Mahadevi Varma: The activist, poet Google Doodle is celebrating today

NEW DELHI: Google on Friday honoured Jnanpith awardee Mahadevi Varma's 'fight for the nation’s freedom and her contribution to the Indian neo-romantic poetry movement' with a doodle.

Born on March 26, 1907, the freedom fighter, women's rights activist, and Hindi poet received the Jnanpith Award on this date in 1982 for her 'outstanding contributions to Indian literature'.

Designed by Sonali Zohra, the doodle shows the poet penning her thoughts into verses under a tree by the field on a breezy afternoon.


Early drafts of the doodle.

Growing up in Farukhabad, near Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh, Varma was encouraged by her parents to pursue her education at Crossthwaite Girls' School. However, it was Varma's mother who inspired her to write in Sanskrit and Hindi.

In her biography 'Mere Bachpan Ke Din', Varma credits her parents and says that at a time when a girl child was considered a burden upon the family, she was very fortunate to be born into a liberal family.

But it was only during her graduation that Varma's first poem was discovered by her roommate, Subhadra Kumari Chauhan - a well-known poet herself.

She went on to be known as 'modern Meera' for ushering in the era of romanticism in Hindi literature. She is also considered one of the foundational poets of the Chhayavad movement.

A firm supporter of women’s rights, which reflected in her work, Varma also explored the topics of tradition and the past with great fondness, Google said in its blog post.