Sakshi Gulati

Neon

Sakshi Gulati

Having recently moved to Mumbai, a working class family rents out their balcony to an advertising company in order to supplement their meager income. A gigantic billboard that reads “Add value to your life” now blocks all sunlight to their cramped apartment, disturbing the family’s natural rhythms and forcing them to adjust to life suspended in a permanent evening illuminated by a strange neon glow. As the parents struggle to bear their compromised present in hopes for a better future that appears increasingly elusive, the children, hopeful and resilient, find comfort in each other and look for cracks through which the light creeps in.