Sarojini Varadappan (21 September 1921 − 17 October 2013) was an Indian social worker from the state of Tamil Nadu. She was the daughter of former Chief Minister of Madras, M. Bhaktavatsalam.

Early life

Sarojini was born in Madras on 21 September 1921 to Bhaktavatsalam and Gnanasundarambal. Her father Bhaktavatsalam was a student at the

Madras Law college Dr. Ambedkar Government Law College, commonly known by its former name Madras Law College, is a law school, located in Chennai (Madras), Tamil Nadu, India. It is also referred to as Government Law College or GLC, Chennai. It was established in ...

when she was born. She studied till ninth standard at Lady Sivaswami Girls School when her education was discontinued. She studied

Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

through private home tuitions and completed her Visharadh. As her family objected to her travelling to an exam center to write her exams, her Prathmic exams were conducted at home. In her later years, she explained that her education was curtailed due to the conservativeness of her family. She was associated with the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...

and the Congress Seva Dal during her early days. At an early age, she was married to her cousin Varadappan. Sarojini was 21 years old when her father was arrested at the height of the Quit India Movement. After two years of imprisonment, he was released in 1944. Sarojini resumed her studies after marriage and completed her Master's in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

from

Mysore University The University of Mysore is a public state university in Mysore, Karnataka, India. The university was founded during the reign of Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV, the Maharaja of Mysore. The university is recognised by the University Grants Commission ...

through correspondence. She also did her MA in

Vaishnavism Vaishnavism ( sa, वैष्णवसम्प्रदायः, Vaiṣṇavasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu denominations along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. It is also called Vishnuism since it considers Vishnu as the ...

from

Madras University The University of Madras (informally known as Madras University) is a public state university in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and among the most prestigious universities in India, incorporated by an a ...

. Sarojini got her PhD at the age of 80 for her thesis on "Social Service and the Swami Narayan Movement". Sarojini is also an ardent devotee of the

Paramacharya Jagadguru Shri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati Mahaswamigal (born Swaminathan Sharma; 20 May 1894 – 8 January 1994) also known as the Sage of Kanchi or Mahaperiyavar (meaning, "The great elder") was the 68th Jagadguru Shankaracharya of the Kanch ...

Kanchi Kanchipuram ('; ) also known as ''Conjeevaram,'' is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu in the Tondaimandalam region, from Chennaithe capital of Tamil Nadu. Known as the ''City of Thousand Temples'', Kanchipuram is known for its templ ...

, Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi. Her niece Mrs.

Jayanthi Natarajan Jayanthi Natarajan (born 7 June 1954) is an Indian lawyer and politician. She was a member of the Indian National Congress and has been thrice elected Member of Parliament representing the state of Tamil Nadu in the Rajya Sabha. From July 2011 ...

was a minister in the central cabinet. She died on 17 October 2013, at the age of 92.

Music

Sarojini learnt music from Parur Sundaram Iyer and sung prayer songs at Congress meetings. She also learnt Kshetragna padams and Tamil padams from Mylapore Gowri Amma, Bharatiyar songs from E. Krishna Iyer and Hindi bhajans from Veena Visalakshi.

Social activities

Sarojini was involved in social activities ever since her early days. Her mother Gnanasundarambal was associated with the Women's India Association (WIA) and Sarojini joined the organisation at an early age. Sarojini also served as the President of the WIA. Under her leadership, the number of branches of the organisation increased from four to 76. Sarojini is also the president of the

Mylapore Mylapore, also spelt Mayilapur, is a neighbourhood in the central part of the city of Chennai, India. It is one of the oldest residential parts of the city. It is also called Tirumayilai. The locality is claimed to be the birthplace of the cel ...

Academy. Sarojini has been a member of the Indian

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and ...

Society for over 35 years. When

Marri Chenna Reddy Dr. Marri Channa Reddy (13 January 1919 – 2 December 1996) was an Indian politician active in several states. He was the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh from 1978 to 1980 and from 1989 to 1990. He also served as the governor of Uttar Pradesh ...

was the

Governor of Tamil Nadu The governor of Tamil Nadu is the head of state of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The governors have similar powers and functions at the state level as those of the president of India at central level. They exist in the state appointed by t ...

, she was appointed President of the society. This was contrary to the usual practice of requesting the Governor's wife to preside over the society. When contacted, Channa Reddy's wife had declined the request due to her lack of proficiency in Tamil and instead asked Sarojini to preside over the organisation. She served as the chairperson of Central Social Welfare Board of Government of India from 1973-1977. In 1987, Government of India appointed the High Power Committee on Nursing and Nursing Profession with Sarojini Varadappan as its chairperson to review the roles, functions, status, preparation of the Nursing Personnel, nursing services and other issues related to the development of Nursing profession and to make suitable recommendation to the Government. The committee submitted its report in 1989.

Honours

Sarojini was awarded India's fourth highest civilian award, the

Padma Shri Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conf ...

in 1973. She was awarded the Jankidevi Bajaj award for 2004 at a function in Chennai held on 23 February 2005. The same year, she received

Jamnalal Bajaj Award Jamnalal Bajaj Award is an Indian award, for promoting Gandhian values, community service and social development. Established in 1978, by the Jamnalal Bajaj Foundation of Bajaj Group, it is given annually in four categories, and usually presente ...

from the Jamnalal Bajaj Foundation. In 2009, Sarojini was awarded India's third highest civilian award, the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

for

social service Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. They may be provided by individuals, private and independent organisations, or administ ...

. On 5 March 2009, she was honoured at a function in Chennai. She was selected

Sheriff of Madras The Sheriff of Madras was an apolitical titular position of authority bestowed for one year on a prominent citizen of Madras. The post was abolished in 1998. The position of Sheriff of Madras was created in the Madras Charter of 1726 which came ...

for 1983.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Varadappan, Sarojini 1921 births 2013 deaths Recipients of the Padma Shri in social work Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in social work Tamil activists Social workers University of Mysore alumni Red Cross personnel Indian women activists University of Madras alumni 20th-century Indian educators Indian political scientists Women political scientists 20th-century Indian women scientists 20th-century Indian social scientists Women scientists from Tamil Nadu Activists from Tamil Nadu Indian women scholars Sheriffs of Madras Scholars from Chennai Social workers from Tamil Nadu Women educators from Tamil Nadu Educators from Tamil Nadu 20th-century women educators