GOD'S WILL

A crime has been committed against a 13-year-old girl. Her grieving family demands justice, but as the state alternates between offering temptation and making threats, her mother is left fighting a lone battle. Will her stoicism bear out the government machinery that is working against her? Or will she succumb too? In this story of how class and caste play into ordinary lives, V Balakrishnan explores urban poverty and a woman's resilience in this context.
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God's Will is a diamond in the rough. It portrays the pain and suffering [of a woman's loss] and the inhumanity of the ministers handling this, who see paying money as a salve. The author has crafted this sad tale well. His dialogue weaves a picture of the tragedy of being poor in India, especially in a big city.

- Keith Stevenson

(Excerpted with permission from the judges' citations for the Sultan Padamsee Award)