The Voice of Indian Women's in the Poetry of Kamala Das

Kamala Das is one of the major poets in contemporary Indian English literature mainly known because of her fiery voice in her poems. In her poems feminine sensibilities find its best The Voice of a Rebel Woman against Patriarchy: A Study of Kamala Das"s Poems expression. Though her works are generally labeled as autobiographical and confessional, her open treatment of female sexuality and guileless guiltless frankness in writing make her a rebel icon among the Indian poets. Unlike other poets her poetry is free from “19th century diction, sentiment and romanticized love”. Her poems are filled with a crystal-clear note and tone of a rebel woman as she speaks openly about her position in male dominated society and with its prevalent orthodox patriarchal mores where “one is not born a woman; rather, one becomes a woman.” Eunice de Souza claims that Das has “mapped out the terrain for post-colonial women in social and linguistic terms.” She has transcended the role of a poet and her books of poems become the language of a rebel woman who observes and examines the silences of Indian women and criticizes the patriarchal hegemony through her open and fiery lines. In Indian society where speaking of sex or passion is considered as dirty or taboo but Kamala Das uses the very things as medium of protest in her poems because these are the very things that the women are supposed to give unconditionally. This paper would try to point out the elements and tone of a rebel woman poet as she quite openly speaks about her subjugated position in society against patriarchal conventions.