Kamala Das aka Kamala Surayya Popularly Known as Madhavikutty Honoured With Google Doodle
When she began publishing, she used the pseudonym Madhavikutty; Ami was her pet name; and Suraiyya, the name she gave herself upon her conversion to Islam.
Mumbai, February 1: Celebrating Kamala Das aka Kamala Surayya’s first autobiography publication, Google honoured the Indian poetess and actress with a doodle. On this day in 1976, Kamala Das released her autobiography, "My Story". Kamala, who was popularly known as Madhavikutty was an Indian English poetess and at the same time a leading Malayalam author from Kerala. Das’ life and work had a boldness and shapeshifting quality, whether it was the many genres she wrote in or the various languages in which she expressed herself. When she began publishing, she used the pseudonym Madhavikutty; Ami was her pet name; and Suraiyya, the name she gave herself upon her conversion to Islam.
Today's Google Doodle by artist Manjit Thapp celebrates the work Kamala Das that provides a window into the world of an engrossing woman. Through all her transitions and personal reinventions, Das continued to write poetry and prose that was unflinching and passionate. “Today we celebrate poet and author Kamala Das on the publication date of her autobiography, “My Story,” released in 1976”, Google said.
The 75-year old poetess was determined to live life on her own terms, resisting labels such as “feminist” and choosing different names for herself over the course of her life. The actress was also a widely read columnist and wrote on diverse topics including women's issues, child care, politics among others.
On 31 May 2009, aged 75, she died at a hospital in Pune. Her body was flown to her home state of Kerala. She was buried at the Palayam Jama Masjid at Thiruvananthapuram with full state honour. Known as Aami by fans, Madhavikutty’s open and honest treatment of female sexuality, free from any sense of guilt, infused her writing with power and also marked her as an iconoclast in her generation.
Kamala Das took to writing like her mother. Her great-uncle Nalapat Narayana Menon, also a prominent writer, was a big influence in her life. She fell in love with poetry from an early age. At the age of 15 she was married to Madhava Das, a banker by profession. He encouraged her to write, and she started publishing her works both in English and Malayalam.
The actress was recently in news because of controversies surrounding her biopic starring Manju Warrier as Surayya, along with Murali Gopy, Tovino Thomas, and Anoop Menon. The biopic on Das is titled ‘Aami’ and is under production now. Manju Warrier portrays the lead role of Kamala Das. Kamal is the director. A petition has been filed by high court lawyer K P Ramachandran of Edappally in the Kerala High Court seeking a ban on the film. The petition states that the movie justifies love jihad and seeks a directive from the court to the CBFC asking the latter to not issue a certificate to the film and analyse if it portrays the life incidents of Das in an appropriate manner.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 01, 2018 08:47 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).