I've never experienced such pure storytelling.

Heart Lamp touched my soul. I've read a few heartbreaking books, such as Khaled Hosseini's books and Dostoyevsky's stories or the heartbreaking arcs in his books, yet I never knew my heart could feel more profound grief and sorrow for characters I never met or have not even remotely been in their shoes. These stories opened a new chamber in my heart where deeper meaning and emotions flood out. Good art is meant to convince you that you cannot feel a certain emotion other than by appreciating (or in this case, reading) the art, and Heart Lamp has succeeded in being in the top 10 books I've ever read in my (young) life, and it may stay there for a long time.

The language and vocabulary are ordinary, but only for the English words. There are many Kannada words used that just make sense, and I outright agree with the translator's decision not to use italics. I know this sounds like such a simple deviation from normal translations, but oh my, it makes all the difference. The mixture of English and Kannada is so brilliantly put, making the book so immersive, I feel like I grew up with the community in the stories.

Of course, just like every book, we readers won't remember the plot of every chapter, hence I won't remember every short story here, but I will remember a couple: Fire Rain and Heart Lamp. One must allow the stories, characters and language to touch you. You, the reader, must let the story's arms and hands feel all over your body and gently hold your heart. Let the story flow through you, trust it. There is no need to be well-read or cleverly connect the dots (although there are many opportunities to do this). There is only the need for the reader to sit back and let the book feed your emotions.

5/5 because, as cliché as it sounds, it touched my heart and changed my life a bit. I'd like to also add that I have very little context of what Indian Muslim communities are like, but I have grown up in a much different Asian Muslim community (geographical-wise), which allows me to understand and empathise better than the average Western reader.