Kamala Das was an Indian poet and author from Kerala who wrote in Malayalam and English. She published her first book of poetry in English in 1965 which brought her international recognition. Das wrote poetry, short stories, novels and an autobiography where she was notable for her frank depictions of themes like feminism and sexuality. Later in life, she converted to Islam and remained a prolific writer publishing over 20 books until her death in 2009.

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

8. ● She had also held positions as vice chairperson in Kerala 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

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.