Literary world hails Mushtaq-Bhasthi International Booker win as triumph for regional Indian languages

HAILING the growing importance of Indian language translations and hoping that the world engages with Indian literature beyond just Hindi or English, prominent figures from the literary community applauded Kannada writer Bhanu Mushtaq and translator Deepa Bhasthi on their International Booker victory.

- 

Writer, activist and lawyer Mushtaq's short story collection "Heart Lamp" on Wednesday became the first Kannada title to win the coveted GBP 50,000 International Booker Prize in London. It was translated from the Kannada "Hridaya Deepa" into English by Bhasthi and published by Penguin Random House India (PRHI).

Geetanjali Shree, the first Indian writer to win the International Booker Prize for her novel "Tomb of Sand", translated from Hindi by Daisy Rockwell in 2022, was among the first to congratulate the winning team -- Mushtaq and Bhasthi - and every Indian, celebrating the continued global recognition of India's rich literary heritage, this time through the Kannada language.

"..The world has known a little bit about Indian literature, but through only one lan-guage. The difference today is that people are discovering the diversity of languages. It is important to see the country's plurality and the richness of these other languages.

"It's absolutely wonderful that another language has got the prize. I congratulate Mushtaq and Bhasthi. Many congratulations to all of us, as we are part of that larger com-munity. As far as global impact is concerned, for them, it means greater visibility... The other important thing is the acknowledge-ment of literature in different languages,” 67-year-old Geetanjali Shree told PTI.

The winning collection of 12 short stories, written by Mushtaq from 1990 to 2023, marks the second such achievement in four years and further propels Indian languages onto the global lit-erary stage. It chronicles the resilience, resistance, wit, and sister-hood of everyday women in patriar-chal communities in southern India, vividly brought to life through a rich tradition of oral storytelling.