11 Facts About Hridayakumari

Hridayakumari was an Indian writer, educator, scholar, translator, and orator.

Hridayakumari wrote primarily in the Malayalam language, and in 1991, was awarded the Kerala Sahitya Academy Award for her book, Kalpanikatha.

Hridayakumari taught English at several colleges in the state of Kerala during a forty-year career, eventually retiring as the principal of Government College for Women in Thiruvananthapuram in 1986.

Hridayakumari had taught previously at the University College, Thiruvananthapuram; at Maharajas College, Ernakulam;at Brennen College, Thalassery and Victoria College, Palakkad.

Hridayakumari won several awards, including the S Guptan Nair award, the Captain Lakshmi Award, and the Shankaranarayanan Thampi award.

Hridayakumari and served on several government committees that dealt with educational reforms in Kerala, and was the chair of a committee that was created by the Kerala State Higher Education Council to reform college credits and semester structures.

Hridayakumari later published an autobiography, Ormakalile Vasanthakalam, which detailed her experiences as a teacher.

Hridayakumari translated several works between Malayalam and English, including her sister, poet Sugathakumari's poetry, as well as works by Vallathol Narayana Menon and by Rabindranath Tagore.

Hridayakumari translated Rathrimazha, a Sahitya-Akademi award-winning novel by Sugathakumari, from Malayalam to English.

Hridayakumari was born to V K Karthyayani, a professor and scholar of Sanskrit, and Bodheswaran, a poet and Indian freedom fighter, in 1930, in Aranmula.

Hridayakumari died at the age of 84 on 8 November 2014.