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The Hindu
5 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Deepa Bhasthi felicitated in Madikeri
Writer Deepa Bhasthi, whose English translation of Banu Mushtaq's Kannada work Edeya Hanate (Heart Lamp) won the prestigious International Booker Prize 2025, was felicitated in Madikeri by her alma mater and local leaders on Saturday. The Old Students' Association of Field Marshal K.M. Cariappa College, where Ms. Bhasthi pursued her education, college principal, lecturers, and office-bearers of the association visited her residence to honour her remarkable literary achievement. B. Raghav, principal of the college, extolled Ms. Bhasthi for her literary accomplishment and noted that the international recognition has brought immense pride to the institution. 'The achievement of one of our old students was a matter of pride for the college,' he added. The association president B.B. Aiyappa highlighted the difficulty of translating regional literature without losing its emotional depth, commending Ms. Bhasthi's masterful rendering that resonated with a global audience. MLA for Madikeri Mantar Gowda also felicitated Ms. Bhasthi at her home on Saturday. Commending her contribution to literature, he said her accomplishment had placed Kodagu on the global literary map. He said the government would support her future literary initiatives and described her as an inspiration for students and young writers. Mr. Gowda also remarked that it was heartening to see literature of such calibre emerge from the serene surroundings of Kodagu. Plans are under way to organise interactions between Ms. Bhasthi and students from local institutions to foster interest in literature and translation, he added. Ms. Bhasthi said the translation took nearly three years of dedicated work and she is now preparing for literary engagements in London and other cities. Ms. Bhasthi's husband Chettira Nanaiah, her parents Prakash and Sudha Bhasthi, were among those present.
The Wire
a day ago
- Politics
- The Wire
'Heart Lamp' Burns Bright: How Banu Mushtaq Illuminates Muslim Women's Hidden World
Let us start with the obvious categories of perception, that Banu Mushtaq is a Muslim, a woman and a writer. All three terms are important aspects of her identity that inform her literary perspective. Her lived experience as a Muslim woman undoubtedly shapes the intimacy and empathy with which she writes, influences her literary concerns, and contributes to the authenticity of her voice. However, to suggest that her recent honour – the Booker International Prize for her book Heart Lamp – stems from these identity markers alone would be reductive and unfair to her considerable literary merit. Her translator Deepa Bhasthi emphasises this point, saying 'it would be a disservice to reduce Banu's work to her religious identity, for her stories transcend the confines of a faith and its cultural traditions'. Indeed, her identity extends far beyond these markers, as evidenced by her conscious evolution the day she threw off the burkha and became an activist, a journalist, a protestor in public rallies and wore a black coat as any other lawyer and went to court. Banu's characters could well be named Gita and Sita instead of Arifa, and Jameela because the poverty that pervades Muslim women pervades the Hindu women too. That's where her universal appeal lies but the oppression of Muslim women is markedly different because the patriarchy that suppresses them is empowered and sanctioned by religious authority. The subterranean power of the 'Tablighi Jamaat' (a group of men that go home to home preaching how to be a 'good Muslim') is so pervasive that no woman can dare challenge it. By putting the women in burkha, the Muslim men have succeeded in erasing their individual identity. When you see them in a public space, you do not see Arifa and Jameela, you merely see a different gender walking out there. That's the power of Muslim patriarchy. They control their women's right to exist as individual beings. The woman first belongs to the family – the father, husband, brother, and son, similar to what 'Manu Smriti' prescribed for the Hindu woman. But in public spaces they are a large community of non-entities, thanks to the burkha. No Hindu woman has conceded that power to her man. And therein lies a huge difference. Also read: Banu Mushtaq's Importance Goes Much Beyond the BookerThe Hindu patriarchy, on the other hand, cannot impose its will on women on the implicit authority of religion, though caste factors do play an important role in the assertion of 'family honour' – a pride that always rests on denying the autonomy of the female agency. This is one crucial area where the Hindutva-led majoritarianism is reviving patriarchy by undergirding family values and community unity in the face of threats from the Other. A typical example of this are the laws passed by some BJP-ruled states aimed at the imaginary crime of 'love jihad' – which have now ended up as a joke because in UP they could not