Fiction

Female Friendships and Marriage: Lakshmi N Menon

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Translated by J Devika

[Lakshmi N Menon (1899-1994) was one of the most successful Malayali women in Indian politics  despite the fact that she never really entered formal politics, though attracted to nationalism and international politics as a student abroad in the 1920s. Her father was the well-known reformer, educationist, and rationalist Ramavarma Thampan, (her mother was Madhavikkutty Amma) and her husband the educationist and scholar V K Nandana Menon — but she was one of the rare women who were better known than their male relatives. Lakshmi N Menon was educated in Thiruvananthapuram and she worked for a time as a teacher and later as a lawyer, growing closer to social activism in the 1920s and 30s especially associated with the All-India Women’s Conference. She was a member of the Rajya Sabha in the 1950s; she represented as the head of the India delegation at the UN in the 1950s and was a Minister of State in the 1960s.  She was nominated to the Committee on the Status of Women at the UN. Continue reading “Female Friendships and Marriage: Lakshmi N Menon” →

Singer, Actor, Story-teller, Cine-artiste: M K Kamalam

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Translated by J Devika

[M K Kamalam was born in Kumarakom, Kottayam as the second daughter of Kochupilla Panikkar and Karthyayani in 1928. She rose to fame as a stage actor and was one of the first lead female actors in Malayalam cinema, who appeared in the third Malayalam movie Balan (1938).  Despite gaining much fame as an artiste, Kamalam drew back into domesticity and was soon forgotten, until she was rediscovered towards the end of the twentieth century. Sajitha Madathil’s short biography of Kamalam from which this excerpt is drawn (S Madathil, M K Kamalam, Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala State Chalachitra Akademi, 2010) reveals the immense talent and tenacity that a woman needed in order to enter theatre and cinema in the early 20th century. ] Continue reading “Singer, Actor, Story-teller, Cine-artiste: M K Kamalam” →

19th Century Malayali Dalit Women, Missionaries and the Quest for Faith in Christianity: Vinil Paul

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Translated by J Devika

The entry of Kerala’s dalit people into Christianity was made possible by the three missionary organizations that arrived in the 19th century: the London Mission Society (LMS) (arrival: 1806), the Church Missionary Society (CMS) (1816), and the Basel Mission (BM), which reached Malabar in 1836. The missionary archives reveals that the individuals who joined the centres set up by missionaries were mostly dalit women. Continue reading “19th Century Malayali Dalit Women, Missionaries and the Quest for Faith in Christianity: Vinil Paul” →

Wives of Officials Not to Contest Election? — Dr (Mrs) T Francis

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[In response to the restriction on the wives of officials contesting the elections. Dr (Mrs T) Francis, who was elected from the Ernakulam constituency to represent women, objected strongly to this. Proceedings of the Cochin Legislative Council, 8 February 1947, pp 475-76. Dr Mrs T Francis was a passionate advocate for women’s rights in the Cochin Legislative Council, though sadly enough we do not know much about her. ] Continue reading “Wives of Officials Not to Contest Election? — Dr (Mrs) T Francis” →

Resolution Banning Untouchability in Kochi: Dakshayani Velayudhan

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[Speaking in the discussion on a resolution demanding a ban on untouchability through a Royal Proclamation. Proceedings of the Cochin Legislative Assembly 11 August 1945, 635-36 . This is originally in Malayalam; I have translated it below.] Continue reading “Resolution Banning Untouchability in Kochi: Dakshayani Velayudhan” →

Between Two Independent Minds: I C Chacko and Nidheerikkal Mariam

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[ Excerpts from ‘Kudumbajeevitham’, from the biography of the renowned geologist and scholar I C Chacko, by Mathew Ulakamthara — I C Chacko, Thiruvananthapuram: Dept of Cultural Publications, 1995, 111-13]

Mrs I C Chacko, or Mariam Nidheerikkal, was a vocal, articulate defender of women’s rights in early twentieth century Kerala. One of her speeches is included in the Speeches page. This account of her marriage clearly is by someone barely sympathetic to her. Continue reading “Between Two Independent Minds: I C Chacko and Nidheerikkal Mariam” →

At the Dawn of Youth: Balamani Amma

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Translated by J Devika

[This beautiful piece by Balamani Amma is not only a masterpiece that displays her fine craft, it is also open to a queer reading — I have hardly come across such a beautiful tribute to a ‘girl-friend’. Balamani Amma’s adolescent fascination for the poetry of Mrs Hemans makes it really possible] Continue reading “At the Dawn of Youth: Balamani Amma” →

Looking at My Life : Balamani Amma

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Translated by J Devika

[Balamani Amma, ‘Jeevitam — Ente Nottathil’, in Ammayude Lokam, Mathrubhumi Books, Kozhikode, 2007′ first published, Mathrubhumi Weekly, 1951]

Nalappatt Balamani Amma (1909-2004) was born in Malabar and rose to become a prominent modern poet in Malayalam, imbibing the energy of exciting social change in her times, and taking, in many of her early poems, the voice of the’new mother’ in the 1930s. However Balamani Amma’s poetry goes far beyond sentimental maternalism, and her thought went beyond articulation from the gendered positions offered to women within modern Malayalam literature. Her uncle, Nalappat Narayana Menon, was a well-known cultural and literary figure in Malayalam. She was married in 1928, and spent a large part of her life with her husband VM Nair in Kolkata. She received the Sahityanipuna prize from Pareekshit Raja of Kochi in 1947 and subsequently won the highest literary awards for Malayalam literature in post-independence Kerala, which culminated in a Padmabhooshan in 1978. Her daughter Kamala (Kamala Das, Madhavikkutty, Kamala Surayya) is one of Malayalam’s greatest literary lights whose fame and eminence has only grown since her passing in 2010. Continue reading “Looking at My Life : Balamani Amma” →

Manly Duty: K Lakshmi Amma

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Translated by J Devika

[this is an earlier version of a translation that appeared in my book Her-Self, from Stree/Samya, Kolkata, 2005. For a fuller, annotated version, please refer the book ]

 

[ ‘Purushadharmam’, Sharada 1 (8) M. E. 1081 Mithunam (June-July 1905- 6): 175-77]

 

A number of articles propounding various sorts of duties like Wifely Duty, Womanly Duty and so on are frequently seen these days; I have often wondered why nothing is being published on the Duty of Husbands, or Manly Duty, likewise. Is it that only women are unmindful of their duties? On the other hand, is it that men have no responsibilities? Such qualms do arise. The responsibilities to be borne by men and women are almost equal. It cannot be said that one party has more, or less, than the other does. Continue reading “Manly Duty: K Lakshmi Amma” →