A Fine Balance Free online reading

A compelling dramatisation of Rohinton Mistry's Booker Prize-nominated novel about India's underclass.

India, 1975. Desperate to preserve her independence from her abusive brother, Parsi widow Dina Dilal turns her cramped city apartment into a sweatshop. But when her eyesight begins to fail, she hires two tailors - uncle and nephew Ishvar and Om, who have fled from caste violence in their native village. She also takes in a lodger - Maneck, a reluctant student from the mountains.

Initially wary of each other, the four strangers soon form a close bond of friendship, loyalty and love. But their lives are about to be turned upside down, for India in the mid-1970s is in a state of crisis, riven by political turmoil and corruption. As Indira Gandhi's 'emergency' measures come into force, civil liberties are suspended and human rights suppressed. In this climate of chaos, violence and injustice, Dina and her makeshift family find themselves struggling to survive and facing an uncertain future....

Tragic, comic, poignant and redemptive, this heart-rending drama is a celebration of the human spirit under inhuman conditions. Adapted by Ayeesha Menon and Kewel Karim, it stars Shernaz Patel as Dina, Kenneth Desai as Ishvar, Anand Tiwari as Om and Neil Bhoopalam as Maneck.

Production credits:

Written by Rohinton Mistry

Dramatised by Ayeesha Menon and Kewel Karim

Produced by Nadir Khan

Directed by John Dryden

Music: Sacha Putnam

Sound Design: Steve Bond

Production Manager: Niloufer Sagar

A Goldhawk Production for BBC Radio 4.

Cast:

Dina - Shernaz Patel

Ishvar - Kenneth Desai

Om - Anand Tiwari

Maneck - Neil Bhoopalam

Rustom - Zafar Karachiwala

Ibrahim - Rajit Kapur

The Thakur - Jayant Kripalaini

Ashraf - Darshan Jariwala

Nusswan - Farid Currim

Ruby - Anahita Uberoi

Narayan - Vivek Madan

Young Dina - Tirtha Kotrial

Young Ishvar - Eshan Savla

Young Narayan - Samar Uraizee

Ensemble - Jim Sarbh, Abhishek Saha, Meherangiz Acharya-Dar, Faezeh Jalali, Shivani Tanksale, Nadir Khan

Beggarmaster - Ankur Vikal

Worm - Namit Das

Rajaram - Jaimini Pathak

First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 22 March - 5 April 2015.