To celebrate the bicentenary of Charles Dickens' birth, Indian writer Ayeesha Menon explores India's love affair with Dickens.

To celebrate the bicentenary of Dickens' birth, Indian born writer Ayeesha Menon explores India's love affair with Dickens.

India loves Dickens because contemporary India feels Dickens was writing about them.

His themes resonate deeply with Indians: the importance of the extended family, familial bonds, the rich-poor divide, child labour, domestic violence, social injustice, the class system, and the plight of the deprived and displaced.

Ayeesha has recently adapted Martin Chuzzlewit for radio, setting it in India.

(Picture: A schoolgirl reads a book by Dickens. Credit: Nicola Barranger)