Bengaluru bookstores see surge in demand for ‘Heart Lamp’, Kannada original after Banu Mushtaq’s Booker win

The city bookstores are registering a rise in the sale of veteran Kannada writer Banu Mushtaq’s Heart Lamp: Selected Stories, which won the International Booker Prize on Wednesday. It is translated into English by Deepa Bhasthi.

The bookstore owners have also seen a rise in demand for Mushtaq’s original in Kannada Hasina Mattu Itara Kathegalu.The Bookworm on Church Street sold more than 70 copies on Wednesday.

“We have also received orders from different cities, like Nagpur, Bombay, Pune and Delhi,” Bookworm proprietor Krishna Gowda told DH. They also sold about 12 copies of the Kannada version.

Dhananjay of Beetle Book Shop, Vijayanagar, started receiving calls with inquiries about the book’s availability from 6.30 am on Wednesday. With a majority of their customers being Kannada readers, the demand for the Kannada version is higher. They have sold more than 50 copies. The bookstore has also received orders from the US, Hyderabad, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and other parts of Karnataka like Hassan.

“The Kannada book is priced at Rs 750, if it was less than Rs 300, which is usually the price of most Kannada books, the sales would have been much higher,” Dhananjay said. The bookstore has also received orders from new readers who are not very familiar with Kannada literature.

At Blossoms Book House on Church Street, the sale of books peaked as soon as the book made it to the shortlist.“We’re also receiving requests about the Kannada version as well. We don’t have stock but it’ll be available from Thursday,” Mayi Gowda, the bookstore’s proprietor, said. Guruprasad D N of Akruthi Pustaka, said he has sold about 25 Kannada copies and about 10 copies of the English.