The Village by the Sea

Winner of the Guardian Fiction Award, this powerful story read by a leading Bombay actress appeals to a wide range of ages and cultures. Hari and Lila are the eldest of a rural Indian family stricken with a sick, malnourished mother and a drunken father. Finally Hari breaks away to Bombay and suffers exploitation in a street cafe in his efforts to make money to take home to his sisters. Meanwhile Lila and her sisters struggle against cruel odds at home - but there is a happy ending. Pearl Padamsee's dramatic performance conveys the full atmosphere of the Indian settings and characters, and the whole is enhanced by occasional Indian music.