Deepa Bhasthi, who works in both Kannada and English, received the International Booker Prize for her English translation of Banu Mushtaq's original Kannada work.
Published Jun 01, 2025 | 9:00 AM ⚊ Updated Jun 11, 2025 | 9:14 AM
Deepa Bhasthi. (Supplied)
Synopsis: International Booker Prize winner Deepa Bhasthi discusses her views on translating regional literature into English, her interest in learning various languages, and the challenges faced by women across all communities.
Last week marked a moment of pride for India and Kannada literature as Banu Mushtaq and Deepa Bhasthi won the International Booker Prize for The Heart Lamp. Bhasthi, a writer and literary translator who works in both Kannada and English, received the award for her English translation of Mushtaq’s original Kannada work.
Bhasthi’s translated works include Fate’s Game and Other Stories by Kodagina Gouramma and The Same Village, The Same Tree (Ade Ooru, Ade Mara) by Kota Shivarama Karanth. She also contributed an essay to the anthology The East Was Read: Socialist Culture in the Third World, published by LeftWord Books in 2019.
Her cultural criticism, essays, columns and journalistic works have been published in over forty national and international publications, including The Paris Review, Himal Southasian, MOMUS, The Guardian, MOLD, Hyperallergic, The Caravan, The Hindu and Literary Hub.
She is also the recipient of an English PEN Award for Heart Lamp.
In an interview with South First, Deepa Bhasthi discusses her views on translating regional literature into English, her interest in learning various languages, and the challenges faced by women across all communities, even in the 21st century.
Q. Do you think that it takes more effort to translate stories than to write an original piece?
A. I think both tasks are equally challenging in their own ways. Translation is as good as the original piece of work. Whether it is translating a book with a text as the source or writing a text with your imagination, one is playing with the language. It is the same.
This difference arises because people assume that writing an original piece is easier than translating. We are not any AI-powered ChatGPT. Even when you are writing an original piece or book, you are translating your thoughts. Therefore, I don’t see much difference between these two practices.
Q. In an interview posted on the International Booker Prize website, you mentioned taking Urdu classes. Who taught you Urdu, and did you take it specifically to translate the stories written by Banu Mushtaq?
A. Yes, I took Urdu classes from a teacher, Akshita Nagpal, who conducts script-writing classes. I learnt the language from her. I did not learn Urdu specifically to translate stories from Kannada to English for The Heart Lamp, I love learning different languages.
I knew this would enrich the translation work I was doing.
Q. That brings me to the question: How many languages do you know?
A. I know six languages, and I can manage to understand two more languages. It includes Kannada, English, Hindi, Tamil, Tulu, Havyaka and Kodava.
Q. Banu Mushtaq’s stories focus on the issues and hardships of women in Muslim communities. Was it difficult to get into the skin of a woman of this community and translate the stories? What did you do to overcome this particular challenge?
A. It took me a while since I am not from that community. I read a lot, consumed a lot of culture around the text, listened to music by old favourites like Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, watched a lot of Urdu dramas and read a lot of other books set in the milieu in which Banu writes her stories. It was helpful to get a better context of the stories that I went on to translate.
Q. Is there any newly translated English book that you would recommend for readers?
A. There are a lot of books, and I have read a lot of translated works. More than the titles of the book, I would say that several translators of Indian languages have been doing amazing work in the translation of beautiful pieces of literature.
Jayasree Kalathil from Malayalam, Aruna and Sayari Debnath from Bengali and a lot of other translators. Now is a good and crucial time to be reading most Indian works in English translation.
Q. Despite there being numerous stories about the hardships faced by women in Muslim communities, do you think their situation has changed today?
A. I don’t think that the situation has changed for women in any way. Though Banu’s stories are set in the background of the Muslim community and have muslim names, these issues in them are faced by women across the communities, irrespective of their caste or economic status.
It again depends on some socio-economic factors, and women still have a long way to go.
Q. What’s happening on the work front currently, and are you planning to go on vacation anytime soon?
A. I definitely want to take a holiday, but I am way too busy right now. I do have a couple of writing projects in the pipeline. They have been on hold because I have been busy answering emails and messages after the International Booker Prize victory.
I am also working on some of my own writing.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil.)
