India, May 25 -- Activist-lawyer Banu Mushtaq has made history by becoming the first Indian author writing in Kannada language to win the International Book Prize for her short story collection, Heart Lamp translated by Deepa Bhasthi. But, even after bringing international laurels to the country, it's difficult for her to steer clear on the topic of the great north-south language debate existing within India. The 77-year-old whose mother tongue is Urdu, says, "We speak Dakhni Urdu at home", and she writes in Kannada, expects that her choice to give her award acceptance speech in English won't break the hearts of Kannada speakers.

"Ab mai England mein hun toh English mein baat ki, aur mai jab wapas jaungi Karnataka toh Kannada mein bolung...