Heart Lamp - By Banu Mushtaq

A Book Review

Heart Lamp is indeed a proud read for me for being a booker prize winner from India. That said it is not an easy read at all. Don't get me wrong, it is a well written and translated book and keeps you hooked as you want to know those characters better.

That said, In every story Banu Mushtaq makes sure that you feel the pain that the protagonist is going through. You feel the helplessness of the whole situation and feel the frustration of being a mute spectator. Though all the stories are written from the lens of a particular lens and geography but all of these are universal stories, of women, bounded with an invisible rope of cultural, tradition, societal expectations. What makes it worse is that generations of women have accepted parichay as the prescribed way. Lack of education and early marriage snatches away all kind of agency from a young girl.

The "Stone slabs for Shaista Mahal" left me with an eerie question of What if your God is selfish and sees you just as a source of fulfill his whims and fancies. The whole of humanity works on the belief that God is Just. What is your core hope that is taken away?

The Fire Rain and Black Cobra just made me wonder who are these men who don't even care about their own family and kids. For them their power and status is above the lives of their own family. Then I realised that the cases mentioned in the book might be extreme but prioritisation of work over family is a very casual privilege nonchalantly enjoyed by men.

In A decision of the Heart, the cunning wife says " Isn't he a man? If he had given me two strong kicks when my madness was at its peak, everything would have been alright " Made me wonder how patriarchal narrative is so strong that a woman ends up saying things like this without batting an eye.

Both Red Lungi and Soft Whispers are both about childhood where one talks about how kids end up facing cruelty and in the other end up being cruel. How religious constructs are built to reward its own prophecy.

Towards the very end A taste of Heaven and The Arabic Teacher and Gobi Manchurian finally brings some playfulness to the text. It loosen the knot in your stomach a bit.

The Translator's Note at the end brings the most interesting insights about the book and Banu Mustaq when she talks about how all of Banu's work can be explained as the Kannada word "Bandya" which means dissent. She didn't fail to acknowledge difference is her background from Banu and how she has tried her best to not lose the nuances of the text in translation.