A touch of brightness

by Partap Sharma

A Touch of Brightness, written nearly half a century ago, centres on Rukhmani, a girl sold to a brothel in Mumbai and her relationship with Pidku, a street urchin, who tries desperately to rescue her from her life as a prostitute. Rukhmani mesmerizes Pidku with her visionary stories of the gods and her dreams of a different way of life. Even in a brothel, her extravagant optimism never ceases but only deepens. She ties a coloured thread round his right wrist, in the traditional way of raksha-bandhan, thus adopting him as a brother for life.

PARTAP SHARMA is a playwright, novelist [Days of the Turban] and author of four books for children. His best known plays, A Touch of Brightness, Begum Sumroo, Sammy! and Zen Katha, have been staged in various countries. His books have been published in India, England, USA, France, Denmark, Holland and Canada. As an actor, he has played the lead in five Hindi feature films and won the National Award in 1971 for his performance in Phir Bhi. He has also played the role of Nehru in the film Nehru: Jewel of India. In the year 2003, he spent three months in China to take part, again as Nehru, in an international film titled Chou-en-lai in Bandung.

Genres: Fiction

264 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 11, 2010