Blue Jasmine by Kashmira Sheth

Author:Kashmira Sheth [Sheth, Kashmira]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780786754724
Publisher: Argo-Navis

Dear Raju,

You can’t imagine how cold it gets here! Yesterday I was wearing seventeen things when I walked to school. Even then my hands were cold and stiff and my pen didn’t work because the ink was frozen too. My nose gets so cold that It turns as red as if someone had rubbed hot chili powder on it. I remember when we went to school on Saturday mornings in winter, sometimes we saw our breath. Here I see my breath every day! It’s so cold, there isn’t a Gujarati word to describe it.

This morning when I woke up it looked like a fairyland. Snow covered everything—roofs, streets, trees, grass, and lampposts. Snow hangs on the evergreen trees and when the sun shines on them I’m reminded of the stories Dadima used to tell us about Lord Shiva on Mount Kailash in the Himalayas.

Like a cat, snow is quiet, except when there’s a blizzard. Then the snow swirls and swooshes, the wind howls and shrieks, and the wall of white dances around. I like blizzards and I think you’d like them too.

Some snow is powdery and dry and falls apart when you try to gather it. Some snow is wet and you can gather it up like a ball of rotli dough and throw it around. Jennifer, Ria, and I made a big snowman in front of our house. I stuck a pomegranate on him for a nose. Since I can’t mail you a packet of snow, I will take a picture of him and mail it to you with my next letter.

I’m doing better in school now. At least I can understand what Ms. Wilson is saying. I take English as a second language (ESL) and that’s helped me a lot. I think you would’ve picked up English much faster. Ria and Jennifer are my best friends here, and I met two more girls named Asha and Priya at a party.

Since coming here I realize how many more holidays we have in India. They don’t celebrate Uttarayan here. I know you’ll enjoy your day off and have lots of fun flying kites and eating sweet tal-sankali. When you write, tell me how much money you find in it. Mommy bought some sesame seeds ana brown sugar to make tal-sankali at home. I hope she doesn’t forget to put some coins in it. I wonder who’s going to help you in kite flying this year? I wish I could be there. Good luck with kite fighting; I hope you win every time and that your kite keeps soaring higher and higher. Make sure you get the sharpest string possible from Paresh Patangwala‘s store. Harish Manjavala cheats; he shows one string, but sells you another. Don’t forget to protect your own hand.

How’s everyone at home? I still haven’t written to Mukta. If you see her, tell her I’ll write her soon.

I’ll be thinking about you on the fourteenth of January. Remember last year you picked the first kite, and this year it’s my turn to pick.

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