| 1. Kamala Surraya, an Indian author and poet, wrote under the pen name Madhavikutty. |
| 2. She received awards such as the PEN Asian Poetry Prize and the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award. |
| 3. In 1999, after 64 years of practicing Hinduism, Kamala Das converted to Islam. |
| 4. At the time of her death, Kamala was widowed and had a relationship with Sadiq Ali, a Muslim League leader. |
| 5. Kamala had four children, one of whom was a foster son. |
| 6. She wrote poems and short stories in English and Malayalam. |
| 7. Her autobiography 'My Story' stirred popularity and controversy. |
| 8. Kamala Das died on 31/05/2009 from Respiratory Failure. |
| 9. Her final book 'The Kept Woman and Other Stories' was published after her passing. |
| 10. She received the PEN Asian Poetry Prize in 1963 for her contributions to Indian English poetry. |
| 11. Her autobiography 'My Story' (Ente Katha in Malayalam) was originally serialized in the weekly Malayalanadu in 1973 and later translated into English in 1976, becoming a bestseller translated into 15 languages. |
| 12. She converted to Islam on 11 December 1999 at the age of 65 and assumed the name Kamala Surayya. |
| 13. She launched the Lok Seva Party, a national political party promoting secularism and aid for orphaned mothers, and contested the 1984 Lok Sabha election unsuccessfully. |
| 14. She served as Vice-chairperson of Kerala Sahitya Akademi, chairperson of Kerala Forestry Board, President of Kerala Children's Film Society, editor of Poet magazine, and poetry editor of Illustrated Weekly of India. |
| 15. Notable Malayalam works include the short-story collection Thanuppu (1967) and memoir Balyakalasmaranakal (1987). |
| 16. A famous Malayalam short story is Neypayasam. |
| 17. She received the Asian World Prize for Literature in 1985. |
| 18. Google celebrated her legacy with a Doodle on 1 February 2019 by artist Manjit Thapp. |
