Subhadra Kumari Chauhan, born in 1904 in Allahabad, grew up in a zamindar household that upheld untouchability. Even as a child, she challenged this by helping domestic workers with their chores and condemning caste discrimination.

At 15, she married Lakshman Singh Chauhan - a fellow social reformer - and courageously discarded the ghoonghat (veil), despite traditional family backlash. Already a published poet, she wrote her first poem at age nine and went on to write nearly 100 poems and 50 stories, tackling themes like caste bias, dowry, and gender inequality.

Her most famous poem, “Jhansi Ki Rani”, contains the immortal line: “Khoob ladi mardani, woh toh Jhansi wali Rani thi”, becoming a fearless call to action in the freedom struggle.

She joined the Non-Cooperation Movement in 1921, becoming the first woman Satyagrahi to be arrested in Nagpur in 1923 while pregnant. In 1942, during the Quit India Movement, she was arrested again but continued her resistance even as she managed her household alone. Post-independence, she was elected to the Central Provinces' Legislative Assembly. Tragically, she died in a car accident in 1948 at just 44.

Subhadra’s legacy - of poetic brilliance and social courage - remains a vibrant yet under-recognised chapter of India’s freedom struggle.