Kamala Das

Hello Readers!!!

An Introduction by Kamala Das

Here is the link to a Poem by Kamala Das

Kamala Das, Malayalam pen name Madhavikutty, Muslim name Kamala Surayya, born March 31, 1934, Thrissur, Malabar Coast now in Kerala, British India—died May 31, 2009, Pune, India, Indian author who wrote openly and frankly about female sexual desire and the experience of being an Indian woman.

'An Introduction by Kamala Das describes the poet's own mental and emotional state as she aged and pushed back against patriarchal society. 'An Introduction begins with the speaker, Das, stating that she knows all the male leaders of India. Their names are a part of her, a tribute to their overwhelming power.

The poem is titled “An Introduction”, which means a formal presentation of oneself. The poem is a detailed account of Kamala Das' life and her conflicts starting from her childhood and early adolescence. She begins the poem with a reference to politics, as a domain beyond her knowledge and expertise.

The major theme of most of her poems is the quest for love and her failure to find fulfillment of love in life. Kamala Das is a confessional poet who displays feminist ethos in her poems. Her poems are the outcome of her intensely felt personal experience which she expresses honestly and with great conviction.

So as part of the Study Activity, we were asked to pick any one line/word/phrase and write our own version of poetry here's my version made out through this poem.

The line I've chosen is given below...

Dress in sarees, be girl

The thing I want you all to draw attention to is Two lines here it is...

1) Women Should not Speak

2) Men don't cry

Things like this are traditional stereotypes for Gender women should not do this this this and men have to be courageous, has to have fierce, and whatever not so I tried to explain what Masculinity and feminity are going through.

Be wife, they said. Be embroiderer, be cook,

Dress in sarees, be a girl Be a wife, they said.

Be embroiderer, be cook. Little they forgot to mention is to dress for yourself dress the way you want to dress, be a strong girl, and be one of the best working wives. Cause every time woman doesn't need to sacrifice her own choice for society. She has to have her own right to herself neither father, brother, or husband, and yes of course not even later on son.

Because the ideal image of women is centered on sacrifice, religion, and calmness, kind the short woman who is going through everything silently is the ideal woman of society. and the one speaking for herself is a sinner. There's a huge difference between masculinity and feminity there are traditional gender stereotypes where women are nurturing, gentle, and home- oriented whereas men are tough, blunt, and dominant.

Nowadays we find men are as gentle and polite as women but this mentally ill society cannot accept the emotional side of men. Same that they can't accept less sensitive women at all.