Google Doodle celebrates work and life of Kamala Das

New Delhi : Google Doodle on Thursday (February 1) celebrated work and life of Kamala Das, who was one of the voices that began featuring in cult anthologies in the 1960s when art in Calcutta was undergoing a tumultuous time.

Kamala Das was popularly known with her one name Madhavikutty, she was born in Punnayurkulam, Thrissur District in Kerala, on 31 March 1934, to the former managing editor of Mathrubhoomi VM Nair and Nalapat Balamani Amma, a renowned Malayali poet.

She spent her childhood in Calcutta (now Kolkata), where her father was employed with Walford Transport Company.

Like mother, she also was fascinated to writing since her early stage of life. She developed love for poem too at an early age.

Kamala Das tied knot with Madhava Das, a banker by profession, at an age of 15 years. He encouraged her to write afterwhich she started publishing her work in English and Malyalam.

On February 1, 1976 she published her autobiography with title "My Story". Her life and work had a certain boldness and shape-shifting quality, whether it was the many genres she wrote in or the various languages in which she expressed herself.

In the autobiography she mentioned about her life from childhood to marriage and beyond. Her relatives, among others, tried to block her autobiography from being published and released; but many others were left spellbound by her honesty and the way she expressed herself through words.

She was honoured with Sahitya Academy Award in 1984, one of the many awards she received in her lifetime.