Devika Rangachari - When Amma Went Away

When Amma Went Away

By
Devika Rangachari
Illustrated by
Subir Roy

Children's BookTrust, New Delhi

When Amma Went Away won the First Prize in the category General Fiction in the Competition for Writers of Children's Books organized by Children's Book Trust. The other titles by the author published by CBT are Company for Manisha, Whitey and the Monsters, Growing Up, and short stories 'A Cure for Ravi' in Kaleidoscope, 'Our Next-Door Neighbours' in 22 Short Stories, 'Whose Work Is It?' in Teenage Stories and 'The Pigeons' in Indian Folk Tales.

EDITED BY GEETA MENON

Text typeset in 12/16 pt. Southern

This ePub mastered by 'The Rddler' & 'Cadzbuddy'

by CBT 2002 ISBN 81-7011-928-6

Published by Children's Book Trust, Nehru House, 4 Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delh-110002 and printed at its Indraprastha Press.

Ph: 3316970-74 Fax: 011-3721090 e-mail:

Website: http://www.childrensbooktrust.com

M rs. Anand leaned forward and took another coconut barfi from the pretty blue plate on the glass table. 'That is three,' thought Nalini sourly. 'Five more to go, and she will finish them all, I suppose.'

"You have such a talented mother, " Mrs. Anand beamed at Nalini, causing that disgruntled individual to pull her face hurriedly into a smile. "She is so good at her job and so good at cooking. My barf is are never so soft. "

"These aren't soft, " observed Arun, eyeing the plate hopefully. "They should be more squishy, shouldn't they be, Amma?"

"Squishy? What word is that?" laughed his mother and shook her head at her hungry eight-year-old son. "No more, Arun. Then you will never eat your dinner and it is nearly time. "

Mrs. Anand took the hint much to Nalini's relief and stood up, brushing crumbs off her ample body. "Congratulations again, Mrs. Ramanujan, " she said.

"These sweets were just for starters. When you come back from Singapore, I will take a really proper treat from you. "

"Oh, sure, " smiled Mrs. Ramanujan. "You will have to wait for about five months for that. "

Nalini's heart sank as she heard these words. It was so difficult to accept the fact that her mother would be away from home for so long. Mrs. Ramanujan was being sent to Singapore by her office for some researchbased project. They had heard the news only that morning.

"You should be proud of your mother, " their father had said after Amma had announced the news and had gone to the kitchen to make something special for the occasion. "She tells me that there were seven people in line for this offer and they selected her as the best of the lot. Isn't that great?"

"But Singapore?" Nalini protested, not troubling to lower her voice so that her mother probably heard her. "When will she go? And we won't see her for ages! What will we do? And..."

"So many questions!" Mr. Ramanujan frowned in mock dismay. "Don't worry so much, Nalini. We have to work things out and there will be some changes. However, one thing is clear, we must see that Amma makes full use of this opportunity. She deserves all this and more. "

"Will Amma send chocolates from there?" queried Arun, his eyes suddenly gleaming at the thought.

Nalini clicked her tongue impatiently. Trust a silly eight-year-old to ask such a question! At fourteen-and a-half years, she felt so much older and wiser than Arun. And Amma had called her a responsible girl only last week. She was about to say something scathing in reply when Amma walked in with a tray of barf is.

"There, I made these, " she announced triumphantly, "in celebration. "

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" chanted Arun and made a beeline for the sweets.

"Nalini, come and taste them," urged her mother, flopping down at the dining-table. She darted a worried look at her daughter. The girl was twisting her long plait around, a deep frown on her face.

"Go on," her father gave Nalini a little push and she found herself at the table.

Reaching out for a barfi, she burst out, "Amma, when do you leave? Will it be before my Science test? What about...?"

Mrs. Ramanujan patted Nalini's hand reassuringly. "1 am not leaving immediately, so don't worry. The earliest I can go is in a fortnight's time. We have to make arrangements for you and Arun. I have told them that at the office. "

"What arrangements?" the barfi was turning to paste in Nalini's mouth. She hated changes of any kind and this was proving to be worse than what she thought.

"Well, someone will have to look after you while 1 am away, " said her mother reasonably. "We will have to work out something. "

"Why? Appa is here, " began Nalini mutinously.

"Appa works till seven, Nalini, " her mother said. He is never home before eight at the earliest. Who is to look after you and Arun all day? Muniamma can't do it, she is too young, and I don't like the idea of hiring another maid."

"1 can," said Nalini, thrusting her chin forward. "You said I am responsible. You said that only last week. [ am fourteen and in Class IX. Arun is only a kid! I will make him behave himself and...and I will learn to cook. " Her face suddenly brightened. "And Aditi can come jnere every day and help me and..."

"Talk sense, Nalini, " said her mother gently. "I know you are very responsible and in a few years I am sure i can leave everything to you. Right now you are too young to manage alone and Arun too. And I am sure Aditi's mother won't like the idea of her staying here half the time. What about her studies? And yours? No! Appa and I will think of something, someone to take such good care of you that you won't miss me at all."

The easy tears came to Nalini's eyes and she turned her face away, blinking furiously. How could anyone take her mother's place? How was she to manage all her tests and assignments without her mother's help? \A/ho was she to tell her problems while Amma was away; all about her fights with Richa and Meghna? The doorbell had rung just at that time announcing Mrs. Anand, their neighbour, and Nalini had to sit down and be polite. Amma had a soft corner for her since she had no children and was so obviously fond of Arun and Nalini. She looked at Arun's serene face. He didn't have a care in the worldthe silly kidin Class III and such a baby! Life was really difficult at times!

After dinner Amma and Appa sat down to a serious discussion while Arun took out his animal jigsaw puzzles. Nalini tried to read for a while but the words on the page kept jumping before her eyes. With a sigh of disgust she went to her room and took out some pending homework. Mrs. Mehra would have a fit if the diagrams of the human eye were not drawn properly, so Nalini tried hard to concentrate on her work. Just then Arun poked his head around the door.