Kamala Surayya was a widely read columnist and wrote on diverse topics including women's issues, child care, politics, etc.
27 Facts About Kamala Surayya
2.
Kamala Surayya spent her childhood between Calcutta, where her father was employed as a senior officer in the Walford Transport Company that sold Bentley and Rolls-Royce automobiles, and the Nalapat ancestral home in Punnayurkulam.
3.
Calcutta in the 1960s was a tumultuous time for the arts, and Kamala Surayya Das was one of the many voices that came up and started appearing in cult anthologies along with a generation of Indian English poets.
4.
Kamala Surayya was known for her several Malayalam short stories as well as poems written in English.
5.
Kamala Surayya once claimed that "poetry does not sell in this country [India]", but her forthright columns, which sounded off on everything from women's issues and child care to politics, were popular.
6.
Kamala Surayya Das' first book of poetry, Summer in Calcutta was a breath of fresh air in Indian English poetry.
7.
Kamala Surayya wrote chiefly of love, betrayal, and the consequent anguish.
8.
Kamala Surayya realises her identity and understands that it is the need of every woman to raise a voice in this male-dominated society.
9.
Kamala Surayya is alone and her colourless life is designed of crumbling patterns.
10.
Kamala Surayya Das is essentially known for her bold and frank expression.
11.
Kamala Surayya wrote a few novels, out of which Neermathalam Pootha Kalam, which was received favourably by the general readers, as well as, the critics, stands out.
12.
Kamala Surayya travelled extensively to read poetry to Germany's University of Duisburg-Essen, University of Bonn and University of Duisburg universities, Adelaide Writer's Festival, Frankfurt Book Fair, University of Kingston, Jamaica, Singapore, and South Bank Festival, Concordia University, etc.
13.
Kamala Surayya's works are available in French, Spanish, Russian, German and Japanese.
14.
Kamala Surayya has held positions as Vice-chairperson in Kerala Sahitya Akademi, chairperson in Kerala Forestry Board, President of the Kerala Children's Film Society, editor of Poet magazine and poetry editor of Illustrated Weekly of India.
15.
Kamala Surayya Das is best remembered for her controversial writings where she openly talks about the restriction imposed on women.
16.
Kamala Surayya is known for her rebellious nature against the patriarchal conventions.
17.
Kamala Surayya holds the UNESCO Peace Chair and is a professor of geopolitics at the Manipal University.
18.
Kamala Surayya had been a resident editor of The Times of India.
19.
Kamala Surayya converted to Islam in 1999 and announced that she planned to marry her Muslim lover, but she never remarried.
20.
Kamala Surayya's body was flown to her home state of Kerala.
21.
Kamala Surayya was interred at the Palayam Juma Masjid at Thiruvananthapuram with full state honour.
22.
Kamala Surayya contested as an independent candidate and received only 1786 votes.
23.
Kamala Surayya was depressed after the results and was advised to rest at her sister's house in Anamalai hills.
24.
Kamala Surayya wrote over twenty poems in this series, but only eleven have been published: eight of them in Indian Literature journal by the Sahitya Akademi and an additional three of them in the book The Best of Kamala Das.
25.
Kamala Surayya was born in a conservative Hindu Nair family, and married to Aristrocratic Menon family which is having royal ancestry.
26.
Kamala Surayya converted to Islam on 11 December 1999, at the age of 65 and assumed the name Kamala Surayya.
27.
Kamala Surayya Das has received many awards for her literary contribution, including:.