Indian author Banu Mushtaq and translator Deepa Bhasthi won the International Booker Prize for fiction Tuesday for “Heart Lamp,” a collection of 12 short stories written over a period of more than 30 years and which chronicle the everyday lives and struggles of women in southern India.

Banu Mushtaq’s “Heart Lamp” has won the International Booker Prize, the first collection of short fiction to do so. Translated by Deepa Bhasthi, it is also the first book originally published in Kannada — the official language of the author’s home state of Karnataka, in India — to win the award.

This is a proud moment for all Kannadigas. Heartfelt congratulations to Banu Mushtaq, the esteemed writer from our land, who has been honoured with the prestigious International Booker Prize: