India, Feb. 27 -- Yesterday, Kannada literature enthusiasts were thrilled to hear that a collection of short stories called "Heart Lamp" by Kannada writer Banu Mushtaq (translated by Deepa Bhasthi) was one of only 13 books on the longlist of the prestigious International Booker Prize, presented annually to the best work of fiction translated into English. The last time a Kannada author (UR Ananthamurthy) was on that list was 2013, so the jubilation is warranted. But who is Banu Mushtaq?

To answer that adequately, we must travel back to the early 1970s, when Banu Mushtaq was a young woman in Hassan, studying to be a lawyer. The euphoria of Indian independence had passed, and a new, impatient generation was beginning to challenge everythin...