Kamala Surayya, known by her pen name Madhavikutty, was an Indian poet who wrote in English and Malayali author from Kerala, India who passed away on May 31, 2009, in Pune. And, on this day in 2023, take a moment to honour her memory and know more about her life and the literary contributions she made to India’s cultural landscape.
All you need to know about Kamala Surayya:
Born as Kamala Das in Punnayurkulam, Malabar district, British India on March 31, 1934, to VM Nair who was the managing editor of the Malayalam daily Mathrubhumi and Nalapat Balamani Amma who was a renowned Malayali poet herself, she spent her childhood between Calcutta and her ancestral home in Punnayurkulam.
Like her mother, she excelled in writing and developed her poetry talents under the renowned writer and her great uncle, Nalapat Narayana Menon.
She married Madhav Das at age 15 who encouraged her writing interests, and quickly became one of the top Indian English poets.
Aside from being a famous Malayali short story artist, she was also a popular columnist who frequently wrote about women’s and children’s issues apart from being involved in politics
Kamala Das' first book of poetry, ‘Summer in Calcutta’ was a breath of fresh air in Indian English poetry where she wrote chiefly of love, betrayal, and the consequent anguish.
The main theme of her poetry is based upon freedom, love and protection. She wrote on a diverse range of topics, often disparate - from the story of a poor old servant, about the sexual disposition of upper-middle-class women living near a metropolitan city or in the middle of the ghetto.
She also travelled extensively and read poetry at the University of Duisburg-Essen, University of Bonn, Concordia University, and many others around the world.
She also attempted to launch her political career with the Lok Seva Party but was unsuccessful in winning a seat in the 1984 Lok Sabha elections.
She converted to Islam on 11 December 1999, at the age of 65 and assumed the name Kamala Surayya.
