2. Berlin

Shanti Uncle takes lodgings at the Caro family apartment in Berlin, and destiny calls to him on the eve of war.

Writer Vikram Seth explores the lives of two remarkable relatives, his Aunty Henny and Shanti Uncle.

Their story is one of travel and displacement, a voyage navigating some of history’s most terrible events, from India to 1930s Berlin, and finally, to Britain.

They had exotic beginnings but ended up happily in Hendon until their deaths in the 1980s and 90s.

Vikram Seth's remarkable story, abridged by Alison Joseph.

Read by Sam Dastor and Renu Setnu.

Producer: Duncan Minshull

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2005.