Petals and thorns: India's Booker prize author Banu Mushtaq
Indian author Banu Mushtaq won the coveted literature prize for her collection of 12 short stories titled 'Heart Lamp'. (AFP pic)
HASSAN : All writers draw on their experience, whether consciously or not, says Indian author Banu Mushtaq – including the titular tale of attempted self-immolation in her International Booker Prize-winning short story collection.
Mushtaq, who won the coveted literature prize as the first author writing in Kannada – an Indian regional language – said the author's responsibility is to reflect the truth.
'You cannot simply write describing a rose,' said the 77-year-old, who is also a lawyer and activist.
'You cannot say it has got such a fragrance, such petals, such colour. You have to write about the thorns also. It is your responsibility, and you have to do it.'
Her book 'Heart Lamp', a collection of 12 powerful short stories, is also her first book translated into English, with the prize shared with her translator Deepa Bhasthi.
Critics praised the collection for its dry and gentle humour, and its searing commentary on the patriarchy, caste and religion.
Mushtaq has carved an alternative path in life, challenging societal restrictions and perceptions.
As a young girl worried about her future, she said she started writing to improve her 'chances of marriage'.
Born into a Muslim family in 1948, she studied in Kannada, which is spoken mostly in India's southern Karnataka state by around 43 million people, rather than Urdu, the language of Islamic texts in India and which most Muslim girls learnt.
She attended college, and worked as a journalist and also as a high school teacher.
'Confused'
But after marrying for love, Mushtaq found her life constricted.
'I was not allowed to have any intellectual activities. I was not allowed to write,' she said.
'I was in that vacuum. That harmed me.'
She recounted how as a young mother aged around 27 with possible postpartum depression, and ground down by domestic life, had doused petrol on herself and on the 'spur of a moment' readied to set herself on fire.
Her husband rushed to her with their three-month-old daughter.
'He took the baby and put her on my feet, and he drew my attention to her and he hugged me, and he stopped me,' Mushtaq told AFP.
The experience is nearly mirrored in her book – in its case, the protagonist is stopped by her daughter.
'People get confused that it might be my life,' the writer said.
Explaining that while not her exact story, 'consciously or subconsciously, something of the author, it reflects in her or his writing'.
Books line the walls in Mushtaq's home, in the small southern Indian town of Hassan.
Her many awards and certificates – including a replica of the Booker prize she won in London in May – are also on display.
She joked that she was born to write – at least that is what a Hindu astrological birth chart said about her future.
'I don't know how it was there, but I have seen the birth chart,' Mushtaq said with a laugh, speaking in English.
The award has changed her life 'in a positive way', she added, while noting the fame has been a little overwhelming.
'I am not against the people, I love people,' she said referring to the stream of visitors she gets to her home.
'But with this, a lot of prominence is given to me, and I don't have any time for writing. I feel something odd… Writing gives me a lot of pleasure, a lot of relief.'
'Patriarchy everywhere'
Mushtaq's body of work spans six short story collections, an essay collection and poetry.
The stories in 'Heart Lamp' were chosen from the six short story collections, dating back to 1990.
The Booker jury hailed her characters – from spirited grandmothers to bumbling religious clerics – as 'astonishing portraits of survival and resilience'.
The stories portray Muslim women going through terrible experiences, including domestic violence, the death of children and extramarital affairs.
Mushtaq said that while the main characters in her books are all Muslim women, the issues are universal.
'They (women) suffer this type of suppression and this type of exploitation, this type of patriarchy everywhere,' she said. 'A woman is a woman, all over the world.'
While accepting that even the people for whom she writes may not like her work, Mushtaq said she remained dedicated to providing wider truths.
'I have to say what is necessary for the society,' she said.
