I have been leading the hyphenated identity of a research scholar-mother for a while now. I hadn’t planned on attending the 14th Bengaluru Literature Festival. But when I missed my doctor’s appointment, I didn’t want to go back home empty-handed. My daughter was unwell, but somewhere, the Lit Fest’s presence throbbed in me as well. “I will just look around and leave in half an hour!” I promised myself. Exhilarating as it was to witness Banu Mushtaq deliver the keynote address at the festival, I guiltily craved more. I bought a copy of “Heart Lamp: Selected Stories” and quickly joined the queue. That signed copy was my first read after a long time, something besides the regular research reading.
A thousand women live, and a thousand die simultaneously in this incredibly powerful and beautiful book. I can say I have reached a certain point where I’m able to experience the joys, sorrows, grief, confusion, pain and multitudes of emotions that one finds hard to pen, but can only feel. I have fully realized the condition of being a woman, and this book spares no one of the painful reality.
Although it doesn’t have a singular plot, I took my time to read this collection of short stories. I started with page one out of habit, assuming that the first few chapters would be light. But I was gratefully wrong, and each story took my breath away. I was spellbound by its simplicity in picking mundane incidents, yet it had the potential of being unique. Starkly Indian, unabashedly regional and culturally distinct, I came closer to a community of women – pious, proud and passionate Muslims.
Women surrounded by apathetic men; at times hapless, or locking horns with their own gender out of jealousy might be a product of the author’s imagination, but are not at all fictional in my opinion. I found every single character to be real.
The translator doesn’t camouflage words with English equivalents. By not italicizing the local dialect, Deepa Bhasthi is responsibly aware of the cultural bearing each word and phrase carries. My deepest gratitude extends to the agent Kanishka Gupta as well for bringing this book to light.
The audacity of Mushtaq’s voice gives works in translation a sense of belonging, its Indian-ness can’t be missed. Feel like celebrating works in translation? You have the magic right here.
Published October 6, 2026
