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Saga on street children

Rucha Humnabadkar's "Dance of the Fireflies" is dedicated to the street children of India

DEBUT ATTEMPT Rucha

Rucha Humnabadkar's debut novel, "Dance of the Fireflies", is dedicated to the street children of India and looks at the lives they lead and the extreme situations they are exposed to. Born out of her experiences while working with such youngsters, Humnabadkar says, "Their joie de vivre is amazing. They are hungry. They know little comfort yet their zest for life is infectious." Humnabadkar's first serious research into their condition happened while working on an article on street children during her internship at The Hindu, Hyderabad. Working with the NGOs and social welfare organisations was pleasant and she says they were keen that the travails of such children are written about.

The spirit of the story is best summed up in an evocative description of fireflies that occurs later in the novel, "They were tiny yet they braved the darkness of the night". Starting in a village somewhere in Warangal, the story moves to another near Nagapattinam through Hyderabad and then Pune, catching up with its characters in a whirlpool of situations they have no control over and changing their lives forever.

The protagonist is seven-year-old Chottu. He isn't necessarily brave but his tackling of circumstances and his matter-of-fact approach to hard labour constitute his chief appeal. The landlord's son has a cycle and he wants one too. But where does one get them in a village? As his Peddamma advises they are easily available in the city.

The character is based on a five-year-old the author had once met in a children's home. "He was only five but physical and sexual abuse had completely broken his spirit. He wouldn't look at me. He just kept listlessly playing with his toys. The social workers told me they had to work hard with him," she says.

Chottu runs away to the city but is it an escape from a life of rural drudgery? The novel is expansive in the sense it uses contemporary events to depict how circumstances can affect children and force them to grow up before their time. Thus there is Aslam, for whom the image of his younger brother being burnt during the Gujarat riots still haunts him, edging his cruelty with redoubled menace. The tsunami is shown to tear Tasneem away from her secure family and become a mother at 13. Sadly, it isn't about the day and the age. It is just how things happen.

Real perspective

"I had friends in various news agencies and it was from them that I got a closer look at what was really happening when the tsunami occurred. The caste divisions that were maintained even in the face of such terrible tragedy were shocking," she says.

Starting work on the book wasn't a problem. "What was really difficult was creating a credible storyline. The subject was such that if I weren't careful, it would become an exercise in mawkishness," she says.

Theatre and films are her other interests. She has worked with Nagesh Kukunoor in his early films and says, "Writing for me is a passion. My next project should be another book but then who knows it could be a film too!"

PAROMITA PAIN

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