Who Was Kamala Das?
Kamala Das is one of the three most significant Indian poets writing in English today, the other two being Nissim Ezekiel and Ramanujan. Her poetry is all about herself, about her intensely felt desire for love, for emotional involvement, and her failure to achieve such a relationship. Hence a knowledge of her life and personality is essential for an understanding of her poetry. Mrs. Kamala Das–her maiden name was Madavikutty–was born at Punnayurkulam in Malabar in Kerala in 1934. Both her parents were poets, and so poetry was in her blood so to say. She constantly speaks of her Darvadian blood and of her Nair heritage. She was educated mainly at home. It seems that her grandmother showered a lot of love and affection on the growing child, and she is often remembered in her poetry as in “A Hot Noon in Malabar” and “My Grandmother’s House”. She looks back to her happy days in her company with nostalgia and yearning. Her parents are seldom remembered with such love and affection. Wheneve