'The writer is always pro-people… With the people, and for the people.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Malay Mail
a day ago
- Malay Mail
‘Just another human being': Dalai Lama's enduring grace, in his translator's words
NEW DELHI, June 28 — With his flowing red monk's robes, beaming smile and contagious laugh, the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, has been the charismatic global face of his people's cause for decades. The Nobel Peace Prize-winning monk, Tenzin Gyatso, is expected to celebrate his 90th birthday on July 6 with huge crowds in northern India, his base since leaving his homeland fleeing Chinese troops in 1959. While China condemns him as a rebel and separatist, the internationally recognised Dalai Lama describes himself as a 'simple Buddhist monk'. Thupten Jinpa, his translator of nearly four decades, described a man who uses humour to calm, fierce intellect to debate, and combines self-discipline with tolerance of others. 'He's never deluded by being extraordinary,' said Jinpa, an eminent Buddhist scholar born in Tibet. The Dalai Lama treats those he meets in the same manner whether they are a president or a peasant, world leader or Hollywood star. 'When he's getting ready to go and see a president or a prime minister, everybody around him is all getting nervous he's just completely relaxed,' said Jinpa, who is now a professor at Montreal's McGill University. 'Once I asked him how is it that he's not nervous, and he said, basically, 'the person I'm meeting is just another human being, just like me!'' 'Self-confidence and humility' Despite being revered as the 14th reincarnation of the Dalai Lama, a role stretching back more than 600 years, he does not act with a sense of superiority. 'He is one of the most self-confident people I've ever met in my life,' Jinpa said. 'Self-confidence and humility generally don't go together that well, but in him, they sit beautifully.' Jinpa highlighted the Dalai Lama's ability to bring people together through his 'contagious' sense of humour and famous giggling 'individual laugh'. 'He uses humour immediately, so he has this ability to make you feel at ease.' But the translator also described a man who applied the rigorous education and skills of philosophical debate learned as a monk to address the challenges of a complex world. 'He's gone through a formal academic training,' said Jinpa, who himself studied as a monk and holds a doctorate from the University of Cambridge. 'So when he's sitting down with scientists and philosophers and thinkers in deep conversation, his ability to get to the gist, and ask the question that points towards the next challenge, is an amazing display of his focus.' Jinpa described a man who pursues an austere monastic life with 'very high discipline'. 'He gets up at 3:30am and has meditation. He doesn't eat after lunch, which is one of the precepts of monastic ethics,' he said. 'He has always maintained this strictly.' While he was born to a farming family, the Dalai Lama grew up in Lhasa's Potala Palace, a vast building reputed to have 1,000 rooms. Since then he has spent much of his life in a hilltop monastic complex in India's town of McLeod Ganj. 'His bedroom is actually a small corridor between two large rooms, doors on the two sides, and a three-by-six single bed attached to the wall, and next to it is a shower cubicle — and that's it,' Jinpa said. 'He has got his photographs of his gurus, teachers, above his bed — very simple.' 'Non-judgement' But the Dalai Lama balances that toughness towards himself with softness for those he meets. 'Generally, when people are more pious, more disciplined, more pure, they also tend to be less tolerant,' Jinpa said. 'A lot of the intolerance really comes from puritanism in the world, whether it's religious or ideology,' he added. 'But again, in him, this understanding and non-judgement towards others — and expectation of a high standard for himself — it sits beautifully.' Jinpa added that as the holder of a centuries-old institution, the Dalai Lama places his people before himself. 'In all the negotiations that he has had with China, he has constantly made the point that the issue is not about his return, or his status,' he said. 'The issue is about the Tibetan people — there are over six million of us,' said Jinpa. 'Their ability to be self-governing on the Tibetan plateau, which is their historical home, and their ability to exist with dignity as a distinct people within the People's Republic of China.' — AFP
Free Malaysia Today
16-06-2025
- Free Malaysia Today
Petals and thorns: India's Booker prize author Banu Mushtaq
Indian author Banu Mushtaq won the coveted literature prize for her collection of 12 short stories titled 'Heart Lamp'. (AFP pic) HASSAN : All writers draw on their experience, whether consciously or not, says Indian author Banu Mushtaq – including the titular tale of attempted self-immolation in her International Booker Prize-winning short story collection. Mushtaq, who won the coveted literature prize as the first author writing in Kannada – an Indian regional language – said the author's responsibility is to reflect the truth. 'You cannot simply write describing a rose,' said the 77-year-old, who is also a lawyer and activist. 'You cannot say it has got such a fragrance, such petals, such colour. You have to write about the thorns also. It is your responsibility, and you have to do it.' Her book 'Heart Lamp', a collection of 12 powerful short stories, is also her first book translated into English, with the prize shared with her translator Deepa Bhasthi. Critics praised the collection for its dry and gentle humour, and its searing commentary on the patriarchy, caste and religion. Mushtaq has carved an alternative path in life, challenging societal restrictions and perceptions. As a young girl worried about her future, she said she started writing to improve her 'chances of marriage'. Born into a Muslim family in 1948, she studied in Kannada, which is spoken mostly in India's southern Karnataka state by around 43 million people, rather than Urdu, the language of Islamic texts in India and which most Muslim girls learnt. She attended college, and worked as a journalist and also as a high school teacher. 'Confused' But after marrying for love, Mushtaq found her life constricted. 'I was not allowed to have any intellectual activities. I was not allowed to write,' she said. 'I was in that vacuum. That harmed me.' She recounted how as a young mother aged around 27 with possible postpartum depression, and ground down by domestic life, had doused petrol on herself and on the 'spur of a moment' readied to set herself on fire. Her husband rushed to her with their three-month-old daughter. 'He took the baby and put her on my feet, and he drew my attention to her and he hugged me, and he stopped me,' Mushtaq told AFP. The experience is nearly mirrored in her book – in its case, the protagonist is stopped by her daughter. 'People get confused that it might be my life,' the writer said. Explaining that while not her exact story, 'consciously or subconsciously, something of the author, it reflects in her or his writing'. Books line the walls in Mushtaq's home, in the small southern Indian town of Hassan. Her many awards and certificates – including a replica of the Booker prize she won in London in May – are also on display. She joked that she was born to write – at least that is what a Hindu astrological birth chart said about her future. 'I don't know how it was there, but I have seen the birth chart,' Mushtaq said with a laugh, speaking in English. The award has changed her life 'in a positive way', she added, while noting the fame has been a little overwhelming. 'I am not against the people, I love people,' she said referring to the stream of visitors she gets to her home. 'But with this, a lot of prominence is given to me, and I don't have any time for writing. I feel something odd… Writing gives me a lot of pleasure, a lot of relief.' 'Patriarchy everywhere' Mushtaq's body of work spans six short story collections, an essay collection and poetry. The stories in 'Heart Lamp' were chosen from the six short story collections, dating back to 1990. The Booker jury hailed her characters – from spirited grandmothers to bumbling religious clerics – as 'astonishing portraits of survival and resilience'. The stories portray Muslim women going through terrible experiences, including domestic violence, the death of children and extramarital affairs. Mushtaq said that while the main characters in her books are all Muslim women, the issues are universal. 'They (women) suffer this type of suppression and this type of exploitation, this type of patriarchy everywhere,' she said. 'A woman is a woman, all over the world.' While accepting that even the people for whom she writes may not like her work, Mushtaq said she remained dedicated to providing wider truths. 'I have to say what is necessary for the society,' she said. 'The writer is always pro-people… With the people, and for the people.'
