Memories of a meeting: Kamala exuded warmth,wistfulness
Remembering someone like Kamala Surayya,an Indian writer of equal repute in English and Malayalam who courted controversy through her explosive writings and also by embracing Islam...
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Remembering someone like Kamala Surayya,an Indian writer of equal repute in English and Malayalam who courted controversy through her explosive writings and also by embracing Islam,should be a complex process. But my personal interaction with her leaves me with only simple memories of a graceful lady who exuded warmth and also an aura of wistfulness for things that could not be.
My first and only personal meeting with Madhavikutty occurred by chance. When the suggestion came from my friend Suresh Kohli,those days a frequent visitor to NFAI as also a film historian and poet and whose association with Madhavikutty and her family dated back to their Mumbai days,I jumped at the opportunity.
It was an afternoon in June 2007 when I accompanied Suresh to her sixth-floor apartment on NIBM Road in Kondhwa,hoping at best to meet her for not more than half-an-hour. Ammu,the attendant of Madhavikutty,opened the door and in a few minutes the lady herself entered the drawing room on a wheelchair with a smile that carried so much warmth that I immediately felt at home.
Although she was looking physically weak,she seemed to be in high spirits. When Suresh introduced me to her as the director of the National Film Archive of India,she started talking enthusiastically about cinema. I recollect that there were mentions about Ingmar Bergman,Kurosawa and others.
Suddenly,she started talking about a film made on her by a young man back in Kerala. As an archivist I was curious to know about it. She suddenly plunged into a mood of depression and revealed that the producer was not willing to allow the screening of the film unless his investment was compensated for.
Before I realised,we had spent almost three hours with her. She kept on talking about many things including jewellery,painting,and her grandchildren Jaysuryas daughters who were expected back from school. In between she called Ammu and ordered snacks and tea. All along she exuded such warmth that I felt I had known her for years.
Somewhere during the conversation she confessed that she regretted a certain crucial decision she took in her life,saying it was a grave error. She conceded that she was a little credulous and people took advantage of that. She,however,did not hide the fact that she missed Kerala.
When we got up to leave,she pulled out two books and autographed them To Sasidharan with love from Kamala Das. One was an anthology of her poems in English and the other,a voluminous collection of her stories in Malayalam. She held my hands in her frail hands and said in Malayalam,meaning dont forget that your elder sister is around.
Come again.
I promised to visit her sooner but that did not happen. It took almost two years for me to visit her again. That was on February 27,2009. I happened to be among a group of nearly 20 people who went to her residence to felicitate her for the award conferred on her by the Pravasi Shabdam,a Malayalam magazine published from Pune. Eminent filmmaker Adoor Gopalkrishan felicitated her on her contribution to Malayalam literature.
But that day Madhavikutty was looking very weak and her voice was so feeble that it was barely audible. But even when she was very sick she was conscious of how she looked and made it a point to have her make-up on.
But what I will cherish forever is our interaction in 2007,something that will remain etched in my memory.
(KS Sasidharan is former director of National Film Archive of India and currently is director of MITs International School of Broadcasting and Journalism,Pune)
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