.
Writing Career
She has authored a number of popular works in Hindi poetry. Her most famous composition is Jhansi Ki Rani, an emotionally charged poem describing the life of Rani Lakshmi Bai. The poem is one of the most recited and sung poems in Hindi literature. This and her other poems, Veeron Ka Kaisa Ho Basant, Rakhi Ki Chunauti and Vida, openly talk about the freedom movement. They are said to have inspired great numbers of Indian youth to participate in the Indian Freedom Movement. Here is the opening stanza of Jhansi ki Rani:
"The thrones shook and royalties scowled
Old India was re-invigorated with new youth
People realised the value of lost freedom
Everybody was determined to throw the foreigners out
The old sword glistened again in 1857
This story we heard from the mouths of Bundel bards
Like a man she fought, she was the Queen of Jhansi"
Subhadra Kumari Chauhan wrote in the Khariboli dialect of Hindi, in a simple, clear style. Apart from heroic poems, she also wrote poems for children. She wrote some short stories based on the life of the middle class too.
Death
She died in February 15, 1948 in a car accident near kalbodi (in Seoni,MP). An Indian Coast Guard ship has been named after her. A Statue of Subhadra Kumari Chauhan has been installed by the M.P Govt.in front of the Municipal Corporation office of Jabalpur. ..
