Kamala Markandaya

Kamala Markandaya Biography

Kamala Purnaiya Taylor, known by the pseudonym Kamala Markandaya was an Indian novelist and journalist from Mysore. She is known for her selective themes about culture clash between Indian urban and rural societies. Her first published novel, Nectar in a Sieve, was a bestseller and cited as an American Library Association Notable Book in 1955. Some Inner Fury (1955), A Silence of Desire (1960), Possession (1963), A Handful of Rice (1966), The Nowhere Man (1972), Two Virgins (1973), The Golden Honeycomb (1977), and Pleasure City (1982) are her other notable works. After Indian independence, Markandaya moved to Britain, though she called herself an Indian expatriate long afterwards.

She was born as Kamala Purnaiya in 1924 in Chimakurti, a small southern village of Karnataka and she lived as a traditional Brahmin Hindu girl. She studied History at University of Madras. While studying at the University, she worked as a journalist. During this time, she published many short stories as well. "Nectar in a Sieve" was her first published work with rural India as main theme. This work was written third, but became most popular among her works. In 1948 she moved to London to pursue her dreams as a writer. She met Bertrand Taylor, a native Englishman and got married. The couple has one daughter, Kim Oliver, who currently resides in England.

In her lifetime, Kamala published 10 novels, all dealing with post-colonial themes in modern India. Social distinctions and the differences between people living in poverty and wealth are beautifully drawn in her stories. ‘Nectar in a Sieve’ became a bestseller in March, 1955. ‘Some Inner Fury’ is a semi biographical work about a young Indian woman, Mira, who falls in love with an Englishman, Robert and finally choses her own people. Markandaya died on May 16, 2004. Her last work, Bombay Tiger was published posthumously in 2008.

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Updated: December 24, 2013