As I was flipping through the pages of today’s newspaper, my eyes rested on the left side of page no. 3—Kamala Das passes away. It was just a week back, after reading Mamoni Raisom Goswami’s book ‘dastawezor notun prishtha,’ (wherein she dedicated a chapter on her relationship with Kamala Das and Das as a person) I was discussing her with a close friend of mine. And after maybe half an hour, we both (me n my fren) agreed that the lady is bold, brainy and beautiful. A lady, without overtly popping up the middle finger (as it has become a norm today), proved that she is beyond the rules contrived by the society.
I admired her, not for the perfect imagery and symbolism in her work… but for her ‘guts’. She brought out in her works those things which society considered to be dirty or taboo, and apparently expected the women to perform those very taboo and dirty things inside the four walls to keep the man happy.
More than prose, I felt more attached to her poetry. The Old Playhouse, The Looking Glass, A hot noon in Malabar, My Grandmother’s House… were beautiful, if not great.
Some called her a poet of ‘love and sex’ and some ‘a confessional poet.’ Some loved her and some hated her. But I bet…there’s hardly anyone who could ignore her.
2 comments:
its definitely a big loss. she definitely was a person who said what she wanted to say without coating it to suit social tenets. she would nevertheless continue to live on through her numerous beautiful and bold creations.
@ blue lark: ya indeed its a big loss..remember, her controversial autobiography 'my story'..she wz privtely educated till 15, n marid at 15 n hd hr frst son at 16.N den she begn her career az a writr.Imagine..her guts..she wrote about her multiple affairs widut ne kind of inhibitions ever..I wuld jus go on n on...
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