1. Romancing in Bury Park

Performed by Sudha Bhuchar.

Pholi, 71, a Sikh widow in isolation, reminisces about her life in Luton in the 60s, when as a new bride she and her husband worked to establish themselves and bring up their sons.

‘Where was the time for hugs? I cooked for them. Proper Punjabi food not pitta bread’. Pholi shares her story -the touches she has refused, touch she missed through global separation, the healing touch she offered her husband in his last days and the self-love she has learnt at Ghar se Ghar wellbeing sessions.  She delights in the children of her Polish neighbours.

‘My life is not poetry phena, Jisam tay Pasina. Body and sweat’

4. The Eid Hug

Performed by Naveed Khan.

‘I used to think, ‘Does Dad only exist on Eid day?’ The rest of the time, even though he was visible to us, we were invisible to him’

Anwar, mid 50s British Pakistani is only invited into his father’s open arms, twice a year on Eid. His parents had a love marriage, and his Sikh mother eloped with his father as a teenager. But Anwar and his siblings were expected to conform.

‘It’s like East is East but better’

A father himself, Anwar broke the mould and found forgiveness. Now observing Ramadan in lockdown, he awaits Eid and his father’s tight embrace with the same eagerness he felt as a child.’

2. Desi Cake Lover

Performed by Ragevan Vasan.

Hamza, mid 20s British Pakistani, aka Desi Cake Lover is furloughed from his job at Luton airport. As he awaits his Amazon parcels, hoping for the arrival of real rose petals for his Persian love cake recipe, he reflects on touch and technology, touch and consent, touch and religion.

‘What do people see first when they see me- a ‘male’ or a ‘minority’?’

A nurturing and devoted only child searching for his unique place in the world- will Hamza’s baking help him find romance in lockdown?

‘Maybe food is my touch. The prism through which I refract my light into a spectrum of rainbow colours.’

5. In Search of the Fairy Queen

Performed by Sagar Arya and Rina Fatania.

In this only duologue in the collection, band members Farid and Manju (both mid 60s) meet on zoom to celebrate their inter-faith bond, through a tender annual ritual.  Revelations are shared with Sudha through easy banter and fragments of half remembered iconic songs -stories of lost love and youth. Songs that can’t be translated, and touch that can’t be measured.

‘I look at photos of our youth and see how beautiful we were! If only we had seen that then, we might have lived with more abandon. Touched and received touch more.’

‘Tears in the audience Manju bhen, and not on stage’ 

7. Roses & Paisley

Performed by Ameet Chana.

Rehan, 54, started as an assistant making hats for Lady Diana and other royals. Like Princes Harry and William, Rehan lost his mother at a tender age. Now he has named his shop after her,

‘Gul-e Rana (sweet smelling rose) because that was her signature. Her ‘nishaan’

Rehan’s personal touch is a bit of ‘East and West and Islamic’- English classics like Roses and Paisley, uniquely tailored for Lutonian ‘sisters. As he helps customers adorn themselves in silks and velvet, it is his absent mother’s touch that he is searching for- piecing her together like a jigsaw through the fineries in her trousseau trunk.

3. The Ninja Sister

Performed by Luton born and bred Hussina Raja.

Sophia, early 20s British Pakistani, shares how as a cherished youngest child, she got all her parents’ affection and kisses. Only ‘huggable’ at home, she struggled with the ‘c’ word-confidence. When an encounter with Fauzia Baaji, The Ninja Sister, leads to Sophia discovering the Pink Diamond martial arts club, her life falls into place and another ‘charm’ marking touchstone moments is added to her collection.

‘As soon as I walked in there, it was like a passion was released from me’. Ready to invite more intimacy in her life, she sets the Persian cake challenge with the prize of a zoom date with her!

6. And the World Kept Turning

Performed by Sudha Bhuchar.

Nazira, 58, British Pakistani, has been ‘in loco parentis’ to so many- her younger brothers and as a primary school teacher. Now she cooks everyday curries for people who ask,

‘Has Nazira baaji made this? Unkay haath main ‘lazat’ hai- that I have ‘taste’ in my hands’

Burying her traumatic secret through nurturing others, Nazira reclaimed her true nature. As a volunteer at the mosque, she offers ‘touch’ through performing the last rites for strangers, a humbling experience during Covid 19. She longs for the day when we can look back and remember how in lockdown, ‘the butterflies came and danced’