Gift him all,
Gift him what makes you woman,
The scent of
Long hair, the musk of sweat between
The breasts.
The warm shock of menstrual blood
And all your
Endless female hungers. Oh, yes,
Getting a man to love is easy but living
Without him afterwards may have to be faced.

Don Suseelan remembers Kamala Das:

Madhavikutty, Kamala Das, Amy, Kamala Suarayya. Each equally hated and loved. She was the eternal seeker of love. The most famous Indian English writer. Critics couldn’t categorize her and so they hated her for it. Most of the famous writers in India grudged her fame and they secretly hated her, the very same people must now be pouring out glowing tributes to her.

She was crazy, they said. She was a bad influence on the ‘pativratha’, the traditional Indian woman. What would happen if the women whose role in society was to stay in kitchens and prepare food and raise children were to go out in the streets and write about what happened in their bedrooms?

Rajesh pays a short but thoughtful tribute:

Madhavikkutty, as she is known to her malayalam readers, tormented them in more ways than they could’ve bargained for. She was loved when she was not hated.

At Kerala Online, more details on her life and career.