Her popularity in kerala is based chiefly on her short stories and autobiography, while her oeuvre in english, written. She is a poetess of the body, not the soul, but wants to liberate the soul of womankind. Confessional elements combine a range of themes including familial issues, physical and. Despite her demise almost a decade ago, kamala remains an enigma and continues to intrigue scores of readers with her eloquent works, even today. She frequently portrays the complex relationship between lust and love. What means the metaphor the hungry haste of river and the oceans tireless waiting. The book evoked violent reactions of admiration and criticism among the readers and critics. What is a summary and analysis of kamala dass poem. The writer looked very rebellious and revolutionary and i instantly drawn towards her works and my teacher had given me to read kamalas autobiography my story. Pdf radical feminism in kamala dass poetry researchgate. She received the poetry award of the asian pen anthology in 1964 and the kerala sahitya academy award in 1969. Each and every line of the poem is a capsule, zipped to comprise all her sadness and strong objection to the patriarchal society. Once she was asked to read a poem that i had composed and when the visitor asked who wrote it, our principal said, shirley of course, she is a combination of beauty and brains, and then there was from the governors wife a special kiss.
What do you think about the tradition of marriage at early ages. The latter was awarded to her for a collection of short stories entitled cold. I amindian, very brown, born inmalabar, i speak three languages, write in two, dream in one. Why i was born to indian parents instead of to a white couple, who may have been proud of my verses.
Her popularity in kerala is based chiefly on her short stories and autobiography, while her oeuvre in english, written under the name. Later she admitted that much of the autobiography had fictional elements. In this piece, the writer talks about her own interpretation of the poem. The quotation given above from the poem, an introduction. O what does the burning mouth of sun, burning in todays, sky, remind me.
She was brought up in the warmth of a closeknit kerala matrilineal society and she felt uprooted when she had to move to kolkata with her father who was a salesman. Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow volume 11. The indian poets fine handling of lyric form and metaphorical language combine powerfully in this elegaic, musical work. This is an invaluable book for those who are interested in modern poetry and particularly, modern indian writing in english.
She hailed from the state of kerala and most of her works were in malayalam. Kamala dass autobiography my story reveals that a woman is naturally creative and if given a room of her own, she can defend her selfhood and narrate the story of her life boldly. For her, the conception of the god and the faith is interpreted in a wrong way by the society and considers. In this she laments her mothers ageing and feels extremely sad at the time her separation from her ageing mother at the airport. She thinks that white parents support their children more than indian parents. The poem is a strong remark on patriarchal society prevalent today and brings to light the miseries, bondage, pain suffered by the fairer sex in such times.
Her ignorance of politics and british rulers within the indian society which is a rebellious act against colonizers and their. Com book pdf free download link or read online here in pdf. Kamala surayya was born on the 31st of march 1934, in kerala. Pdf on sep 18, 2008, javed hussain khan and others published looking glass as a. A major poet in english, kamala dass taboobreaking work explores th. Nani, is a maid who worked for kamala dass family at the time when she was a kid. A read is counted each time someone views a publication summary such as the title, abstract, and list of authors, clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the fulltext. Major themes of kamala dass poetry literary articles. All books are in clear copy here, and all files are secure so dont worry about it. We make no warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability and suitability with respect to the information. Her open and honest treatment of female sexuality, free from any sense of guilt, infused her writing with power, but also marked her as an iconoclast in her generation. The kept woman and other stories is a collection of short stories which have been translated into english.
Professor saltora netaji centenary college saltora, bankura. The poet says that she is not interested in politics but. She is reminded of the ancestral house where she had received immense love and affection from her grandmother. Thus, the protest of the feminist critic in case of marvells poem becomes the staple content of female speakers narration in kamala dass poetry. Seeing her mothers dull face, a sense of fear arises in the poet. Her writing is intensely lyricalsometimes soft and musical, sometimes with a bitter edge to it. She mentions malabar in several works, including an entire memoir called a childhood in malabar. I dont know politics but i know the names of those in power, and can repeat them like days of week, or names of months, beginning with nehru.
One day suddenly she hangs herself to death in the privy. The poet is on the way to cochin airport along with her mother who is quite old now. On 31 may 2009, aged 75, she died at a hospital in pune, but has earned considerable respect in recent years. Her poetic works are evaluates with wellknown poets like robert lowell, anne sexton, as well as sylvia plath. But same words when used by a poet are seen to change and acquire a different meaning. The autobiography becomes a vehicle for voicing an inner privacy. Also, after she died, one of her friends, merrily weisbord, wrote a memoir titled the love queen of malabar. Like many of her other poems including an introduction or the looking glass, the old playhouse is also a confessional poem. Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow volume 12. Her popularity in kerala is based chiefly on her short. As a bilingual indian english postindependent and postcolonial poet, she was an iconoclast protested against the. Celebration of an overwhelming hunger santanu saha asst.
A highly readable book and a literary masterpiece by any standards. What do you think the author wanted to say with this poem. Pdf looking glass as a metaphor for selfrealization in kamala. She writes both english and her mother tongue malayallm. Nostalgia in the poems by kamaladas essay 3363 words cram. The book was originally published in malayalam, titled ente katha.
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