Child of the Divide

(Paperback, 2nd edition)

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Description

I have a boy. He is across the border, I know he is.
A few miles between. The same stars
Shine on him

Summer 1947. Sixteen million people are on the move between India and the newly-formed Pakistan. Amid the violent political upheaval, young Palis fingers slip from his fathers hand, and his destiny changes forever.

Lost, dispossessed and alone, Pali is saved by a Muslim family. The boy is given a new home and new family, a new name, a new faith and a new life. But seven years later, his real father returns to claim him and Palis life is turned upside down again. He is forced to decide who he is: the Hindu boy he was born to be, the Muslim boy he has become, or simply a child of the divide.

This edition has been published to mark the 70th anniversary of the partition of India and a new high-profile production originating once again at the Polka Theatre. Sudha Bhuchars remarkable story of family, identity and belonging set against a fractured landscape is a fictionalised account of real experiences, of families torn apart and of stolen pasts, where friendship and love are found in unexpected places.

Reviews

Yet like all good plays it has resonances beyond its immediate time and place * The Stage *
...a wonderful and mature play that uses the story of one child to explore the tragedy of many thousands. * Lyn Gardner, The Guardian *
Best Kids' Show of 2006 * Time Out London *

Author Bio

Sudha Bhuchar is joint founder of Tamasha Theatre Company, and she is both an actor and a playwright. She writes regularly with Shaheen Khan for BBC Radio 4, and their many credits include three series of Girlies. Their screenplay The House Across the Street was shown on BBC 4. Her writing credits for Tamasha include Strictly Dandia, the award-winning Fourteen Songs, Two Weddings and A Funeral and the hugely successful Balti Kings.