MALAYALAM
Human sensitivities
B. R. P. BHASKAR
EE JEEVITHAMKONDU ITHRAMATHRAM: Madhavikkutty, DC Books, DC Kizhakemuri Edam, Good Shepherd Street, Kottayam-686001. Rs. 40.
MADHAVIKKUTTY, KNOWN to the English-reading public as Kamala Das or Kamala Suraiya, appears in different moods in the volume under review, which contains selections from a column she wrote in Malayalam.
When she converted to Islam, some foreign friends worried about her safety. She dismisses their concerns, saying “Islam is my refuge.” The conversion earned her a lot of hate mail. She has responded to them with the caustic observation that the Keralite must cleanse his mind before talking of culture. At one point, she has exclaimed, “I am free. I do not have to worry about any man’s family now.”
The dominant mood, however, is one of despair. She says her world is collapsing around her. More disturbingly, she talks of dead poems lying scattered in her mind. With a touch of self-pity, she describes herself as a humiliated beggar, not an elephant-riding princess. Yet, the irrepressible Kamala Das shows up now and again – as, for instance, when she says, if religion blinds us, let us sacrifice it and keep God alone.
In terms of literary merit, the book may not rank high, but it is a valuable human document that helps us to understand the working of a sensitive mind.
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