Kamala

Krupabai Satthianadhan (1862-1894) was an Indian novelist and memoirist. Born to a family of Christian converts in Ahmednagar, Bombay Presidency, Satthianadhan was raised by her mother and older brother following the death of her father. She was introduced to literature at a young age by her beloved brother Bhasker, who tragically died before Satthianadhan could complete her education. With the support of European missionaries, she gained entry to a prestigious boarding school in Bombay, eventually eyeing a career in medicine. Despite winning a scholarship to study in England, ill health forced her to remain at home, where Satthianadhan enrolled at Madras Medical College in 1878. In 1881, she married Samuel, the son of a prominent reverend. Together, they moved to Ootacamund, where Satthianadhan established a school for local Muslim girls. Around this time, she began working on her first novel, Saguna: A Story of Native Christian Life, which would be serialized upon her return to Madras in 1887 in the Madras Christian College Magazine. In her last years, as her tuberculosis became terminal, Satthianadhan worked on her final novel, Kamala: A Story of Hindu Life. Despite her relatively limited body of work, she has been recognized by scholars as a pioneering writer whose perspective on life in colonial India continues to draw readers to her work.