Banu Mushtaq, Heart Lamp: “Emotional Explosions, Turmoil Are Universal”: International Booker Winner
New Delhi: Journalist, lawyer, author and activist Banu Mushtaq, whose “Heart Lamp” won the International Booker Prize, said her stories of Muslim women from traditional south Indian families had resonated with the global audience because they think they reflect the universal condition of women. Asked about the matter in an exclusive interview with NDTV Banu Mushtaq said her readers feel that the stories “can be applied to wherever women are there”. “These types of issues, turmoil, emotional explosions – it can be traced universally in all parts of the world. — that is their opinion,” she said. As to why her anthology of 12 short stories appealed to the Booker Committee, she said from what the members said at various press conferences they attended with her, she has come to the conclusion that it is a “new thing” they have experienced. “The stories in heart lamp are socially committed pieces. They are individual experiences which have been documented by me,” she said. But at the same time, they are not just experiences. “It has grown …
