Kamala DasKamala Surayya, also known by her one-time pen name Madhavikutty and Kamala Das, was an Indian English poet and littérateur and at the same time a leading Malayalam author from Kerala.

Born: March 31, 1934, PunnayurkulamDied: May 31, 2009, PuneSpouse: Madhava Das (m. 1949–2009)Children: Madhav Das Nalapat, Jayasurya Das, Chinnen DasAwards: Kerala State Film Award for Best StoryMovies: House of Stories, Raama Raavanan, Ormayilenthum

Famous works Kamala Surayya had written many short stories in Malayalam and poetries in English. Her

first book of poetry was ‘Summer In Calcutta’. At the age of 42, she publish her autobiography, "My Story". It was originally written in her

mother tongue, Malayalam and was later translated to English by her. Some of her great works are listed below:

• Neermathalam pootakalam• Nashttapetta Neelambari• Hamsadhvani• Baalya kaala smaranakal• The Kept Woman and Other Stories• Only The Soul Knows How To Sing• A Childhood in Malabar• Sandal Trees• The Old Playhouse And Other Poems

•Ottayatippatha• Chekkerunna Paksikal•Surayya patunnu• The Descendants• Ente Patakal• Amavasi• Neypayasam• Thanuppu• Tonight, This Savage Rite

Works continued…

Awards and Recognition

• Kamala Surayya had received lot of awards for her great works. Below is the list of main awards received by her.Ezhuthachan Award

• Vayalar Award (Neermathalam Pootha Kalam)• Sahitya Ackademy Award (Thanuppu)• Asian World prize• Asian Poetry Prize (The Sirens)• Kent Award (Summer in Calcutta)• Muttathu Varkey Award

A perspective on “An Introduction”

“An Introduction” is perhaps the most famous of the poems written by Kamala Das in a self-reflective and confessional tone from her maiden publication Summer in Calcutta(1965). 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.

• The poet says that she is not interested in politics but claims that she can name all the people who have been in power right from the time of Nehru. By saying that she can repeat them as fluently as days of week, or names of the month, she indirectly states the fact that politics in the country is a game of few chosen elite who ironically rule a democracy. The fact that she remembers them so well depicts that these people have been in power for repetitive cycles.

• She describes herself saying that she is an Indian, born in Malabar and very brown in colour. She speaks in three languages, writes in two and dreams in one, articulating the thought that Dreams have their own universal language. Kamala Das echoes that the medium of writing is not as significant as is the comfort level that one requires.

• self-assertion.

• The poem is a strong criticism of child marriage which pushes children into such a predicament while they are still very childish at heart. Though he didn’t beat her, she felt beaten and her body seemed crushed under her own weight. This is a very emphatic expression of how unprepared the body of a sixteen-year-old is for the assault it gets subjected to. She shrank pitifully, ashamed of her feminity.

• She tries to overcome such humiliation by being tomboyish. And thereafter when she opts for male clothing to hide her femininity, the guardians enforce typical female attire, with warnings to fit into the socially determined attributes of a woman, to become a wife and a mother and get confined to the domestic routine.

• She explains her encounter with a man. She attributes him with not a proper noun, but a common noun-"every man" to reflect his universality—the fact that in such a patriarchal society, this is a nature inherent to every male by the sheer fact that he belongs to the stronger sex. He defined himself by the "I", the supreme male ego. He is tightly compartmentalized as "the sword in its sheath'. It portrays the power politics of the patriarchal society that we thrive in that is all about control. It is this "I" that stays long away without any restrictions, is free to laugh at his own will, succumbs to a woman only out of lust and later feels ashamed of his own weakness that lets himself lose to a woman. Towards the end of the poem, a role-reversal occurs as this "I" gradually transitions to the poetess herself. She pronounces how this "I" is also sinner and saint", beloved and betrayed. (Parthasarthy)