Congratulations. It’s the first time a Kannada language book has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize. How does it feel?
I am thrilled. I never expected this. It’s a great honour and recognition for the Kannada language, literature and our country. All my three daughters and relatives have already booked their tickets to London.
Muslim women are an integral part of your writing.
I write in the context of a Muslim environment, as I am well versed with the customs, festivals, traditions, and funerals of the community. How can I write about the funeral of a Brahmin woman? It will not be an honest expression. But the issues are the same. Women all over face discrimination, divorce and so much more. Just that my stories are set in the context of Muslim women.
As a Muslim writer, did you face some unique challenges?
Many. To begin with, many believed that my husband was writing the stories and publishing them in my name. They also termed my stories as mindless. In one such short story, a husband forces his wife to abort the child. I have nowhere mentioned in the story that it’s a Muslim woman. Ours is a small town, and people would often ask my husband why he forced me to abort! I was also warned by some men against using Vedas and Puranas in my stories since I am a Muslim. All this because I questioned patriarchy.
You were closely associated with the Bandaya Sahitya Sanghatane. How did that shape your thinking and eventually your writing?
Bandaya is the first forum that gave writers like me an opportunity to get involved in writing. Until then, only Brahminical male writers dominated Kannada literature. Even Brahmin women were cornered. The Dalits and people from the backward castes and communities never knew how to characterise their thoughts. Even the Muslim male writers wrote in the style and thought process of those Brahminical male writers. The Bandaya movement empowered us to question the very nature and subject of our writing. Legendary writers like Baragur Ramchandrappa, Kalegowda Nagawara and Ramzan Darga guided and paved the way for us. They imbued in me that I had to write the stories of our people and our own environment. I made a commitment that I will be the voice of women, children, Dalits, the marginalised and the downtrodden.
What are the books that have shaped your writing?
More than authors, I would say it’s my interaction with people that has shaped me and my writing.
What are you working on currently?
These days I am working on my autobiography.