even find half-a-dozen such cases. There is a more important identity of Banu Mushtaq that I wish to focus on – one that she has crafted for herself and suits her far more significantly than anything else. That she is a 'critical insider'. She proclaimed this identity, quite justifiably, at a recent event in Mysore before the Booker prize was announced. Let us develop these two terms a bit more. Belonging, as she does to the 'Bandaya Movement' that produced the 'Bandaya Sahitya' of the mid-1970s in Kannada literature, critical thinking and questioning were a necessary precondition to her writings and public acts. The pioneers of the movement came from the oppressed classes, the Muslims, Dalits, and women. And she has a foot in two of the three camps – an authenticity that is doubly reinforced. She acknowledges without any hesitation, the contribution of Baraguru Ramachandrappa and P. Lankesh to her own literary and social awareness. It was P. Lankesh who prodded her to become a journalist by filing stories for his famous Lankesh Patrike on the events in her home-town Hassan and its surroundings. Later, he encouraged her to tell her story and the stories of others in her community. From a journalist to an activist to a lawyer, her journey has been one of continuous progression in social and political consciousness that has regularly found literary back to the issue of being a 'critical insider', let us understand where she stands with the help of her stories. The most frequent characters that recur in her stories are women, mostly poor and uneducated, the maulvis and mutawallis (those who interpret the Sharia laws). All of them operate within the pervasive control of the mosque and the madrassa. They seem to live in a different universe. And different rules and an arcane system of justice apply there. Banu Mushtaq tells their stories with great empathy and at times, wry humour. Being an 'insider', Banu Mushtaq implicitly accepts the cosmology and the world-view of her faith, abides by its holy scriptures – the Qur'an and the Hadith. But being 'critical' she questions the men that mediate between her and her Allah. She questions their knowledge of the holy texts and their ability to perceive the humanism and the nobility inherent in it. She questions the web of institutions and the rules built by the men of religion to subjugate other men and more so, the women. But the critical insider doesn't go beyond questioning, or perhaps that is the journalist in her, who sees her role as the asker of questions rather than the provider of answers. Her protagonists certainly protest but it seems muffled, and they do not rebel. They seem to have only two options – to die by suicide or fall in line. Walking out of the all-enveloping confines and fear of the jamaat does not exist as an option in her stories, except in one, 'Huttu' – 'Birth' (not included in Heart Lamp but in the larger Kannada collection, Hasina and other Stories). Here the young girl, Nishat, elopes with her tuition teacher, a Hindu boy, but then, in an act of repentance and as an expiation of her guilt, sends back her five-year-old daughter to live with her grandparents and her mamas and mamis. But why? Why should she sacrifice her dearest daughter to the very confines from which she has escaped? The wider world that seems the natural habitat of a similarly placed Hindu protagonist does not seem to be an easy option for her character. Also read: No Story Is Ever 'Small': Banu Mushtaq's International Booker Acceptance SpeechIn one poignant story, the woman drops the match-stick that she was about to strike after dousing herself in kerosene, at the heartrending cry of her eldest daughter, as in 'Heart Lamp', or the wife of the mutawalli walks out of home, as in 'Black Cobras', determined to get a vasectomy operation done for herself. Here the vasectomy operation is seen as a slap to the mutawalli who has been preaching to all the women that getting such an operation is 'haram' – against the will of God. One must accept that Banu Mushtaq writes of present-day reality in Muslim society with profound insight. And the reality is depressing and disturbing. A poor, uneducated Muslim woman's life is indeed hellish and brutal. Their men are mainly responsible for this, and religion hardly provides any succour. As a chronicler of her community's state of affairs, Banu Mushtaq could not have been more accurate. As a 'critical insider', she offers something invaluable to young Muslim girls—a mirror to see their reality clearly and a voice that validates their struggles. Her own journey from traditional constraints to becoming an activist, journalist, and award-winning writer serves as a powerful testament to what is possible. Through her authentic storytelling and public presence, she creates space for protest, rebellion, and reform within her community. Her work doesn't provide easy answers, but it asks the essential questions and shows that transformation, however difficult, remains within Joshi was formerly in the Cabinet Secretariat.
