Childrens

A Dance for Rupa
Slum Kids Of Calcutta

9781912419128 Rupa (fourteen) is an Indian rubbish picker. She lives in a makeshift shelter and is solely responsible for her sister Amrita (seven). When she sees Shanti (ten), a crippled beggar, being set up by a street gang, she rescues him and takes him home. But Shanti, who plays the xylophone won’t stay without Hamid (eleven) a blind flute player and his busking partner. Suddenly Rupa finds herself in charge of two extra children and a stray dog Amrita has befriended.

A Dance for Rupa:
Achieved the long list in the Sunday Times Children’s’ Fiction Competition

'Told with economy and humour, this story tugs at the heart strings whilst remaining totally unsentimental. One of my highlights.' Chicken House/Sunday Times Review
Published:May 2017
Paperback:110 pages
Price:£5.99
ISBN:9-781911-175575
Available from Amazon

 By the same Author
9781912419043 9781911175575
After teaching small children, for many years, I retired and now have six grandchildren and two step-great grandchildren. My early retirement was spent backpacking around India. On returning to England I had many photos but no intention of writing a children’s story. However, Shanti, who we met at a bus station, kept emerging in my memories of the street children in India. Because of this, I became obsessed with the thought that I had to write a story about four of the children, who lived and smiled in the face of horrendous misfortune. The spirit of Garnesh is the first of a trilogy. The other two being A Dance for Rupa and Shanti. I wanted a child with a physical handicap to be central to a story. Shanti and his special friend Ashiq are real children and as such were a special inspiration to me.
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