Child of the Divide

<i>I have a boy. He is across the border I know he is.<br/>A few miles between. The same stars</i><br/><i>Shine on him<br/></i><br/>Summer 1947. Sixteen million people are on the move between India and the newly-formed Pakistan. Amid the violent political upheaval young Pali's fingers slip from his father's hand and his destiny changes forever.<br/><br/>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 Pali's 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.<br/><br/>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 Bhuchar's 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.