Kamala Das

Kamala Suraiyya, aka Madhavikutty, (31 March 1934 – 31 May 2009) was an India writer who wrote in English and Malayalam, her native language. A poet, short-story writer and memoirist, Das was known for her open discussion of women’s sexual and romantic lives.

Early Life

Kamala Das was born in Punnayurkulam, Thrissur District in Kerala, to V. M. Nair, a former managing editor of the widely-circulated Malayalam daily Mathrubhumi, and Nalappatt Balamani Amma, a renowned Malayali poetess. She spent her childhood between Calcutta, where her father was employed as a senior officer in the Walford Transport Company that sold Bentley and Rolls Royce automobiles, and the Nalappatt ancestral home in Punnayurkulam, south Malabar. region.

Writing Career

Das began to write after her marriage. In addition to writing Malayalam short stories and poems written in English. Das was also a syndicated columnist. She once claimed that “poetry does not sell in this country [India]”, but her forthright columns, which sounded off on everything from women’s issues and child care to politics, were popular.

Das wrote about a range of topics from the story of poor old servant (Punnayoorkulam) or about the sexual disposition of upper middle class women living near a metropolitan city or in the middle of the ghetto. Some of her better-known stories include Pakshiyude Manam, Neypayasam, Thanuppu, and Chandana Marangal.

Memoir – ‘My Story’ (1976)

“My Story,” the most famous of her memoirs was written in English and published in 1976. In it Das recounts her childhood in an artistic but emotionally distant family; her unfulfilling arranged marriage to an older man shortly before her 16th birthday; the emotional breakdowns and suicidal thoughts that punctuated her years as a young wife and mother; her husband’s apparent homosexuality; and the deep undercurrent of sexual and romantic yearning that ran through most of her married life.

Originally serialized in an Indian journal, “My Story” is organized into 50 fragmentary chapters. In a detached, dreamlike voice, Das tells of her husband’s brutish sexual inadequacy and her own lifetime of desire, often unrequited but sometimes consummated in affairs with other men and occasionally with women.

Public Life – Politics, Feminism and Religion

For decades a public figure in India, Ms. Das by many accounts embraced both controversy and contradiction. Championed by feminists for writing about women’s oppression, she declined to be identified as a feminist herself. She ran unsuccessfully for a seat in India’s Parliament in 1984 but later turned away from political life. Born to a prominent Hindu family, she converted to Islam in 1999, renaming herself Kamala Suraiya. Highly publicized, her conversion drew criticism, for a diverse array of reasons, from Hindus, Muslims and feminists.

Prizes

Kamala Das has received many awards for her literary contribution including:

• Asian Poetry Prize
• Kent Award for English Writing from Asian Countries
• Asan World Prize
• Ezhuthachan Award
• Sahitya Academy Award
• Vayalar Award
• Kerala Sahitya Academy Award
• Muttathu Varkey Award

References

• The NY Times (2009), “Kamala Das, Indian Poet and Memoirist, Dies at 75”
• Wikihoidap Wikipedia, “Kamala Surayya”