He wrote like a trained lawyer: Banu Mushtaq

International Booker Prize winner Banu Mushtaq recalled how S.L. Bhyrappa stayed at her Hassan residence for a long time to research the customs and lifestyle of a Muslim household, before writing his controversial novel Avarana.

“In my younger days, I was a loyal reader of his works. But after he started writing his prejudices in his fiction, I stopped being as loyal as I used to be. I felt his writings were like a trained lawyer making a good argument of his case, using research to buttress his claims. I often asked myself as to who stole his creativity,” she wrote on Facebook on Wednesday. 

Ideological differences aside, Ms. Mushtaq said that she remembered her meetings with him and their discussions with warmth. “In his death I feel that I have lost an emotional connect,” she said.