LUCID INTERVAL

Any discussion on 'Love Jihad' remains incomplete without mentioning the renowned Kerala-based author, Kamala Das—also known as Kamala Surayya. As it happens, this Kamala Das (alias Kamala Surayya) is now in 'paradise'—presumably in the company of 72 strapping men. Kamala Das was a well-known author from Kerala who wrote under the pen name 'Madhavikutty'. She hailed from a royal family in Kerala and belonged to the Nair community. Following the passing of her husband—at which time she was 65 years old—she found herself living in solitude. Yet, she remained filled with intense sexual desires. She had three adult sons, all of whom held prominent positions. One son, Madhav Das Nalapat, served as the Chief Editor of *The Times of India* and later became a high-ranking official at UNESCO; his wife is a princess from the former princely state of Travancore. Another son, Chimman Das, is a diplomat in the Foreign Service, while a third son is a Congress party MLA in Kerala. A friend of one of her sons—Abdussamad Samadani (also known as Sadiq Ali), a Member of Parliament from the Muslim League party—used to frequent her home. He was 32 years her junior. This Muslim League MP pursued Kamala—a woman old enough to be his mother—and ensnared her, not in a web of love, but in a web of sex. Kamala herself described their encounters in a manner reminiscent of the crude, sleazy pulp fiction found in 'Mastram'-style books. Kamala wrote that, for some reason, her sexual desires had only intensified with age. She became devoted to Abdussamad Samadani because he was willing to satisfy those desires. Later, Kamala converted to Islam and adopted the name 'Kamala Surayya'. Her three sons were so deeply hurt by these actions that they severed all ties with her. Perhaps the most shocking detail is that, upon her conversion to Islam, a prince from Saudi Arabia sent an emissary to her home to deliver a bouquet of flowers. ...was sent, and the Government of India did not object to it. Then, in 2009, she was diagnosed with cancer. The Kerala government arranged for her admission to a hospital—first in Mumbai, and later in Pune. Her three sons and all her relatives had already severed ties with her. Her Muslim husband—to whom she was the third wife—never once visited her to check on her condition. Before she passed away, she wrote, "I wish someone had shot me the moment I fell into Samdani’s 'sex trap'." "I did not even realize that I had been ensnared as part of a political conspiracy—specifically to lure Hindu women in Kerala toward Islam—a scheme in which several individuals from Saudi Arabia were significantly involved." After suffering in the hospital for eight long months—all the while longing for her sons and grandchildren—she finally breathed her last. The Kerala government then had her buried in a cemetery located next to the Jama Masjid in Malabar.