Guided by the light: A woman writer on sisterhood and modernity in the Booker-winning ‘Heart Lamp’

Where does the invisible woman’s power hide?

In a context where the feminine is demeaned, when the power of women’s sexuality, compassion, ambition or perseverance does not fully belong to them, how do we recognise their individual or collective pain?

Among the lower middle class, what label can a woman wear to keep herself safe?

Has anyone studied the power-dynamics of the disconnected Muslim sisterhood?

Why have I not included a certain layer of Muslim women in my personal idea of sisterhood? Is it my fear of being misunderstood, or is it my biased projections and judgements?

These were some of the questions which were punching through my heart as I read Banu Mushtaq’s Heart Lamp, the winner of this year’s International Booker Prize.

I won’t lie. I did not pick up Heart Lamp until I saw it on the 2025 prize longlist. After all, how many works of translation, and that too of regional authors, are on my post-colonised mind’s reading list? It was when I read through all the synopses on the longlist that Heart Lamp, stood out for very specific reasons. Not only do I live in South India where the stories are based, but the book also made me question my own awareness, prejudices and proud individuality.

Who is a modern woman?

The dictionary definition...

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