A man has been in a coma for half a century and suddenly awakes. This is how Mazhar Tirmazi's play 'A Lifetime on Tiptoes' begins. Inspired by stories his mother told him of pre-Partition Panjab when Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims, and Christians lived side by side, the play speaks of separation from one’s homeland and how language, culture and humanity can connect in a world where prejudice, dogma and religion can divide.A Lifetime on Tiptoes (‘UmraaN LannghiyaaN PabbaN Bhaar’) started life as a song lyric by Mazhar Tirmazi in Pakistan in the 1970s. It was sung by Asad Amanat Ali Khan and became popular in both sides of the Panjabi border and diaspora. Following a visit to his families ancestral home in Jalandhar (Indian Panjab) Mazhar Tirmazi wrote the play. "Reading A Lifetime on Tiptoes in English has opened my mind. I yearned to go back and see my land and family. I visited Pakistan and Lahore where I was born, grew up and went to school. How populated it has become. My house is there no more but the street is. I managed to stand on the land where my home was. My mother went away from Lahore for six weeks, and never went back. Mahatma Gandhi offered Mr Jinnah the chance to set up a government but not to divide India. That was not to be. That visit to the place where I was born opened my mind. Then it was opened again by A Lifetime on Tiptoes". -Jaswant Singh JP (Jas), Councillor for the County andCity of Cardiff Deputy Lord Mayor of Cardiff 2008/9The first Sikh to receive an MBE in Wales and to become a county councillor in Cardiff . "Director Dominic Rai and writer Mazhar Tirmazi are talking about a difficult and often forgotten subject here – Partition – and the ways in which political boundaries can stretch a culture to breaking point. The pains of separation, strong half a century back, have returned today in new guise and are just as strong. More strength to this amazing Panjabi creative team".-Peter Finch Poet and Former Chief Executive, Literature Wales