THE GIFT OF INDIA: SUMMARY-507 WORDS

The following poem, "The Gift Of India" by Sarojini Naidu, tries to evoke a sense of pride as well as laments over the martyrs and the sacrifices of the sons of the Indian Soil. The poet tries to give us a picture of the multiple sacrifices that the soldier had to go through in order to break free from the struggles of attaining an ethnic, cultural and political autonomy put forth by the British during that Era.
The poetess tries to address a certain kind of hegemony that is clearly pictured in the poem. The very binary created by the British as that of being superior and inferior, shows the way the Indians demean and look at themselves through the eyes of the Britishers as to how they are. Through immoral methods, they projected themselves as rulers and deceived any legitimate rights that India as a country could uphold as a whole.

There is an element of Identity that the poetess mentions in the poem which evokes a sense of belongingness towards her nations, where she compares the insignificant loss through the ruthless killings of the Indian warriors who as such were bound by duty. This, thus, shows the feelings of being proud in bring called one's own.
The poetess also mentions herself to have flung to 'East' and 'West' where priceless treasures were taken away from her. Showing in a sense the negative impact that colonization bought forth, thus proving that the Britishers were attracted to only the material wealth that the country had to offer.
She also expresses her sorrow, for the invaluable gift of many lives of the soldiers can never be bought back.

The poetess further moves on to mention the various wars such as that of the Persian, Egyptian and France, where the Indian soldiers were sent to fight at the mercy of the British. She compared the lives of the dead to the pearls strewn in abandon along the waves, touching on the element of ambivalence. It portrays how the Britisher's mindset of the Indian soldiers being low appeals to them, for them to loose their lives in a foreign land.

The poetess is here also proud of her ethnicity where the expression of happiness as well as sadness is shown. Happiness because the nation finally attains freedom from the Britishers, and the element of sadness, attained due to the expense of the lives.
She questions the readers to measure the tears of grief that surpasses the despair in her heart and the hope that comforts the anguish of the prayer.
She says that though she sees a bloody future and a bloody flag wavering, there is pride that makes attaining this independence worth. She tries to enforce the construct of nation by offering her love and appreciation to the martyr that fought and died and addresses to them the fact that their sacrifices can never be forgotten. Their names in history, will be engraved with an indelible ink made of their own blood, which will speak volumes about their greatness.