My Story by Kamala Das is an autobiography. The title `My Story` is self-explanatory as it reveals the author`s own life story. Kamala Das was born on 31st March, 1934 in Malabar, Kerala. She was known as one of India`s foremost poetesses. She started writing poems at a very early age and was influenced by her uncle Nalapat Narayan Menon who was a prominent writer. Kamala Das was also affected by the poems of her mother. She was privately educated until the age of 15 until she got married to K. Madhava Das.
Synopsis of My Story
The tone of the autobiography is quite outspoken in nature. As a result the book was drawn into a number of controversies. It presents several details about the author`s life including her strained relationship with her husband. Kamala Das had a natural flair for both Malayalam language and English. The book faced several controversies as it contains some frank discussion from the author about her quest for love inside and outside the marriage. In the book, Kamala Das had written about the then society and its conventional conservativeness. The book was written with a clear vision about her relationships and the various aspects of traditional society. My Story shocked the mainstream Kerala with its candid accounts of her encounters with men. As an artist, her paintings included nude ones. In this piece of work of Kamala Das clearly depicted the intensely personal experiences including her growth into womanhood, her unsuccessful quest for love in and outside marriage, and her living in matriarchal rural South India after inheriting her ancestral home.
My Story by Kamala Das was published in the year 1977. `My story` is a masterwork by Kamala Das. She raised many topics in this book, which are still under cover. She was much ahead of her time and this book is the perfect example of her far sightedness. My Story by Kamala Das is worth reading.