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Kamala Surayya

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.

Like her mother, Kamala Das also excelled in writing. Her love of poetry began at an early age through the influence of her great uncle, Nalappatt Narayana Menon, a prominent writer. However, she did not start writing professionally until she got married and became a mother.

Career

Kamala wished to begin writing, her husband supported her decision to augment the family’s income. She would often wait until nightfall after her family had gone to sleep and would write until morning: “There was only the kitchen table where I would cut vegetables, and after all the plates and things were cleared, I would sit there and start typing”.[citation needed] This rigorous schedule took its toll upon her health.

She was noted for her many Malayalam short stories as well as many 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.

Writing

English

Das’ first book, Summer In Calcutta was a promising start. She wrote chiefly of love, its betrayal, and the consequent anguish. Ms. Das abandoned the certainties offered by an archaic, and somewhat sterile, aestheticism for an independence of mind and body at a time when Indian women poets were still expected to write about fantasies of eternal, bloodless, unrequited love.[citation needed]

At the age of 42, she published her autobiography, My Story, which was later translated into many foreign languages.[citation needed]

Malayalam

Kamala Das wrote about a range of topics, often disparate, from the story of poor old servant 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. She wrote a few novels , among which Neermathalam Pootha Kalam, which was received favourably by the reading public as well as the critics, stands out.

She travelled extensively to read poetry to Germany’s [[University of Duisburg-Essen], [[University of Bonn] and [[University of Duisburg] universities, Adelaide Writer’s Festival , Frankfurt Book Fair, University of Kingston, Jamaica, Singapore, and South Bank Festival (London), Concordia University (Montreal, Canada), etc. Her works are available in French, Spanish, Russian, German and Japanese.

She has also held positions as Vice chairperson in Kerala Sahitya Academy, chairperson in Kerala forestry Board, President of the Kerala Children’s Film Society, editor of Poet magazine and Poetry editor of Illustrated Weekly of India.

Conversion to Islam

She was born in a conservative Hindu Nair (Nallappattu) family having Royal anscestry,[citation needed] she embraced Islam in 1999 at the age of 65 and assumed the name Kamala Suraiyya. Her conversion was somewhat controversial, in among other social and literary circles.

Politics

Though never politically active before, she launched a national political party, Lok Seva Party, aiming asylum to orphaned mothers and promotion of secularism. In 1984 she unsuccessfully contested in the Indian Parliament elections.

Personal life

Her eldest son, M D Nalapat, is married to a princess from the Travancore Royal House. He holds the UNESCO Peace Chair and Professor of geopolitics at the Manipal Academy of Higher Education. He was formerly a resident editor of the Times of India.

On 31 May 2009, aged 75, she died at a hospital in Pune. Her body was flown to her home state of Kerala. She was buried at the Palayam Juma Masjid at Thiruvanathapuram with full state honour.

Awards and other recognitions

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

Bibliography

English

1964: The Sirens (Asian Poetry Prize winner)

1965: Summer in Calcutta (poetry; Kent’s Award winner)

1967: The Descendants (poetry)

1973: The Old Playhouse and Other Poems (poetry)

1976: My Story (autobiography)

1977: Alphabet of Lust (novel)

1985: The Anamalai Poems (poetry)

1992: Padmavati the Harlot and Other Stories (collection of short stories)

1996: Only the Soul Knows How to Sing (poetry)

2001: Yaa Allah (collection of poems)

Malayalam

1964: Pakshiyude Maranam (short stories)

1966: Naricheerukal Parakkumbol (short stories)

1968: Thanuppu (short story, Sahitya Academi award)

1987: Balyakala Smaranakal (Childhood Memories)

1989: Varshangalkku Mumbu (Years Before)

1990: Palayan (novel)

1991: Neypayasam (short story)

1992: Dayarikkurippukal (novel)

1994: Neermathalam Pootha Kalam (novel, Vayalar Award)

1996: Chekkerunna Pakshikal (short stories)

1998: Nashtapetta Neelambari (short stories)

2005: Chandana Marangal (Novel)

2005: Madhavikkuttiyude Unmakkadhakal (short stories)2x

2005: Vandikkalakal (novel)

References

^ Interview with Rediff

^ “PM mourns Kamala Das’s death, praises her sensitive poems” (in English). The Hindu. 31 May 2009. http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/002200905312123.htm. Retrieved 04-06-2009. 

^ Love and longing

^ Kohli, Suresh (August 13, 2006). “Still a rebel writer”. http://www.hindu.com/mag/2006/08/13/stories/2006081300080500.htm. Retrieved June 23, 2009. “”I fell in love with a Muslim after my husband’s death. He was kind and generous in the beginning. But I now feel one shouldn’t change one’s religion. It is not worth it.”" 

^ Zee News article (“Noted writer Kamala Das Suraiya passes away”

^ “Kerala pays tributes to Kamala Surayya” (in English). The Hindu. 1 June 2009. http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/004200906011831.htm. Retrieved 04-06-2009. 

^ “Tributes showered on Kamala Suraiya” (in English). The Hindu. 2 June 2009. http://www.thehindu.com/2009/06/02/stories/2009060253900400.htm. Retrieved 04-06-2009. 

^ Literary Awards – official website of Onformation and Public Relation Department

8. The Ignited Soul by Shreekumar Varma

External links

Varsha Bhosle on Kamala Das’ conversion to Islam

“From Kamala Das to Dashi: Doing the right thing for wrong reasons?” by Dr Mohammad Omar Farooq

Translation of Neypayasam

Eroticism and feminism in Das’ writings

The histrionics of Kamala Das

Funeral

Kamala Suraiyya – Daily Telegraph obituary

Categories: 1934 births | 2009 deaths | Converts to Islam | Indian women writers | Indian Muslims | Kerala State Film Award winners | Malayali writers | Malayalam writers | Malayalam poets | Malayalam novelists | People from Pune | People from Kerala | 21st-century women writers | Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award | Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Malayalam | Recipients of the Ezhuthachan Award | English-language poets from IndiaHidden categories: All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements from May 2009 | Articles with unsourced statements from June 2009

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