PUNE: Miles away from her native State Kerala, writer Kamala Surayya who spent her last days in Pune, will have a memorial in the form of a library named after her in the city.
The library which will have most of the books authored by Kamala Das in Malayalam will be housed in the office of ‘Pravasi Shabdam,’ a Malayalam magazine published from Pune.
Since her books written in English are easily available, we thought we should have the Malayalam collection for the benefit of Keralites settled here, ‘Pravasi Shabdam’ editor K Harinarayanan said.
Harinarayanan, who was in constant contact with Kamala, who died here on May 31 after a protracted illness and diabetic complications, claimed that the bilingual writer who had embraced Islam a decade ago was keen to hear ‘harinama kirtan’ at her dying moments.
Amma, the maid-servant who lived with Das like a shadow recited the devotional lines as wished by her, he said.
An ailing Kamala had come to Pune from Kochi to stay with her son Jaisurya Das in 2007. Though she had been leading a reclusive life in Pune, she was extremely happy to receive a memento presented to her at her residence by noted film-maker Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Harinarayanan said. During her Pune days, Kamala Das penned some English poems and contributed to ‘Pravasi Shabdam,’ he said.
The proposed library, which will have the Malayalam version of ‘My Story,’ is expected to become functional within a week.
Meanwhile, the Kerala Government is planning to convert the writer’s flat in Kochi into a museum where things used by her would be preserved, sources said.
75-year-old Kamala Das, whose uninhibited writings encompassing the torrent of female passion jolted the puritans, was buried as per Islamic rites with State honours in Thiruvananthapuram.