1

Kamala Das (1934 – 2009):

Kamala Das (also known as Kamala Madhavikutty or Kamala Suraiyya), a major Indian author

writing both in English and Malayalam, was born in Kerala. She authored poems, short stories

and her autobiography and was noted for her frank treatment of the experiences of being a

woman.

“An Introduction”

Kamala Das’s poem “An Introduction” projects the voice of a girl who rebels against the norms

and dictates of a patriarchal (male-dominated) society that ask her to ‘fit in’ and ‘belong’ against

her wishes. The poem is in confessional mode as the poet / speaker confesses / relates the various

personal (often very painful) experiences of life. The poem was published in her first poetry

collection, Summer in Calcutta (1965). 

The poem begins with the assertion, ‘I don’t know politics, but I know the names of those in

power’ (beginning with Nehru) which shows her distaste for politics in a country where politics

is considered a domain for men. By challenging that she can repeat their names as easily as days

of the week or the names of months, echoes that there is nothing extra-ordinary about them, they

are mere agents of their time / age.

She proudly asserts her identity that she is an “Indian, very brown, born in Malabar” who can

“speak three languages, write in two, dream in one”. Then she speaks defiantly about her right to

write in any language she likes. In response to the suggestions that she should not ‘write in
 2

English’, she decides otherwise. Her response is a counter-voice to her critics regarding the

appropriation of a colonial language (here, English) to serve native needs.

‘Categorizers’ is an allusion (reference) to those people who group others in different structures /

brackets / stereo-types. The language she speaks is essentially hers. Her language may be half

English, half Indian and funny, but it is honest; it is the imperfections that render it individual

and human. It is the language in which she expresses her joys, sorrows and hopes. It comes to

her naturally as cawing comes to the crows or roaring to the lions.

The poem next takes up the subject of sexual politics. She was a “child” (innocent, unaware) and

knew that she grew up as others opined that she grew in size and there were physical changes.

The speaker talks about the bewildering experiences of her teenage life: her thirst for love and

her first sexual encounter that leaves her physically and emotionally traumatized. Married at the

young age of sixteen, she does not receive her husband’s true love, rather becomes a victim of

his sexual urges. Her sad “woman-body” feels “beaten”. She feels ashamed of her femininity

which she regards responsible for this predicament.

She tries to overcome it by becoming a tomboy. She cuts her hair short and dons her brother’s

clothes. She defies the gender code by dressing up as a man and ignoring her “womanliness”.

But people start instructing her not to sit on the walls and ask her to dress up in “sarees” and be a

girl / woman. They tell her to “fit in” / conform to the various socially accepted roles of a

woman: “wife”, “embroiderer” or “cook”. They think that she has schizophrenia (a disorder that
 3

results in the misinterpretation of reality). They confuse her want of love and attention for

nymphomania (insatiable sexual craving). 

She explains her encounter with a man whom she has loved. He is “every man who wants a

woman”. She attributes him with a common noun, “every man” to reflect his universality. She

regards herself as “every woman” in her search for true love. Sadly she finds that the men she

encounters define themselves by the term “I” which reflects the supreme male ego. “In this

world, he is tightly packed like the Sword in its sheath” — it is an ironical image of the male

power. While it can kill or control others, it is well protected within its sheath / cover.

She does not hide the pangs of her lonely soul / self: the loneliness, the drinking bouts, the

insomnia, the search for love, her laughter and her shame. People may consider her a “sinner”,

but she has been frank and honest about herself. Eventually a reader comes to understand that

she is trying to come in terms with her own independence and identity as both “saint” and

“sinner.” She wants to be loved well, but gets betrayed / jilted, so she keeps on searching for true

love. The ending lines of the poem, “I have no joys that are not yours, no / Aches which are not

yours. I too call myself I” are very assertive. In her “joys” as well “aches”, the speaker represents

every woman. A role-reversal occurs as the speaker too calls herself “I”, claiming her identity

and self-assertion as a woman against the patriarchal dominance.

********************************