About the Book: Wayfarer Woman and the Wayside Lamps
A long-forgotten figure from the history of womens activism in early
twentieth-century Malayali society, Kochattil Kalyanikkutty Amma suddenly pushed
herself out of obscurity in 1993, when her autobiography, Pathikayum
Vazhiyorathe Manideepangalum, won the Kerala Sahitya Akademis prestigious prize
for the best autobiography in Malayalam. As the book so poignantly revealed, she
rebelled not just against traditional restrictions but also against the stern
limits to mobility of body and mindset for women in modernity—and the rebellion
was lifelong. She was a staunch champion of womens rights over their bodies and
loved to travel, freely indulging in the risky business