New Delhi:
Journalist, lawyer, writer and activist Banu Mushtaq, whose “heart lamp” won the International Booker Award, said that their stories of Muslim women from traditional South Indian families echoed with global audiences as they feel that they reflect the universal status of women.
When asked about the case in a special interview with NDTV Banu Mushtaq, it was said that his readers feel that stories can be “implemented wherever women are”.
“This type of issue, turmoil, emotional explosion – it can be universally detected in all parts of the world. – This is his opinion,” he said.
As his anthology appealed to the Booker Committee of 12 short stories, he said that the members attended what they said at various press conferences, they have come to the conclusion that it is a “new thing” that he has experienced.
“Stories in heart lamps are socially committed pieces. They are personal experiences that I have been documented,” he said.
But at the same time, they are not just experiences. “This in my mind, in imagination, in form, which is accepted by the global audience,” he said.
Stories of “Heart Lamp”, hold the daily lives of girls and women in Muslim communities of South India – they have come to protest against the rights and caste and religious oppression of women.
Anthology includes 12 short stories that he has written in 30 years and came together after winning a short story competition in the book 2022. “This was started … Part of the package was a book by the author which will be published in English, he said.
The Booker Committee, he said, was very impressed by character-portrayal, picture presented and the way of storytelling.
“They are influenced by style. They say it starts in an innocent way and gives a sudden blow during the story,” he said.
Translated from Kannada by Deep Bhastti, “The rich glory of heart lamps, while not the first in India, fit the story and naturally falls from the lips of the characters who populate their stories.
Asked as to why he chose Kannada as a multilingual person, Ms. Mashri Mashtak said that a Muslim woman was brought into a traditional family, her mother-in-law Dikhni Urdu, which is not sophisticated as the influence of colloquiality in North Indian Urdu and South.
But later he was taught Arabic and Urdu by his grandfather and studied at the Kannada-Maysayam School. “This was the language in which I felt the most comfortable, he said.
“Heart Lamp” received the International Booker Award – which was on Tuesday for English translations of work in other languages. Ms. Mushtaq called it a “victory for diversity” as she accepted the award at London’s Tate Gallery.
