International Booker Prize-winning writer Banu Mushtaq recalls how Kannada novelist SL Bhyrappa spent seven days in her Hassan home to research his novel Aavarana, which was accused of demonising the Muslims
In this first-person account, Kannada writer Banu Mushtaq, who won the 2025 International Booker Prize for her collection of short stories, Heart Lamp, recounts the unusual week when the late Kannada novelist SL Bhyrappa, who passed away on Wednesday (September 24) at 94, stayed with her family to experience Muslim customs firsthand for his 2007 novel Aavarana (The Veil). From clearing the fridge of meat to guiding him through graveyards, mosques, and dinner-table discussions, she describes how the visit unfolded rich in curiosity, but was shadowed by later misgivings as the novel sparked controversy for its portrayal of Muslims:
Before writing Aavarana, SL Bhyrappa stayed as a guest at my house in Hassan (Karnataka) for one week. His main purpose was to understand closely the cultural background, customs, and lifestyle of a Muslim family. We had met by chance at a literary programme in Hassan, and there Bhyrappa himself expressed his wish to come and stay at my house. Naturally, this unexpected request surprised my family and caused a little confusion, but we agreed to host him.
We made special arrangements at home for his arrival. Since Bhyrappa was a strict vegetarian, we stopped cooking meat temporarily and arranged only vegetarian food. During the week, he visited graveyards and mosques to study Muslim practices and also went to Muslim educational institutions. He held long discussions with my family members, especially my daughter Sameena, about history and philosophy. The experiences and information he gathered during that visit later helped him write Aavarana, which became the centre of debates and controversy.
Making food arrangements for him
Before this, Bhyrappa had come to Hassan to attend a literary event. I had gone late. Some people there told me that Bhyrappa had asked about me once or twice. After the programme I contacted him. Then he said to me, “I want to come to your house.” I said, “Please come.” He said, “Not now, but I will come and stay for a week.” I was confused but forgot about it.
About a month later, my landline rang. Bhyrappa himself called and told me the date he would come. I panicked. I didn’t know what arrangements to make for him. At that time my three daughters were unmarried and studying. My son, Taheer, was in high school. My eldest daughter, Sameena, had won a gold medal from Mysore University and was preparing for IAS and KAS (Karnataka Administrative Services) exams. The house was already full of activity. My main worry was about food arrangements. So I called him back and asked what kind of food he preferred. He calmly replied that he never ate meat and would be happy with vegetarian home food. He also said he would eat whatever was cooked in our kitchen with us.
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So, a week before his arrival, I emptied my fridge. I filled it with fresh vegetables from Hassan and removed fish, chicken, and mutton from the fridge and stopped buying them. The most upset person was my son, who was used to eating meat three times a day and now had to go without it for 15 days. After he realised his protests would not work, he started arguing about Bhyrappa’s writing instead. My daughters also joined in the discussions. In the end, without even voting, everyone agreed to host Bhyrappa. Taheer threatened to move to his grandmother’s house for a week, but Sameena packed his bag, Lubna prepared his books, and Ayesha teased him. Finally, he withdrew his objections and waited for Bhyrappa’s arrival like an obedient son.
Visiting a graveyard and a mosque
Bhyrappa came to our home. After the initial awkwardness, I felt no discomfort. Shabana, who helped me in the kitchen, happily agreed to make only vegetarian food. Bhyrappa himself told me that he had come to our home to collect background information for a novel he was writing, to study the environment of a Muslim family and observe their customs. I laughed and told him that our home might not provide a truly authentic environment and that if he needed a real atmosphere, such homes might not welcome him. He then decided to stay at our home.
He liked Shabana’s cooking, especially the vegetable curry and greens soup. The next day I had an important event at the Alur Literary Conference. I went there and came back with a fever. While I lay sick, Sameena began looking after Bhyrappa.
Bhyrappa wanted to see a closed kabrastan (graveyard) and a mosque. One morning, my husband, Mushtaq Mohiyudin, took him to a kabrastan. Bhyrappa not only looked at it from outside but walked between the graves and observed every corner. He then asked Mushtaq, “Why are the gravestones here written in Urdu?” Mushtaq was shocked and didn’t know how to answer. When they returned home, Mushtaq posed the question to me and said, “You answer him.” Bhyrappa was taking notes about the kabrastan in his notebook.
Later, Bhyrappa wanted to visit a mosque. Mushtaq got permission from the mosque authorities on Holenarasipura Road. He and Bhyrappa went there during prayer time. Women were allowed to pray there, and there was a separate hall for them. I too used to go there on Fridays for noon prayers. That day Mushtaq took Bhyrappa there during prayers. Bhyrappa washed his hands and feet, went inside the mosque, sat quietly while the congregation prayed, and wrote everything down in his notebook.
After that, Bhyrappa wanted to see a Muslim educational institution. So Mushtaq took him to Darul Mansoor in Alur. Bhyrappa walked around the whole campus, examined the facilities and curriculum for students, and noted everything in his notebook.
Demonising the Muslim community
At that time, mobile phones and other distractions didn’t exist. There used to be good discussions at the dinner table and afterwards. Bhyrappa asked many questions about Muslim history, customs, and ways of thinking. I answered them as best I could. Then he would discuss classical philosophical ideas. Sameena, who was deeply studying Indian history for her competitive exams, would explain many of his doubts with examples from Indian history. Listening to their discussions was an extraordinary experience. This is how our bond continued for a week.
But for Bhyrappa’s curious eyes, the inner life of the Muslim community remained hidden. It’s impossible to fully understand a community in one week. Yet his intense curiosity, hunger for information, and eagerness to explore unknown worlds were unique. Still, I felt he was only getting a surface-level understanding. He gathered facts and ideas but might have been losing out on real experience. I also wondered how he would use this information, and if his writing reflected an anti-Muslim stand, how my community would view me. But I pushed these thoughts aside and behaved naturally with him. My family also supported me completely. My son, who had protested from the start, occasionally went to my mother’s house, ate biryani and chicken kebab, but stayed away from both me and Bhyrappa.
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Later, Aavarana was published. In it, Bhyrappa used examples that suited some of his pre-decided ideas and produced a portrayal that demonised the Muslim community. But in the preface of the book, he only wrote that he had stayed at a sister’s house without mentioning my name. So no one knew who that sister was. But, over time, as many writers visited our house and took photos with him, it became known that before writing Aavarana, he had stayed at our home. I think Bhyrappa expected Aavarana to create controversy and even wanted it. But instead of controversy, Gauri Lankesh published a book called Aavarana: A Distortion, which contained many writers’ critiques of the novel.
In my view, Bhyrappa was not very strict about food habits. From my childhood, my love for reading began with Bhyrappa’s writing. I was one of his most loyal readers. But after seeing his attitude, commitment, and prejudiced way of presenting ideas, I was no longer his favourite reader. Instead, I felt he had become like a skilled lawyer, shaping certain points, digging out facts through research, and presenting them intellectually. I kept asking myself who had taken away his creativity. Even though we had ideological differences, my memories of seeing him, talking to him, and discussing with him remain in my mind. Today, knowing that he has passed away, it feels as if a string of emotion has snapped. It feels like I have lost something personal. My heartfelt respects to Bhyrappa.
(This piece was first posted on Banu Mushtaq’s Facebook page and has been reproduced here with her permission)
