'The Epitome Of Simplicity'

The death of Indo-British novelist Kamala Markandaya at the age of 80 on May 16, 2004, did not come as ashock to me though my acceptance of the news was accompanied by deep sadness.  I was aware thatMarkandaya had been ailing for several years. What began as frequent migraine attacks, about which she hadcomplained to me in 2001 and which had rendered her largely home-bound, ended up in a series of ailments thatultimately took her life. 

And what a productive life it had been! Born in a small town in Mysore in 1924, Markandaya married anEnglishman, Bertrand Taylor, and emigrated to England in 1948 where she spent the rest of her life and raisedher only child, a daughter named Kim Oliver. Within a few years of her arrival in the West, she published herfirst novel, Nectar in a Sieve which became an international bestseller that was translated intoseveral languages. 

With the success of her very first novel, Markandaya achieved a loyal readership, was lauded for her acuteinsights into the lives of Indian peasantry (gleaned, in fact, from her own 18-month "experiment in ruralliving" when she had actually lived among the villagers), and was inspired to continue to write novelsthat explored the complex, complicated relationships between India and the West. 

She belonged to what one might term the first generation of Indian women novelists who tackled the problemsof exile and immigrant angst, diasporic discomfort and racial tension, inter-racial relationships and thedemise of Indian royalty. Her deep love for Indian history was reflected in the themes she chose to explorethrough the ten novels she produced over a thirty year long creative life. In particular, her works straddledthe divide between the demise of the British Raj and the emergence in India of post-colonial attitudes towardsprogress. Based frequently upon her own experiences and observations of life in India and the West,Markandaya'a novels are highly autobiographical 

Known as much for her reclusive nature as for her literary talent, Markandaya chose to live a verycloistered existence in Dulwich in Central London, shunning the press or public interest and caring little forscholarly opinion of her work. Given the mystique that surrounded her life, I consider myself deeplyprivileged to have had the opportunity to work directly with this distinguished woman in London through aBritish Council Visitor's Grant. While stationed at Exeter College, University of Oxford, where I wasresearching English in India and Markandaya's novels in particular, I had the rare chance of interviewing her,discussing the more problematic aspects of her novels and receiving permission from her to use quotes from ourinterviews in my subsequent book of literary criticism in which I closely examined aspects of "Indianness"in her writing. 

She revealed to me that she had made an exception in my case because she had been a recipient of BritishCouncil largesse herself on first arriving in England and saw the opportunity to work with me as a means ofrepaying the Council's generosity to her. I, of course, was delighted at her willingness to give me freely ofher time and insights. I will never forget the High Tea to which she treated me at Fortnum and Mason inLondon, upon the conclusion of my research in 1987. 

She was a petite woman, soft-spoken and refined, with a clipped Oxbridge accent. Clad in a traditionalIndian silk sari and sporting a small red bindi on her forehead, she was the epitome of simplicity. Westayed in touch over the years through letters and phone conversations but she remained firm in her resolve toresist requests for any further meetings with scholars or writers.

Markandaya's novels are prescribed frequently in the USA on courses that cover South Asian Civilization. Myown courses taught at New York University frequently feature her work. My American students are alwaysprofoundly moved by the poignant accounts of poverty and struggle embodied in her writing that neverdegenerate into a depressing view of Indian peasant life but are often uplifting accounts of mankind'sstruggle over adversity. Though she shunned the limelight, her work spoke for itself and has ensured for her avery special place in South Asian Writing in English.

Dr. Rochelle Almeida is the author of  Originality and Imitation: Indianness in the Novels ofKamala Markandaya (Rawat, Jaipur, India, 2000)