My Story, Author: Kamala Das, Genre: Autobiography
“Daring and Outspoken”
My tryst with work of Indian authors continues. This is my third Indian authored read this year. Earlier, I really enjoyed reading the light hearted and fast paced Days of my China Dragon by Chandrahas Choudhury. I also re-read a hard-hitting, peculiar and yet a favorite The Lesson by Sowmya Rajendran. The next in line is These Errors are Correct, by Jeet Thayil. But today, we will explore the literary world of Kamala Das.
I keep looking for hidden gems. Do you have any recommendations for interesting books by Indian authors? Please share in the comments.
Kamala Das
Kamala Das (later Kamal Suraiyya) is one of the most notable Indian woman authors/poet. A PEN Asian Poetry Prize Winner (’63), she dared to be straightforward and candid. She shared the story of her life in what could be described as a defiance of societal norms. ‘My Story’ presents a free flowing account of her intriguing and non customary life. Beginning from her childhood days in a Nalapat Nair household in Kerala, to her adolescence in Kolkata and her married life in Mumbai and Delhi, she traverses through each part with finesse.
Her writing garnered a lot of attention, bad press and yet it also got the admiration and the acknowledgement which the renowned author longed for. Through her writing, she brought the spotlight on the varied emotions of woman in her role as a mother, daughter, wife and a lover. More importantly, she highlights her quagmire as a human being who doesn’t wish to be tagged to any of these roles.
Why should you read My Story by Kamala Das?
Seeing the world through the eyes of Kamala Das for the length of this book, helped me to build a different perspective. The life in pre-partition and post independence early years of India, especially from a lens of a woman in a well off, traditional and educated family is well captured. You can look forward to:
- Finesse of Writing Craft: The quality of her writing in this book is awe-inspiring. As someone who loves to write, I felt a lot of admiration for the savvy and crafty writing style. As a reader, I felt mesmerized with the experience of flowing through vivid descriptions of people, emotions and situations.
- A Woman’s Perspective: This book is by no means prescriptive or patronizing. Kamala Das does a fine job of baring her soul and while at it, she manages to create a connection with the reader. Her emotions, reactions and idiosyncrasies feel relatable. She comes across as vulnerable while she goes through her share of domestic struggles and yet strongly maintains her strong individuality.
- Hard-Hitting and Bold: Kamala Das challenges norms and laments the class based and societal inequities. She unapologetically talks about her flings, romances, attractions and intimate encounters with men (including her cousins) outside her marriage. She doesn’t celebrate it, nor does she sound regretful.
Content Summary
All of 200 odd pages, this book is neatly structured into 50 short 4-6 page chapters. While the content flows organically from her childhood to late life, it would be naïve to think of it as an uneventful chronology of time.
The progression of this book is best described as a hue of myriad emotions. The emotions symbolize innocence at the start and then transform into a set of complex, volatile, unhindered and entangled mess by the end. The last 2 chapters are titled “A Freedom to Discompose” and “Death – a Reality“. These titles aptly capture the darkness and loneliness that engulfed her throughout and more so in the later part of her life.
Some powerful lines which stayed with me:
“A poet’s raw material is not stone or clay, it’s her personality”
“How the essence of the writer eludes the non-writer, as the writers reveal to them only their oddities of dress or their emotional excesses”
In the later chapters, a few of her significant poems have found a place. These poems are a good introduction to the quality of her writing and her thought process.
Recommendation
Kamala Das’s work is by no means conventional and by virtue of that, it isn’t suited for a conventional reader. If you choose to read this book, you could end with an expression of ‘wow’ or quite the opposite (bordering on boring)! I enjoyed reading it, not so much for the story of her life but for the exquisite writing style and intense wordplay.
How you see the world is a reflection of who you are, and books aren’t immune to that principle! I am curious to know, which side are you on? Happy Reading!
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