Voice of womanhood

“If wrappings of cloth can impart respectability, the most respectable persons are the Egyptian mummies, all wrapped in layers and layers of gauze.” — Kamala Surayya Kamala didn’t write to entertain. She wrote because it hurt not to. Wrote because women like her — women who wanted, who felt too much, who said too much — were always told to be quiet, but she refused. She was the writer who cracked open the quiet, ladylike shell that Indian womanhood was locked in. She took everything “decent” society wanted hidden — lust, longing, rage, loneliness, vulnerability — and threw it on the page, naked and unapologetic. Not to scandalise, but to speak what countless women were forced to bury in silence. Born on March 31 in Thrissur on the Malabar Coast, she emerged as one of the most fearless and candid writers of her generation. At a time when most literary conversations revolved around colonial struggles, Kamala turned inward, unflinchingly exploring female desire, identity, and the complex realities of womanhood in India. Growing up in a privileged family, creativity was woven into her DNA. Her mother, Nalapat Balamani Amma, was a respected poet, while her father, VM Nair, balanced a career as an automobile executive and journalist. At 15, she married Madhava Das, a banking professional much older than her, and moved to Bombay. Amid raising three sons and managing household responsibilities, Kamala continued to write late into the night, turning her private thoughts into powerful verses and stories. Her literary output was vast and varied. In English, she published poetry collections like Summer in Calcutta (1965), The Descendants (1967) and The Old Playhouse (1973). She ventured into prose with her novel Alphabet of Lust (1976) and provocative short stories such as “A Doll for the Child Prostitute” and “Padmavati the Harlot.” Writing in Malayalam under the pen name Madhavikutty, she produced notable works like the short-story collection Thanuppu (Cold) and her memoir Balyakalasmaranakal (Memories of Childhood). Her most famous and controversial work was her autobiography, which first appeared as columns, then as Ente Katha in Malayalam (1973) and later in English as My Story (1976). The book’s raw honesty about her life, desires and struggles shocked readers but cemented her status as a literary trailblazer. In 1999, she made headlines once again when she converted to Islam and took the name Kamala Surayya. Throughout her life, she received numerous literary accolades, including the prestigious Asian World Prize for Literature in 1985, recognising her profound impact on Indian and world literature. She passed away on May 31, 2009, in Pune, leaving behind a legacy of bold, unapologetic truth-telling that continues to inspire generations of readers and writers.

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