Child of the Divide

I have a boy. He is across the border I know he is.A few miles between. The same starsShine on himSummer 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.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.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.