Malay Mail
15-06-2025
- Malay Mail
Rare Gandhi portrait with violent past could fetch £70,000 in London sale
LONDON, June 15 — A rare oil painting of Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi, which is believed to have been damaged by a Hindu nationalist activist, is to be auctioned in London in July. Gandhi, one of the most influential figures in India's history, led a non-violent movement against British rule and inspired similar resistance campaigns across the world. He is the subject of tens of thousands of artworks, books and films. But a 1931 painting by British-American artist Clare Leighton is believed to be the only oil portrait he sat for, according to the painter's family and Bonhams, where it will be auctioned online from July 7 to 15. 'Not only is this a rare work by Clare Leighton, who is mainly known for her wood engravings, it is also thought to be the only oil painting of Mahatma Gandhi which he sat for,' said Rhyanon Demery, Bonhams Head of Sale for Travel and Exploration. The painting is a 'likely hidden treasure', Caspar Leighton, the artist's great-nephew, told AFP. Going under the hammer for the first time next month, the painting is estimated to sell for between £50,000 (RM288,444) and £70,000. Clare Leighton met Gandhi in 1931, when he was in London for talks with the British government on India's political future. She was part of London's left-wing artistic circles and was introduced to Gandhi by her partner, journalist Henry Noel Brailsford. 'I think there was clearly a bit of artistic intellectual courtship that went on,' said Caspar, pointing out that his great-aunt and Gandhi shared a 'sense of social justice'. Painting attacked The portrait, painted at a crucial time for India's independence struggle, 'shows Gandhi at the height of his power', added Caspar. It was exhibited in London in November 1931, following which Gandhi's personal secretary, Mahadev Desai, wrote to Clare: 'It was such a pleasure to have had you here for many mornings doing Mr Gandhi's portrait.' 'Many of my friends who saw it in the Albany Gallery said to me that it was a good likeness,' reads a copy of the letter attached to the painting's backing board. The painting intimately captures Gandhi's likeness but it also bears reminders of his violent death. Gandhi was shot at point-blank range in 1948 by disgruntled Hindu nationalist activist Nathuram Godse, once closely associated with the right-wing paramilitary organisation RSS. Godse and some other Hindu nationalist figures accused Gandhi of betraying Hindus by agreeing to the partition of India and the creation of Muslim-majority Pakistan. According to Leighton's family, the painting was attacked with a knife by a 'Hindu extremist' believed to be an RSS activist, in the early 1970s. Although there is no documentation of the attack, a label on the back of the painting confirms that it was restored in the United States in 1974. Under UV light, Demery pointed out the shadow of a deep gash running across Gandhi's face where the now-restored painting was damaged. 'It feels very deliberate,' she said. 'Real home' The repairs 'add to the value of the picture in a sense... to its place in history, that Gandhi was again attacked figuratively many decades after his death', said Caspar. The only other recorded public display of the painting was in 1978 at a Boston Public Library exhibition of Clare Leighton's work. After Clare's death, the artwork passed down to Caspar's father and then to him. 'There's my family's story but the story in this portrait is so much greater,' he said. 'It's a story for millions of people across the world,' he added. 'I think it'd be great if it got seen by more people. Maybe it should go back to India — maybe that's its real home.' Unlike countless depictions of the man known in India as the 'father of the nation' — in stamps, busts, paraphernalia and recreated artwork — 'this is actually from the time', said Caspar. 'This might be really the last truly significant picture of Gandhi to emerge from that time.' — AFP
