Biography of Kamala Das

India English Literature (Post-Independence)

1. Prepared by Daya Vaghani(Sem-III) Department of English (M.K.Bhavnagar University) Biography of Kamala Das Indian English Literature-Post Independence

2. Kamala Das Kamala Surayya formely known as kamala das and also Known as Madhavikutty . She was an Indian poet and literature And at a same time a leading Malayalam Author from kerala.

3. Early Life Kamala das was born in Punnayurkulam, Thrissur district in kerala , on 31 march 1934, to V.M. Nair a former managing editor and 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 Like her mother, Balamani Amma, she also excelled in writing

4. She started writing and publishing both in English and Malayalam. At the age of 15 she got married to bank officer Madhava Das, who encouraged her writings interests. It was a tumultuous time for the arts, and kamala das was one of the Many voices that came up and started rising of the Indian English Poets.

5. Literary Career Das was noted for her many Malayam short stories as well as many poems written in English. She was also a syndicated colmnist. 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.

6. Das first book of poetry, summer in calcutta was a Breath of fresh air in Indian English poetry. At the age of 42, she published a daring autobiography, My story and then she admitted that much of the autobiography had fictional elements. Das wrote about a range of topics from the story of poor old servant or about the sexual disposition of upper middle class women living near a metropolitan city or in the middle of ghetto . Her works are known for their originality, Versatility and the indigenous flavor of the soil.

7. Her poem “My mother at sixty- six” is an excellent example of showing an ever unfalling relationship between a daughter and her mother. Some of her better known stories include Pakshiyude , Manam, Neypayasam, thanuppu and Chandana Marangal. In her novels Neermathalam pootha kalam was a populared one. She travelled extensively to read poetry to Germany University of Duisburg , University of Bonn and Adelaide writer’s festival, Frankfurt book fair, University of kingdom, Jamaica, Singapore and her works are also available in French, Spanish, Russian German and Japanese.

8. She had also held positions as vice chairperson in Keral a Sahitya Acadamey and in Kerala Forestry Board president of the Kerala Children’s flim society, Poetry editor of illustrated Weekly of India. Das reflected her social concern in such short stories as “Padmavati the Harlot” in 1992 and “A Doll for the Child Prostitute” in 1997 In 2009 The Times called her “the mother of modern English Indian poetry”.

9. A prolific writer wrote more than 20 books. short stories and poems as well as six novels and three memoirs. In her later years, she also wrote a syndicated newspaper column, in which she held forth with typical unguardedness. Her topics ranged from religion to politics to the beauty secrets of Nair women. She did not feel compelled to stay on the topic and never shied away from announcing a change of mind or heart. Das's spontaneity often translated into whimsicality and earned the ire of critics, but it allowed her to explore the paradoxes of life and relationships with emotional honesty emotional honesty.

10. Conversion of Islam She was born in a conservative Hindu Nair family Having a royal ancestry and on December 11, 1999 at the age of 65 Das converted to Islam. Kamala Das changed her name as Kamala Surayya

11. Social activist AP Mohammad claims wider International conspiracy behind conversion of Malayalam writer Kamala Das to Islam

12. After converting, she wrote: "Life has changed for me since Nov. 14 when a young man named Sadiq Ali walked in to meet me. He is 38 and has a beautiful smile. Afterwards he began to woo me on the phone from Abu Dhabi and Dubai, reciting Urdu couplets and telling me of what he would do to me after our marriage. I took my nurse Mini and went to his place in my car. I stayed with him for three days. There was a sunlit river, some trees, and a lot of laughter. He asked me to become a Muslim which I did on my return home." (- Merrily Weisbord)

13. Merrily Weisbord She was a longtime friend of Canadian writer Merrily Weisbord who published a memoir of their friendship, The Love Queen of Malabar, in 2010.

14. Politics She launched a national political party, Lok Seva Party aiming asylum to orphaned mothers and Promotions of secularism. In 1984 she unsuccessfully contested in the Indian parliament elections.

15. Award and Recognition Nominated and shortlisted for Nobel Prize for Literature in 1984. Award of Asian PEN anthology – 1964 Kerala Sahitya Academy Award – 1969 (for Cold) Sahitya Academy Award – 1985 Asian Poetry Prize – 1998 Kent Award for English Writing from Asian Countries – 1999 Vayalar Award – 2001 Honorary D.Litt by University of Calicut – 2006 Muttathu Varkey Award – 2006 Ezhuthachan Puraskaram – 2009

16. References Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Kamala Das". Encyclopedia Britannica, 27 May. 2021, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Kamala-Das. Accessed 9 October 2021. Britannica, The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia. "Kamala Das". Encyclopedia Britannica, 15 Oct. 2021, https://www.britannica.com/facts/Kamala-Das. Accessed 15 October 2021. Shahnaz, Habib. “Kamala Das.” The Guardian , 2009, www.theguardian.com/world/2009/jun/18/obituary-kamala-das . Sharmila Sreekumar. “‘I Too Call Myself I’: Madhavikutty-Kamala Das and the Intransitive Autobiography.” Feminist Studies , vol. 44, no. 1, Feminist Studies, Inc., 2018, pp. 70–94, https://doi.org/10.15767/feministstudies.44.1.0070 . Thomas, A. J. “Remembering Madhavikkutty.” Indian Literature , vol. 53, no. 3 (251), Sahitya Akad Weisbord, Merrily. The Love Queen of Malabar: Memoir of a Friendship with Kamala Das. McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2010, http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt7zrbj.emi , 2009, pp. 56–63, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23340306 .