Kamala Das and the dying house

Kamala Das (1934-2009), born in Kerala, was a major writer in Malayalam and English, known for her bold, feminist writing about womanhood.

In her poem 'Blood' she remembers her childhood. She and her brother played on the sands, drawing birds and animals.

Their great-grandmother told them that the old family house, three hundred years old, was falling apart: its walls were cracked, its tiles had fallen, rats ran about at night, and the snake-shrine was dark with weeds, with lichen growing on the hoods of the snake-gods.

Already the house is described as if it were alive and in pain: its windows 'whine and groan'. This personification prepares us for the end of the poem, when the house seems to grieve and die.

She wept, and said it hurt her to watch the house she loved die.

The child promised that when she grew up and became very rich, she would rebuild the house. The old lady only smiled.