Biography of Kamala Das and her Works

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The Mother of Modern Indian English Poetry, a prominent voice of the colonial era, and an Iconoclast, Kamala Das was born in a conservative Brahmin family on 31st March 1934. She, in her family, experiences patriarchial prejudice and its subjugation. Though her mother- Balamani Amma was a famous poet, her father was an editor and her Grand Uncle- Nalapat Narayana Menon, was a respected writer.  

Culturally,  her childhood is very enriched. She is a multilingual writer who knows her mother tongue- Malayalam and English. She has two names Madhavikutty- for her Malayalam readers and Kamla Das- for English readers.

Her career began at the age of 06 when she started writing a manuscript which is a collection of her sad poems. However, at the age of 15, she married and moved to Bombay where she is always weighed down by the expectations of her husband, family and Society to be a good wife or mother.  Still, she continues her writing.

Kamala Das is essentially known for her bold and frank expression. She speaks about the problem of women in a patriarchal society that forced women to confine themselves and keep silent. Her work in itself is a platform and voice that echoes the problems and issues related to women. While representing women's issues she is honest and free from any sense of guilt. she breaks the traditional rules without taking care of society giving her the title Iconoclast. 

Furthermore, An acute obsession with love and confessional elements are features of her poetry. That's why she is known as a Confessional writer in Indian English writing and is classified with other confessional, American writers like- Robert Lowell, Sylvia Plath, and Anne Sexton. One of his remarkable confessional works is "An Introduction" (a poem ). Her other Voluminous poems are- "The Summer in Calcutta" (1965), "The Descendents" (1967), "A Hot Noon in Malabar" and "The Old Playhouse and Others"(1973).

Literally, she is known for her poetry but she also wrote novels and an autobiography. One of her autobiography works is "My Story" and her Novel is "Alphabet of Lust".

She got the Sahitya Academy Award in 1965. She died in 2009 and was buried in the Palayam Juma Masjid.