Introduction of the Poem:
Taken from Kamala Das' collection of poems, Summer in Calcutta (1965), this poem is wholly autobiographical. It may be called a confessional poem because here the poet takes the reader into confidence with regard to strictly personal and private matters. An Introduction shows Kamala Das’ candour in dealing with sex, with body functions, etc. It shows her capacity for self - assertion. We here have a poem of revolt against conventionalism and against the restraints that society has been imposing on women.
Critical Summary:
The poem begins by Kamala Das telling us that, although she does not know much about politics, she knows the names of persons, beginning with Nehru, who wields political power in the country. She describes herself as an Indian, of a very brown complexion, born in Malabar, having the ability to speak three languages, writing actually in two languages, and dreaming in the third. She then speaks sarcastically about the many relatives and friends who used to advise her not to write in English because English is not her mother tongue. She takes such advisers to task because she claims the right to speak and write in any language she likes.
As she grew up, her limbs swelled, and hair sprouted in one or two parts of her body. Then she asked for love. What she got was a husband (she was married at fifteen), who had sex with her in the crudest possible manner. This made her miserable.
Her advisers urged her to do some embroidery or cooking, and also to keep quarrelling with the servants. They told her to call herself Amy or Kamala or, better still, Madhavikutty, not to pretend to be a split personality, and not to become a nymphomaniac. Finally, Kamala Das describes herself thus:
I am sinner,
I am saint. I am the beloved and the
Betrayed. I have no joys which are yours, no
Aches which are not yours. I too call myself I.
It implies that she is no different from other human beings. Like them, she is sometimes sinful and sometimes pious; she is sometimes loved and sometimes betrayed in love; she has the same joys in life which others have, and she suffers the same disappointments that others suffer.
This short poem is a self - portrait of Kamala Das and the anatomy of her mind as she recounts the major incidents of her life as well as the experiences which affected her the most when she wrote the poem. She chooses the right words, and the poem is remarkable for its compression and its compact structure. Her brief picture of her husband's rough treatment is an outstanding example of her felicity of word and phrase:
He did not beat me
But my sad - woman body felt so beaten.
The weight of my breasts and womb crushed me. I shrank
Pitifully. Then....
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