It is 1993
and Bombay is on the verge of being torn apart by racial violence.
Ten-year-old Chamdi has rarely ventured outside his orphanage, and
entertains an idyllic fantasy of what the city is like beyond its garden
walls – a paradise he calls Kahunsha, “the city of no sadness.” But
when he runs away to search for his long-lost father, he finds himself
thrust into the chaos of the streets, alone, possessing only the blood-stained
cloth he was left in as a baby. There Chamdi meets Sumdi and Guddi,
brother and sister who beg in order to provide for their sick mother,
and the three become fast friends.
Fueled only by a desire to find his father and the dream that Bombay will someday
become Kahunsha, Chamdi struggles for survival on its brutal streets. But when
he is caught up in the beginnings of the savage violence that will soon engulf
the city, his dreams confront reality.
Moving, poignant, and wonderfully rich in the sights and sounds of Bombay, The
Song of Kahunsha is a compelling story of hopes and dreams, and of the
fragility of childhood innocence. |