What's next for Banu Mushtaq? An autobiography by year-end

New Indian Express

3 days ago

NEW DELHI: Unfeeling husbands. Brothers who want to rob sisters of their inheritance. Mothers expected to be responsible for their daughters' secular and religious education while doing full-time jobs. With powerful stories and characters like these, Heart Lamp has brought home the honours, but writer-activist Banu Mushtaq is yet to say the last word on patriarchy.
'My autobiography will be ready by December. I've been through a lot, I'll say it there,' she said to much laughter, while speaking to the audience at the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, on her first visit to Delhi after returning from London with the 2025 International Booker prize.
Mushtaq, however, clarified that the base of her experiences from which she has made literature is not personal; for her patriarchy is the lingua franca of a 'universal pain' and deprivation that she has witnessed in women and the marginalised. 'Men, too, suffer from patriarchal attitudes,' she said, 'but they are not aware of it.'
Mushtaq and Heart Lamp translator Deepa Bhasthi also fielded questions on their reading, writing and translation choices — Mushtaq admitted not having had the time to read recently, while Bhasthi, also a writer, talked of the influence of Russian literature on her works. A major thrust of the discussion was translations. Bhasthi called translations the 'third text', over which neither writer nor the translator could have exclusive claim.
An audience member remarked on the 'justice' delivered to women in Mushtaq's stories with 'little things' and whether equity and fairness were important to her as a writer, even though her stories don't always end on that note.
'In life, people have to deal with society, its norms and injustices. On the other hand, there is the court. True, none of my characters fight legal battles. But you can't come to stories or expect authors to bring relief. I can show the path as I have in some of my stories. I can just hold a mirror to society's face,' said Mushtaq.
Another audience member asked her about facing backlash for her writings and what her 'fears' were. Responding, Mushtaq discussed her concerns about communal tension and societal stereotyping.
'For the longest time, I wasn't considered a writer. Two identities — that I'm Muslim and a woman — dominated the evaluation of my work. Also, the tone in which I write isn't easy. Someone or the other may take me to task. What I write may offend a Muslim or a Hindu,' she said. 'I'm 77 now, I have nothing to lose, I have to keep writing about it.'