Kalpana Karunakaran
Associate professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras and author of A Woman of No Consequence; scholar of gender, governance, and development with a background in feminist activism and research.
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Mar 18, 2026 • 1h 3min
Kalpana Karunakaran, "A Woman of No Consequence: Memory, Letters and Resistance in Madras" (Context, 2026)
Kalpana Karunakaran, associate professor at IIT Madras and author of A Woman of No Consequence, is a scholar of gender, governance and feminist activism. She recounts discovering her grandmother Pankajam’s letters and autobiographical fiction. Short scenes explore conjugal longing, friendships that expanded horizons, caste and household privilege, and the ethics of writing intimate family histories.
Mar 18, 2026 • 1h 3min
Kalpana Karunakaran, "A Woman of No Consequence: Memory, Letters and Resistance in Madras" (Context, 2026)
Kalpana Karunakaran, associate professor at IIT Madras and scholar of gender and development, digs into her grandmother Pankajam’s five-decade archive of letters, autofiction and autobiography. Short, vivid scenes explore desire, conjugal longing, friendship across cultures, caste and religion, and the tensions of writing intimately about family while doing rigorous scholarship.
