Kamala: The Story of a Hindu Child-Wife

by Krupabai Satthianadhan, Chandani Lokuge (Editor)

First published a century ago, Kamala is the first novel in English by an Indian woman. It poignantly portrays a high-caste Hindu woman caught in the grips of orthodoxy. Kamala's tragic story as a child-wife, mother and widow will be essential reading for scholars and students of Indian literature and of gender studies.

Genres: School, Womens

182 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Krupabai Satthianadhan (1862–1894) was one of the first Indian women to write in English, and certainly the first woman novelist in English from India.

Krupabai was born to Haripunt and Radhabai Khisty, Hindu converts to Christianity, in Ahmednagar, then in the Bombay Presidency. Her father died when she was still a child, and she was brought up by her mother and elder brother, Bhasker. Bhasker, who was much older, had a strong influence on her and endeavoured to awaken her intellect by lending her books and discussing many issues with her. However, he too died young, and Krupabai immortalised him in her semi-autobiographical novel Saguna: A Story of Native Christian Life. Her mother, though formally a Christian, still followed many Hindu practices.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Ananya M · Rating 5 out of 5]

For a book written in 1894, and by an woman, this is brilliant. The language, the syntax, the word choice, the setting, everything was so well done. We learnt of the concept of ‘the new woman’, we hear it now when women do things that only a man is deemed fit for, but look at Krupabai, she wrote a novel in the 1800’s before independence, before freedom, and she made her protagonist fierce.
Kamala as a character is learned and knowledgable, extremely rare for a woman of the time. Her father, being a priest, taught her everything there is to life, through shastras and other Hindu teachings. The only thing she didn’t know was how it would be to get married and live with the husbands family. The cruelty, the misery she would face was completely new for her, after being pampered by her doting father.
Her husband and his family insult her brutally, but she takes everything; because it is the right way to do so as a Hindu. The Hindu teachings from her father dictate every step of her life, down to the superstitions.
There is a point where she snaps, she decides that enough is enough, she will not be treated like dust anymore and she leaves her husband. For a woman to do that at the time was scandalous, sinful even. She faces so many tragedies throughout her life, and when her husband dies, and another man asks her to marry him, she refuses and chooses to stay a widow.
This is one of the biggest tellers of a new woman, choosing to be independent was unheard of. Being educated was even worse in their eyes! But Kamala was both, which is why her character is one of a kind. I tip my nonexistent hat to Krupabai, she was truly an icon.

[Hamster · Rating 4 out of 5]

The preface is not exaggerating: Satthianadhan really was as good a writer as many of the English masters.

She hits a lot of the same points of sentimentality as, say, Dickens or Austen, but she pairs that with a far greater interest in religion. Her take on Hinduism here is fascinating, as she seems to be interested in a variety of approaches to Hinduism and the different effects on personal lives that these can have. Ultimately, the struggle in this novel is the question of how to live virtuously, wisely, and closer to God. How these interact with different strands of Hinduism make for a very compelling read.

The prose is also so pleasant. All of the narration is well written, but the descriptions of nature are particularly powerful.

All in all, I enjoyed reading it quite a bit, and was genuinely moved by the ending. What more can you want?

[Vishwa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kamala: The Story of a Hindu Child-Wife was one of those rare novels that I had the great opportunity of reading, in this sort of an era, where the certain manoeuvres given in the book are something that can not even be imagined at this time,when the earth has progressed so much that it has gone on to a complete next level.
I guess, this book's main accomplishment arises when it is able to draw out the outrageous huffs and puffs from the reader after reading its extreme injustice incidents. There had been more than one instance when I felt like actually clouting many characters in the book real hard.
Well, aside from this perspective, I think the author has greatly accomplished in portraying the outright difficult situations the protagonist, or Kamala has gone through, perfectly well too.
More to it, the protagonist's husband or Ganeshpunt, is such a notable pompous man who has as much promise over his words as a BPL line, and he is indeed a very rare character, according to me, the author has portrayed in this book.
Over and over, a great read.

[Jessica DMJ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read this for a 19C Brit Novels class. Was in the midst of recovering from a concussion while reading. Idk if it was because of that, but I found this book terribly dry, despite its interesting premise and historical context. It was a drag for me.

[Scopic]

Read for my Victorian Literature class.
Feels weird to rate this, so I won't.

[Kenan Imirzalioglu]

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