The inner enemy
MURALIDHARA KHAJANE
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Bhanu Mushtaq, one of the most candid Muslim writers in Kannada, continues to battle repression and regimentation. In a way, she has emerged winner with the award-winning film, Haseena, which is based on her short story
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Dark, fundamental forces exist in every religion, waiting to trample on all creative sensibilities BHANU MUSHTAQ
BREAKING AWAY Gender inequalities have always affected Bhanu Mushtaq and she had once even pestered her father to give her some medicine that would change her into a man (below); a scene from the film Haseena (above)
"I agonise over having to practise self-deception. Each time I write something, I have to sanitise it for the society. It will probably only be my biography, which will be published after my death, that can be considered authentic...," said the forthright author. Incidentally, the Kannada film Haseena which has bagged three National awards is Bhanu Mushtaq's short story. The film, directed by Girish Kasaravalli, is based on "Kari Nagaragalu", part of her short story collection Benki Male.
Bhanu Mushtaq, who has come to be one of Kannada's most prominent women writers of contemporary literature, was born in a liberal Muslim family. Though her grand father Mohammad Shah Ali was a Khaji, he and his son Rehman, Bhanu Mushtaq's father, provided the girl every freedom they could afford. She studied Arabic and Urdu initially at a madarsa, like most Muslim children do. But Bhanu's father, sensed her dislike for such straightjacketed notions, and eventually admitted her to a mainstream Government school.
Fighting odds
In college, she met Mushtaq, whom she married against many odds. She studied to become an advocate after her marriage and is now one of the leading lawyers in Hassan. To begin with, Bhanu was always fond of writing. But she made an impact with her article in Lankesh Patrike in 1987, when she wrote about a Muslim girl who was tortured by the community for watching a film. P. Lankesh was so impressed by her writing that he got her to write for his weekly. This was also the time when Bandaya and Dalit movements were at their peak, and Bhanu became its active part. She became a strong voice for marginalised women. But when Lankesh seemed to have a problem with Bhanu identifying herself with the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha leader, Prof. N. Nanjundaswamy, she stopped writing for his paper.
Bhanu Mushtaq, apart from her many novels and translations, also has to her credit three short story collections. They are Hejje Moodada Hadi (1990), Benki Male (1999), and Edeya Hanate She is now ready with her two novels Kubra and Badavara Magalu Hennalla. Her works have been well received by critics and literary circles and have also been translated into various languages including Malayalam, Urdu and Tamil. Mumbai-based Sound and Picture Archives for Research on Women (SPARROW) has take up the work of translating Benki Male into English.
Curbs imposed
Bhanu, who was the member of Karnataka Sahitya Academy, and is now the member of Central Sahitya Academy, antagonised her community when her story Omme Hennagu Prabhuve went on air. Fundamentalist forces pressurised her to seek touba for having challenged God to become a woman in the story. Bhanu was ostracised by the community till she actually asked for pardon. Life has never been easy for a liberal family like hers. "When I was in studying in Chamarajanagar, I started riding a bicycle with the help of my cousin Majid. Boys from the community, who couldn't take this, had beaten up Majid. I was so infuriated that I slapped the boys. It became a big issue. But my father stood by me like a rock," she recalls her father who always supported her in every sticky situation. "I am deeply indebted to him."
For a sensitive Bhanu, gender inequalities have always affected her. She had even once pestered her father to give her some medicine that would change her into a man. More problems came her way when she married Mushtaq who came from a conservative family. "For more than three years, I went around with a burkha. But Mushthaq gave me the freedom and support. It angered his family members and they asked us to live on our own. My father came to our aid and helped us recover both socially and economically. In the meanwhile, I worked as an assistant teacher and an announcer in the All India Radio."An unyielding community has always imposed restrictions on her no-holds-barred kind of writing. "Dark, fundamental forces exist in every religion, waiting to trample on all creative sensibilities. They have become very active post-1991 and fascist forces are waiting in the wings to crush every kind of expression." Inspired by Amritha Pritham's Na Radha, Na Rukmini based on the life of painter Hari Krishna, Bhanu Mushthaq is now working on a book on the internationally renowned painter, K.T. Shiva Prasad.
Ask her about "Kari Nagaragalu", and she talks about two incidents that shook her completely. One was of a husband who stabbed his wife for giving birth to a female child and the other of how her own relative, even during labour, was shivering with the fear of delivering a baby girl. "That's how the story happened."
Bhanu, who rests a lot of hope in the Kannada audience, feels that Haseena will appeal to both the classes and masses. "They will accept the film for it speaks of the hard realities of the society. People are waiting for the release of Haseena which has brought the State so many accolades."
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