Skip to main content

Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq

Image
By on

Reading Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq—the winner of the International Booker Prize 2025—was, I'm not going to lie, a frustrating experience.

This is a collection of short stories about oppressed Muslim women, many of whom are trapped in painful, inhumane relationships, mostly with their husbands. What broke me was the fact that so many of these women had no way out. No choice. Their circumstances, their communities, and the world around them offered little to no support.

Reading about their lives burned. It made me angry. It made me feel helpless. 

But maybe that’s what this book is meant to do—hold up a mirror, make us feel the injustice, and help us understand what these women go through every day. Maybe if more people read these stories, things can change. Awareness is the first step. Empathy is next.

Another thing that stood out to me was the writing itself. The book is translated from Kannada, and since I lived in a Kannada-speaking city for more than a decade, the language felt familiar. The words came across like hearing a voice, you know. The “Kannada English” had a rhythm I recognized. It made the stories feel even more personal.

Have you read the book? 

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Books I Read in June 2025— Arundhati Roy, BR Ambedkar and More

By on
 Today is the last day of June, and I feel compelled to jot down the books I read this month to reflect on my experience and learnings. These are the books: ~The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen ~My Seditious Heart by Arundhati Roy ~Annihilation of Caste by Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar ~History of Modern Manipur by Lal Dena Just four. It's okay, really. There is no compulsion to read 6/7 books every month. Reading fewer books doesn't mean I'm learning less. In fact, I learned more deeply. The books this month have been impactful in different ways. Clearly, there is a shift in my choices, and I feel this was meant to be. Meaning, I'm leaning more into nonfiction now. I guess I've always been angry and frustrated deep inside. Angry about the climate crisis, social injustice, discrimination, violence, war, exploitation, etc., etc. I was just deluding myself, living in the comforting world of fiction, escaping all these thoughts. As I read more nonfiction, I get angrier, but I k...
2 comments
Read more

Wake up, Wake up, Children of the Land!—Poem by Tombi

By on
Wake up, wake up, Children of the Land! You hear and hear, yet turn a deaf ear. You see and see, yet close your eyes. You know, you know, but pretend not to know. Wake up, wake up, Children of the Land! The world has seen the light of science. Has your time not come? Are you still chasing ghosts of old history? Have you forgotten? Do you not remember? Who are you? Where do you come from? To which place do you belong? Who are you to ignore the past that shaped you? Is your behaviour still human nature? Wake up, wake up, Children of the Land! There will be rain. There will be flood. Does fear still dwell in your heart? A tiger does not spare a deer. Have you forgotten? Do you not wish to write a new history? Do you not wish to be brave? Be wary, even as you sleep, Your own blood has turned cold. Like seeks like, and power pairs with power. That history, written by the mighty, Do you wish to let it rule again? Do you not wish to end it? Do you not wish to become Our fath...
Post a Comment
Read more

Upstream: Selected Essays by Mary Oliver

By on
It was a joy reading Upstream by Mary Oliver. H ere are a few quotes and phrases from the book that I want to keep remembering. "you must not, ever, give anyone else the responsibility for your life" "I quickly found for myself two such blessings- the natural world, and the world of writing: literature. These were the gates through which I vanished from a difficult place." "Reading, then writing, then desiring to write well, shaped in me that most joyful of circumstances- a passion for work." "..having chosen to claim my life, I have made for myself, out of work and love, a handsome life" "And that I did not give to anyone the responsibility for my life. It is mine. I made it. And can do what I want to with it. Live it. Give it back, someday, without bitterness, to the wild and weedy dunes." "Creative work needs solitude. It needs concentration, without interruptions. It needs the whole sky to fly in, and no eye watching until it c...
Post a Comment
Read more