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Google doodles for Sarojini Naidu's 135th birthday

February 13, 2014 11:31 IST
Google India's homepage on February 13 features a doodle of Sarojini Naidu

The Nightingale of India's 135th birthday is celebrated with a doodle on Google's home page today.

On February 13, Google India visitors who logged on to site were treated to a colourful doodle of Sarojini Naidu .

In a perfect tribute to the freedom fighter who was also a distinguished poet and artist, the doodle features an illustrated portrait of Naidu and a pen replacing the Google logo.

Born on February 13, 1879 in Hyderabad, Naidu's maiden name is Sarojini Chattopadhyaya.

She was 19 when she married Dr Govindarajulu Naidu and came to be known as Sarojini Naidu.

After the partition of Bengal in 1905, while still in her twenties, she participated in the Indian Independence struggle.

During the Quit India movement in 1942, the British arrested her.

Naidu has the distinction of being the first Indian woman to become the president of the Indian National Congress besides being the first woman to become governor of Uttar Pradesh.

A talented poet and artist, Naidu has published several poems essaying the glory of Indian art and culture.

Some of her best known works include The Golden Threshold (1905), The Bird of Time (1912), The Broken Wing (1917), The Sceptred Flute: Songs of India (1943) and The Feather of the Dawn (1961) among others.

On March 2, 1949, a year and half after India won its independence Sarojini Naidu breathed her last. She died of cardiac arrest.

The Google India homepage has in the past honoured Indian personalities like late singer Jagjit Singh and noted physicist late Dr CV Raman.