Kamala Das was born on 31 March 1934 into an aristocratic Nalapat Nair family in punnayur kulam of Thrissur district in Kerala. Das was born into a status family. Her mother Nalapat Balamani Amma, was a well -known poet, and her father , VM. Nair was an automobile company executive and a journalist. Kamala had her early education in St Cecilia's school in Calcutta and the schools at Punnayur kulam at Thrissur. She never went to university. She spent her summer vacations at her ancestral house in Punnayur kulam in Malabar where she had developed a close bond with her grandmother.
Kamala Das had a keen observing eye and a flair for the theatre painting and writing. She also had a rare gift of empathy. At six, she was composing sad poems about dolls who lost their heads and had to remain headless for eternity. when she was twelve her short story 'Kushtarogi' (The Leper)was published in 'Balapankhi' the children's section of the mathrubhumi Weekly, followed by 'Avalude Katha' (Her story)in the main section and by 'stree' (Woman) in June 1947 under her given name.
In February 1949,at the age of fifteen, she was married off to Madhava Das, who worked in RBI in Bombay. After her marriage Kamala Das lived largely in Bombay where her husband was posted until 1981 , except for a spell each in Calcutta and Delhi when he was on secondment .It was during her stay in Delhi in the early sixties, when her husband was posted at the planning commission ,that summer in Calcutta was published. She was noted for her many poems written in English . Her poetic collection includes, Summer in calcutta1965, The Desendants1967, the old playhouse and other poems1973. The Annamalai poems 1985, The best of Kamala Das 1991, and only soul knows how to sing 1996. Kamala Das poetry is replete with feministic ethos. Her poetry is remarkably realistic and feministic.
Before she came to Delhi there had been inner turmoil for Kamala Das, a nervous breakdown, followed by psychiatric help, and a longish stay in Malabar. After her return to Delhi from Calicut, her health continued to deteriorate, and she was hospitalized. When her husband's secondment in Delhi ended, the family returned to Bombay in 1966 and , after a short stay at Caddell road , they settled in a spacious flat in Bank House. It seems to have been perhaps the most troubled period of her life, when at times ,she found herself doubting the reality of the world outside; she wrote poems and painted pictures which 'showed demons mating with snakes.
At the age of 42 she published a daring autobiography 'my story' it was originally written in Malayalam (Ente Katha) and later she translated it into English. Kamala Das wrote on 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. Some of her better -known stories include pakshiyude manam ,Neypayasam, Thanuppu,and chandhana Marangal. She wrote a few novels, out of which Neermathalam Pootha Kalam, which was received favorably by the reading public as well as the critics stands out.
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