Publication

Abstract : KAMALA Das, one of the strongest and prominent Indian women writers, startles us with her audacious attempts to redefine the sensibility of Indian women, negating the perception of feminism as a total rejection and avoidance of the man’s projection of the women’s experiences. Das boldly breaks all the conventions and hypocrisy which are associated with the understanding of women and their experiences. She has a different perception of the feminine sensibility, based on which she has built a powerful world for her women, which remains unshaken even today. That is why Dinesh Shukla in his Poetry of Kamala Das: The Aesthetic Dimension opines: “She (Kamala Das) changes the idiom, expression, imagery and the view about women, held for centuries as sacrosanct and religiously pious” (Shukla vii). Redefining Indian English Poetry through her voice, Das has contributed her ideas and her own self for reconstituting the concept of Indian womanhood. Das has always been mistaken for a woman who talks only about herself. When we analyze her writings in a deeper level, we realize that it is just a narrow, prejudiced and distorted view. We do not see the reality she tries to portray through her words, in our eagerness to find ‘her’ in them. Criticizing and judging a woman based on her writings itself talks loudly about our narrow and petty outlook. This paper does not examine Das as a writer of her own self. I would wish to focus on the world of women as portrayed in the poetry of Kamala Das. A world, where women try to realize their importance and the importance of the roles they play. A world where women imbibe fresh perspective towards humanity; a perspective constituted by her love, compassion, honesty, understanding, and boldness. She is trying to wake up to a new dawn of peacefulness, devoid of confusions and suspicions. The paper tries to depict a woman’s journey from her childhood to her old age: A journey from the pleasant and comfortable lap through the rough hands of unsteadiness and hurt to the dusk of avoidance and despair that leads to understanding and acceptance with an open minded and progressive spirit./p