Kamala

One of the characters in Hermann Hesse's novel Siddhartha. She was originally a prostitute, and met Siddhartha when he first came to the city. She then became his lover, and taught him a lot about earthly pleasures, as opposed to the wanderings of the mind. She was also a mother to his child, but was separated from Siddhartha as he left in pursuit for nirvana.

Kamala may seem as the symbol for material pleasures and possessions that turned Siddhartha's onto the path of trying to find true spiritual enlightment.

An empathic metamorph from the Krios system who traveled aboard the Enterprise to Valt Minor on Stardate 45761.3, there to marry Chancellor Alrik and end a struggle between the two worlds. Kamala was very beautiful, and able to instantly change her personality to reflect the desires of any male; as she was in the final stages of her sexual maturity when coming aboard, she caused a great deal of disruption among the Enterprise crew. It was planned that she would permanently bond herself to Alrik; however, after working closely with Captain Picard during the journey, she decided to bond herself to him, because she liked the way she was with him. However, she acquired Picard's sense of duty as a result, and chose to marry Alrik anyway, to secure peace for her people.

(Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Perfect Mate," season 5. Played by Famke Janssen. Interestingly, Janssen was one of the actresses considered for the role of Jadzia Dax on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and her makeup in this episode became the basis for Terry Farrell's makeup on that series.)

Source: Michael Okuda/Denise Okuda/Debbie Mirek, The Star Trek Encyclopedia, 2nd edition (Pocket Books, 1997)

Ka*ma"la (?), n. Bot.

The red dusty hairs of the capsules of an East Indian tree (Mallotus Philippinensis) used for dyeing silk. It is violently emetic, and is used in the treatment of tapeworm.

[Written also kameela.]

 

© Webster 1913.