Sarojini’s Being Fascinated to the Diversity of Indian Culture and Religion:
Sarojini Naidu was fascinated by the diversity of Indian religious and cultural milieu. She tried to understand each of them with sympathy. Hinduism was, naturally, the dominant influence on spiritual evolution. In reading her poems, one feels again and again that only a Hindu could have written them. Her speeches and poems show familiarity with the epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata, the Puranic myths, and the legends of Radha and Krishna. She describes Hindu festivals, marriage rites, temples and image of gods and goddesses.
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| Fusion of Hindu-Muslim Culture in Sarojini Naidu's Poetry |
Her Interest in Other Religions:
But she was also deeply interested in other religions too. Her feeling for Buddhism can be gauged from her poem, "To a Buddha Seated on a Lotus," however, it was Islam more than any other religion, which exerted a special influence upon her. Her childhood was passed in Hyderabad, which had a way of life, art and culture, evolved both by Hindus and Muslims through centuries. Thus, her native town represented the synthesis which she maintained in her poetry. One of her poems is addressed to the Hussain Sagar which is called by her: “O lake, O living image of my soul.” One of her most delicate pictures is that of Hyderabad by Musi river in the night: the speckled sky burns “like a pigeon's throat jeweled with embers of opal".
Her Composing Poetry on Persian Legends and Mughal History:
Apart from her special attraction for the life, culture and atmosphere of Hyderabad, Sarojini has written poems based on Persian legends, on episodes from Mughal history, and on the life of ordinary Muslim men and women. The Song of Princess Zabunnissa, Humayun to Zubeda, The Old Woman and The Song of the Wandering Beggars are relevant examples. Another of her poems on a Muslim theme commemorates the martyrdom of Ali, Hassan and Hussain. On the day of Moharram, the Shias of Lucknow go to the Imam Bara and recall this tragic episode in the story of Islam. They march through the streets, grief stricken, weeping and wailing to the accompaniment of the referent: Ali! Hassan! Hussain!
“Slow in a sad procession
The shadowy pageants pass...
Hark, from the brooding silence
Breaks the wild cry of pain
Wrung from the heart of the ages
Ali! Hassan! Hussain!”
In "The Power of Islam", Allah is addressed by ten different names—in the first stanza, as “Ya Hameed! Ya Hafeez!" Lord of the labouring wind and seas; in the second as, “Ya Ghani! Ya Ghaffar!" "Whose name is known from star to star"; in the third as Ya Wahab! Ya Waheed! "Life of the sunbeam and the seed”; in the fourth as "Ya Qadeer! Ya Qavi" who transmutes weakness into power and bondage into liberty. In the concluding stanza the worshipper says:
“We are the shadows of Thy light,
We are the secrets of Thy might,
The vision of Thy primal dream,
Ya Rahman! Ya Raheem!”
Her Deep Feelings in Islamic Culture and Religion:
This poem, written on the day of Id-ul-Zuha, shows Sarojini's deep feeling not only for Islamic culture but also for the purely religious aspect of Islam. Some other poems dealing with Islam and Muslim theme are The Queen's Rival, The Pardah Nashin; A Persian Love Song, The Imam Bara, A Song from Shiraz and The Prayer of Islam. In a poem entitled An Indian Love Song, a Muslim lover woos a Hindu maid and says:
“What are the sins of my race, Beloved, what are my people to thee?
And what are thy shrine, and in and kindred,
What are thy gods to me?
Love recks not of feuds and bitter follies, of stronger, comrade or kin,
Alike in his ear sound the temple bells and the cry of the muezzin.
For Love shall cancel the ancient wrong and conquer the ancient rage.
Redeem with his tears the memoried sorrow that sullied a bygone age.”
Thus, it is true that the poems of Sarojini Naidu reflect beautifully the synthesis of Hindu-Muslim culture; they reflect rather a secular attitude.