Kamala Surayya Biography: Birthday, Early Life, Career, Personal Life, Death

Kamala Surayya Biography: Kamala Surayya (born Kamala; March 31, 1934 – May 31, 2009), popularly known by her literary name Madhavikutty and married name Kamala Das, was a Malayalam and English poet from Kerala, India. Her popularity in Kerala is primarily attributable to her short stories and autobiography, whereas her oeuvre in English, published under the pen name Kamala Das, is renowned for its poetry and explicit autobiography. She was also a widely-read columnist who covered a variety of topics, such as women’s issues, child care, politics, etc. In the popular culture of her generation, her liberal treatment of female sexuality made her an iconoclast. On May 31, 2009, at the age of 75, she passed away at the Jehangir Hospital in Pune.

Kamala Surayya Biography

Early Years

Kamala Das was born on March 31, 1934, in Punnayurkulam, Ponnani taluk, Malabar District, British India (present-day Thrissur district, Kerala, India) to V. M. Nair, the managing editor of the extensively disseminated Malayalam daily Mathrubhumi, and Nalapat Balamani Amma, a renowned Malayali poet.

She split her adolescence between Calcutta, where her father worked as a senior officer for the Walford Transport Company, which sold Bentley and Rolls-Royce automobiles, and Punnayurkulam, the ancestral house of the Nalapat family.

Kamala Das, like her mother Balamani Amma, excelled in writing. Her early interest in poetry was sparked by the influence of her eminent author’s great-uncle, Nalapat Narayana Menon.

She married bank officer Madhav Das at the age of 15, who encouraged her literary interests, and she began writing and publishing in both English and Malayalam. The 1960s were a turbulent period for the arts in Calcutta, and Kamala Das was one of the many voices that emerged and began appearing in cult anthologies alongside a generation of Indian English poets. She chose English as the vernacular for her six published poetry collections.

Kamala Surayya Career

Kamala Das was a prolific contributor to Indian literature as a renowned Malayalam short story writer and English poet. Her columns on women’s issues, child care, and politics were well-read. Summer in Calcutta, her first novel, was a departure from the archaic aestheticism of the time, concentrating on love, duplicity, and agony. Her second book, The Descendants, was more explicit, imploring women to embrace what makes them female, such as long hair, perspiration, and menstrual blood. Her voice was compared to that of Marguerite Duras and Sylvia Plath for its candour.

It was translated into English and then published at the age of 42. Das’ autobiography, “An Introduction,” was a daring poem that expressed her femininity, uniqueness, and genuine sentiments about males. She realised her identity and the need for women to speak up in a society dominated by males, as a result of her loneliness and frustration. The poet Kamala Das examines climate, mother-daughter relationships, and affection in her poems. In “A Hot Noon in Malabar,” she pines for the heat and untamed males of Malabar, whereas “My Mother at Sixty-Six” investigates the absurdity in mother-daughter relationships.

“Dance of Eunuchs” demonstrates compassion for eunuchs by emphasising their femininity and melancholy. Her poetry “A Request” examines the meaninglessness of existence and the significance of love and confession. A prominent Indian poet, Kamala Das, penned a variety of short tales and novels, including Pakshiyude Manam, Neypayasam, Thanuppu, and Chandana Marangal. She travelled extensively to read poetry and held numerous positions, including Vice-chairperson of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi, chairperson of the Kerala Forestry Board, president of the Kerala Children’s Film Society, editor of Poet magazine, and poetry editor of the Illustrated Weekly of India. She is known for her controversial writings and is regarded as the matriarch of contemporary English Indian poetry.

Kamala Surayya Personal Life

Kamala married Madhav Das when she was 15 years old. M D Nalapat, Chinen Das, and Jayasuryya Das were the couple’s three sons. Her spouse, who became bisexual during their 43-year marriage, died before her in 1992, after 43 years of marriage. Her eldest son, Madhav Das Nalapat, is married to Princess Thiruvathira Thirunal Lakshmi Bayi of the Travancore Royal House (daughter of Princess Pooyam Thirunal Gouri Parvati Bayi and Sri Chembrol Raja Raja Varma Avargal). He holds the UNESCO Chair for Peace and teaches geopolitics at Manipal University. He had been The Times of India’s resident editor. In 1999, Kamala Surayya converted to Islam and announced her intention to marry her Muslim boyfriend, but she never remarried.

Death

On May 31, 2009, at the age of 75, she passed away in a Pune hospital after a lengthy battle with pneumonia. Her remains were transported to her native state of Kerala. She was interred with full state honours at the Palayam Juma Masjid in Thiruvananthapuram.