Date:20/01/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/01/20/stories/2006012016030200.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

How a young boy finds friendship

GOING BY her surname, this author must have a Karnataka connection. Rucha Humnabadkar's book, Dance of Fireflies, was released at Crosswords bookstore and the author herself was available for a discussion on her work, anchored by Girish Karnad.

Rucha Humnabadkar is a journalist, playwright and theatre director.

This novel is all about a young boy who leaves his remote village in South India, is exploited and sexually abused; and finally finds friendship with a girl, orphaned by the tsunami. The bittersweet experiences of a repressed life come out starkly in the book.

K.S.