THE FEMININE PSYCHE IN THE POEMS OF KAMALA DAS AND JAYAPRABHA: A Brief Study

D. Bala Tripura Sundari

The post independence poetic output has a distinguished place for the women poets across the country. Most of these women poets got disentangled from the “Romantic escapism” and are more cool and straightforward in their expression.

This is a natural consequence of the cry for gender justice all the world over. The influence of the feminist movements of the west, obviously is reflected in many writings particularly in poetry which can be the most subjective of all literary genres. Modern Indian women clamour for equal dignity, status and treatment on all fronts. The spirit of liberation is voiced by many a woman individually and collectively.

The subjectivism of the modern poetry itself is the base of the most celebrated American poets like Sylvia Plath Annie Sexton, Judith Sitwell. Among the Indo-Anglian women writers, Kamala Das, Gauri Deshpande, and Mamata Kalia are some of the earliest experimentists. Most of their works are influenced by the feminist trends.

The contemporary women poets attempted to project ‘woman’ as a victim of inadequacies and suppression. At the same time they tried to project that the failure at one point of life is not the termination of ‘individual’, but the rejuvenation of a new ‘self’.

The poetic output of Kamala Das has many dimensions; and it is interesting to note the many similarities in the poetry of Jayaprabha an eminent progressive Telugu poet. The aspects of self-assertion, condemnation of injustice are strikingly similar in the works of both. Of course the poetic corpus of Kamala das is much wider compared to that of Jayaprabha. Nevertheless the tone of non-conformity to tradition is quite unique in both.

The three major collections of Kamala Das are ‘Summer in Calcuatta’, ‘The Descendants’ and ‘the old playhouse and other poems’. Her poems are branded as obsessional and confessional. The recurring themes of her poetry are love, sex, loneliness with an occasional undercurrent of self-introspection fringing by philosophy. Interestingly her introspection is not a preface to self-Denial but a firm foundation to self-assertion.

Kamala Das champions the cause of womanhood entangled in the marital cobwebs. She writes about ‘love’ from a woman’s perspective. To her, the centre of love is not the blind worship of husband but the communication of love.

As she deals with the conflict between passivity and rebellion against the male-dominated universe, her tussle with love, sex, lust, womanhood, motherhood has centered itself upon her myriad relationships with her husband and other men in her life. This forms the core of the poem ‘composition’ and other poems in ‘The descendants’.

Her rebellion against captivity and the attempt to achieve true freedom physically, emotionally and spiritually is expressed in the poem ‘Introduction’. The experience of individual existence of a woman is the central theme of ‘Introduction’. She wants to assert her freedom to choose the language most suitable to express herself.

Which is the true self of Woman? She postulates – ‘A name’? ‘A legion’? or Beyond?

“Dress in sarees, be girl or be wife

They cried. Be embroiderer, cook

or a quareller with servants”

(Introduction)

She is instructed to restrict herself to ‘Amy’, ‘Kamala’ or ‘Madhavi Kutty’.

Here, the poet protests against the conservatism imposed on women.

Why not woman dress the way she likes

just as men do?

Why not she choose the language she likes?

Why not she be herself – a poet?

Her protest against the orthodoxy which relegates the status of woman to that of a piece of furniture is transparent in this poem. She was disapproved by her family for wearing men’s clothes. In turn she disapproves any ritual or custom imposed by the caste – based conservative society.

AN INTRODUCTION

Don’t write in English, they said,

English is not your mother tongue.

Why not leave

Me alone critics, friends, visiting cousins,

Everyone of you?…….

Then……. I wore a shirt and my

Brother’s trousers, cut my hair short and

ignored

My womanliness. Dress in saris, be girl

Be wife, they said……..

It is time to

Choose a name, a role……….

I am sinner,

I am saint. I am beloved and the

Betrayed. I too call myself ‘I’.

It is interesting to study many parallels between the poetry of Kamala Das and that of some of the contemporary Telugu poets like Kondepudi Nirmala, Jyaprabha etc.,

The published works of Jayaprabha are ‘Yudhonmukhamga’; ‘Vamanudi Mudopadam’ ‘Ikkada Kurisina Varsham Ekkadi Meghanido’; ‘Yasodhara Ee Vagapenduke’.

Most of her poems are well received and well criticised also. She also has definite views about the aspects like ‘The rights and duties of woman’, ‘The Psuedo-statement on morals in the male-chauvenistic society’, ‘The need to bring in awareness among women’ etc.

She is acclaimed as a feminist writer.

The feminine sensibility is as transparent in her poetry as the poetry of Kamala Das.

In the poem ‘Paitanu Tegaleyyali’ of Jayaprabha we find many similarities with the “Introduction” of Kamala Das. The poet condemns the gender biased social customs. If ‘Half Saree’ (a part of dress in Andhra Pradesh) is a symbol of feminine abuse it should be condemned, she cries.

Jayaprabha also feels that majority of Indian women who play the role of a faithful wife and self-effacing mother are destined to live a passive, powerless and slavish life throughout.

She revolts against the heartless practices like foeticide and infanticide in the poem ‘Vamanudi Mudo Padam’.

In another poem with the heading ‘Adathanamtho-Achanchala Viswasamtho’ there is a close resemblance to the theme of ‘Jayasurya’ of Kamala Das, In which the feminine sensibility is brought to the fore.

Instead of cursing femininity both the poets at one instance feel proud of being born as women. This elevation of thought transcends the narrow confines of sexual bigotry. The yearning for the freedom of mind and soul embodied in the human being is emphasized in the poem ‘The Suicide’ of Kamala Das.

It seems to be echoed in the poem of Jayaprabha ‘Nenu Kuda Baitiki Pogaligithe’ in which she demands a solution to the eternal problems of a desperate woman and her outcry for emancipation and self-esteem.

Thus both the poets raise their voice of anguish; of rebellion; and also forge into mellow sentimentalism of maturity.

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