Hans India
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Hans India
Was ‘500 pc' sure I will win Booker Prize: Banu Mushtaq
Bengaluru: Booker Prize winner Banu Mushtaq said on Wednesday that she believed she would win the prize '500 per cent' and she wrote the speech three days ahead of the award ceremony. Mushtaq was speaking at a felicitation event organised by the Karnataka Union of Working Journalists in Bengaluru. 'Initially, I did not think much of it, but then I saw the reactions of people in social media after I was longlisted. Only then I realised the importance of the Booker Prize. So, when my family was sleeping in the night, I sat and wrote the speech that I ended up giving after I won,' said Mushtaq. She said she actually practiced the speech every day from then on, picturing herself holding the Booker Prize. She also recalled how, when her publisher tried to temper her expectations by saying that never in the history of the Booker Prize, a short story collection has won the prize, Mushtaq told the publisher, 'Why won't you believe that we might win? I believe 500 per cent.' She also talked about how people had absolutely no clue about the Kannada language and ended up pronouncing it 'Canada'. 'I made them repeat Kan-na-da,' added Mushtaq. Mushtaq, who was invited to speak at a panel at the Hay Festival 2025 in Wales on May 24 along with Prize director Gaby Wood and judge Anton Hur, said she was impressed with the 'book culture' there. 'The four-hour journey from London itself was so beautiful and reminded me so much of our Sakleshpura and Kodagu (hill stations in Karnataka) or even Kerala. But once there, I realised that the village might be small but it is a mecca for writers and readers. Nearly 25,000 people visit every day and buy books from the 40-odd small bookshops there during the 11 days of the festival,' said Mushtaq. She also said she was impressed by the crowd that stood in line for an autographed 'Heart Lamp' at the festival. 'Think nearly 300 people were there. I signed all books in Kannada,' she added. She said, as per her calculations, she believes her English publisher did Rs 6 crore business after the win. 'My book is also getting translated in 35 global languages and 12 Indian languages,' she added. Mushtaq said after winning, her world, too, really opened up. She is being invited all around the world. 'On June 16, I will go to London. In August, I will visit the Edinburgh Festival. Till next August my schedule is booked. I will be visiting Australia, New York and Bali...,' said the Kannada writer. Noting that she could not wear the Mysore silk saree -- that she deliberately chose to represent Karnataka -- on the winning night because her suitcase was lost in transit, Mushtaq said there's always a next time. She said she finally got her daughter, who was joining her from Bahrain, to bring the saree she wore. 'Guess, I have to win another Booker Prize so that the pending wish of wearing a Mysore silk saree for the Booker Prize reception will come true,' said the award winning writer, as cheers erupted from the crowd.
The Hindu
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Signed copies of book in London in Kannada, says Booker prize winner Banu Mushtaq
International Booker award recipient Banu Mushtaq was felicitated by the Karnataka Union of Working Journalists in Bengaluru on May 28. Banu Mushtaq, a writer, lawyer and activist, began writing about her people, their joys, sorrows and anxieties, over five decades ago. On May 20, Heart Lamp, a collection of 12 short stories selected from her work written between 1990 and 2023 and translated by Deepa Bhasthi, won the International Booker Prize for 2025. During the felicitation, among other things, she shared her experience of travelling to London. 'In London, whoever approached me to sign their copy of 'Heart Lamp', I signed them in Kannada. The other shortlisted writers were masters degree holders. I was the only one to be a grassroots writer.' Apart from being a renowned writer, she is an advocate by profession. However, she started her career as a journalist for the Lankesh Patrike, and had a four decade-long stint in journalism. 'Heart Lamp' was a major success in the field of literature earning a huge profit of ₹6 crore for Penguin publishers. Heart lamp will be translated to 35 languages. According to Banu Mushtaq, 'People, irrespective of caste, race and community, were celebrating my success. Following the success of the book, many filmmakers had approached me for film rights.' Girish Kasaravalli, a renowned director, made a film based on Kari Nagaragalu, one of the short stories in the book. The film was called Hasina, and won a national award for best actor. Banu Mushtaq will be felicitated by the government of Karnataka at Vidhana Soudha on June 2.
New Indian Express
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- New Indian Express
Banu Mushtaq's ‘Heart Lamp' to be translated into 47 languages
BENGALURU: The anthology of short stories, 'Heart Lamp', which won the International Booker Prize, will be translated into 35 global languages and 12 Indian languages, said author Banu Mushtaq at a felicitation organised by the Karnataka Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ), Bahuroopi Publications and Gandhi Foundation, here on Wednesday. She said the stories will be made into movies, for which the rights have been acquired. 'So much material is within us and this has to be made familiar to others. We have read their stories and novels and we practised their way of life for so long. But now, there is a need to familiarise them with our way of life, our ideologies and our characters and situations,' she added. Congratulating her, KV Prabhakar, media advisor to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, said, 'At a time when disruptive forces, fanaticism and fundamentalism are destroying the world, I appreciate that the Booker International Prize has been awarded to Banu Mushtaq for her fusion of humanity and Indianness.' KUWJ president Shivanand Tagadur said, 'The award brings a lot of pride to Kannada and to us as she was first a journalist and later became a lawyer, an activist and everything that she is today. I feel that being a journalist for a decade fuelled her power and courage.' Writer, lawyer and activist Banu Mushtaq scripted history by becoming the first Kannada author to win the International Booker Prize with her anthology Heart Lamp. This is also the first time that a short story collection has won the prestigious prize.
