Mysuru, May 21 -- Banu Mushtaq, born in Hassan in 1948, is a distinguished activist, lawyer and writer. A prominent literary figure, she writes primarily in Kannada, and her works have been translated into Urdu, Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam and most recently, English.

Born into a Muslim family, Banu was enrolled at the age of eight in a Kannada-medium missionary school in Shivamogga. Defying community norms, she pursued higher education and married for love at the age of 26.

She is fluent in Kannada, Hindi, Dakhni Urdu and English. Over the years, Mushtaq has also worked as a reporter for 'Lankesh Pathrike' and briefly with All India Radio in Bengaluru.

Although interested in writing from a young age, Mushtaq began her literary journey at t...