An interview with poet Salma --a Malayalam version of this was published in Janashakthi (And thanks Cheri for the quick translation; it saved my time)

You have said that your childhood experiences inspired you to write poetry. What were those?
I was born into an orthodox Muslim family in Thuvarankurichi in Trichy district, facing the restrictions imposed on a girl with such an upbringing. I could study only till the ninth standard. The circumstances under which I had to leave school hurt me a lot; I had to pay a heavy price for a small incident at an age when I was unaware of the discrimination between boys and girls. As a child, I was crazy about movies. Three of my girl friends and I once bunked classes and went to a small theatre near my house, without knowing which film was being screened. We found ourselves the only girls in the theatre which was playing the Malayalam movie "avalude ravukal(Her nights)". My brother too was there amongst the audience. Despite ourselves, my friends and I managed to remain in the theatre till the end of the movie. But by this time, the news had travelled home and I was beaten when I returned. More than the physical pain, it was a blow to my heart. No one even scolded my brother. When I protested, I was told: YOU ARE A GIRL, HE IS A BOY.
With that, my studies were discontinued.
When did you begin writing poems?
After my studies ended, I was in a kind of house arrest for some ten years. I was not allowed to talk to boys and rarely ventured outside. Reading was the only means I had to escape this loneliness. I would read whatever I could. I grovelled before my brother for him to bring me books from the village library. I used to be a regular at that library in the days before I left school. It was in these lonely years that Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky entered my life. Reading broadened my intellectual horizons and my imagination. That is how, at the age of 16, I began writing poems. My poems, under my own name-Rajathi, were published in magazines like Kalachuvadu.
What were the repercussions of you being published?
In the little hamlet that I lived in, the poems kicked up a storm. How a Muslim girl could dare to write such things, people asked. My marriage had been fixed at a very young age, but with these problems, my engagement was almost broken off. After much debate and discussions, the elders decided: she is not to write after her marriage. With my marriage, the restrictions on me increased manifold, do not write, do not read, it went to that extent. No one understood me in that house. This was how Salma was born. I wrote surreptitiously, using the name Salma. No one in my house or my village knew of it. I would not even put my address when I sent my poems for publication.
Who encouraged you to write?
Senior writers like Sundara Ramaswami, who received my poems for journals like Kalachuvadu, encouraged me.
When did the world next hear of Salma?
The panchayat elections in Thuvarankurichi paved the way for that. The president's post was reserved for women. My family decided to put me up as a candidate as a proxy for my husband. Selfishly, they thought they would control the post through me. But when I won the election, I began taking an active interest in panchayat affairs. I had to travel a lot for work, and had to meet officials like the collector. This made me shed my insecurities and my fear of the outside world. Thus the world began to know of Rajati, of Salma. In the beginning, my husband had problems with me. But since I was in the habit of discussing panchayat affairs with my husband, we solved our issues.
Why do you continue to write, even at times you are engaged otherwise?
As I said, it was the pain and loneliness of my teenage years that got me writing. When I freely write what is on my mind, it is as if I am sharing my sorrows and pain with someone. That was what made me a writer. My emotional state must have been too intense to share with someone else. So writing is the only potion
What do you think is the strength of your writing?
It is for readers to decide on the strength of my writing and where it lies. For me, it is in the restrictions imposed on me as a girl, more so on a girl from an orthodox Muslim family. I have a feminist perspective. My pain and my problems are not unique; they are universally experience by most women.
How do you view Malayalam literature?
Malayalam has a lot of good writers, many of whom I have read in Tamil translations. My favourite Malayalam writer is Vaikom Muhammad Basheer. It may be that I relate to his works more than others', being a Muslim woman. I enjoy Kamala Das' poems very much; her poems reflect a woman's strength. I also like Zachariah.
How do you carry along your busy public life along with your writing?
I have been neglecting my writing for some time now, it is true, but I enjoy my work as the chairperson of the social welfare board. I can help many suffering people, especially women and children, and I am confident this experience with enrich my writing.