Sarojini Naidu | The Existential List #2
For most of my life, I’ve known this excerpt from the poem ‘Life’ by Sarojini Naidu:
Children, ye have not lived, ye but exist
Till some resistless hour shall rise and move
Your hearts to wake and hunger after love,
And thirst with passionate longing for the things
That burn your brows with blood-red sufferings.
Till ye have battled with great grief and fears,
And borne the conflict of dream-shattering years,
Wounded with fierce desire and worn with strife,
Children, ye have not lived: for this is life.
This excerpt was part of my elementary school curriculum. It was quite a shock to my little system to go from the nice simple nursery rhymes of the first couple of years of school to…this. To make matters worse, it was taught by a stern teacher who was quick to anger and carried a well-used cane in her hand at all times. Naturally, the poem came across as ominous, scolding and pessimistic. I didn't really like it.
Decades later, I stumbled across this video of Sarojini Naidu speaking. She was brilliant; radiating hope, vitality and optimism in a dark colonial age. This wasn’t the stern, chiding figure I had been primed to expect. Instantly, I went down a rabbit-hole of learning about this extraordinary woman and her beautiful, powerful life.
Naidu was born on February 13, 1879, in Hyderabad, India, during the rule of the British Crown. She was a prodigy who mastered several languages and started writing poems from a young age. Although she had the option to lead a cushy life as a full-time member of the international literati, she joined the country’s struggle for independence.
During her lifetime, Naidu was arrested and imprisoned many times for her involvement and leadership in civil disobedience campaigns against colonial rule. At one point, she was imprisoned for almost two years. She used her time in prison to compose more poems, correspond with other leaders of the independence movement and boost the morale of her fellow prisoners. Despite the immense suffering she went through, she remained steadfast in her dedication to her country’s freedom, the empowerment of women and the awakening of a shared spirit of existential purpose.
This was someone who gave up so many of her personal dreams to help secure the freedom for others to dream. A human who not just found the meaning in life’s trials, but used her formidable literary talents to share it far and wide. A master of both worlds: actions and words.
The more I learned about her life, the more I understood her poem ‘Life’. I saw it in a completely new light. It was the heartfelt, loving message of an existential guide telling us to choose courage over despair. It’s about facing life with both grit and grace. It's about finding the center of strength within yourself to bear conflict, and allowing yourself to grow rather than be crushed. It's about accepting the sorrows along with the joys and living despite it all.
It's about living even more because of it all.
So, when we face our own “blood-red sufferings” and “dream-shattering years”, let’s remember Ms. Naidu’s actions and words, and use them to strengthen our resolve to live beautifully.
Love,
Yepi
P.S. My new YouTube Video just dropped. It’s on Dune’s philosophy of technology and human purpose. You can watch it right here.