![]() So it doesn’t make much sense for me to live here, to be hones, because I don’t agree with it. And also, by the way, my mum and dad say that British people stole all these stones from people in India, the rubies and diamonds in the precious buildings, before they stopped ruling it, and that represents how they stole the sparkle out of Indian people’s lives. I’m moving to a country where people laugh and have fun and aren’t cruel and rude and don’t make a joke of you, and where they are more intelligent than people here, especially at Maths like me. And while seeking escape, she is also seeking acceptance: Her parents are so different from others in Cardiff, their way of parenting is so different, their expectations of Rumi so high that she feels more and more at sea to navigate through her days. So, Rumi has to deal with the double jeoperdy of not only being ‘coloured’ but also ‘gifted’. While they are provided support and nurturing by the educations institutes, they also have trouble fitting-in. In India, it is so common for us to celebrate the brainiacs and academic achievement, the Western civilisations seem to have a “never-ending” trend of labelling students as ‘geeks’, ‘nerds’ and other such terms if they display above average intelligence. You can see already the established patterns at her school which will make an outcast of her on the playground, due to her ethnicity. In that one scene, you see her longing to have friends, to “fit-in”, but also her innocent response in being treated like this. For example, we meet Rumi when she is nearly ten years old and she has made an entry into her diary about how she wanted to just play with her schoolmates, but needed to wait outside one of the girls houses, while the girl checked if it was “Ok” for a “coloured” girl to come inside. But, is she really prepared to become the part of an adult world? She has the ability to work at Mathematics in league with older children, but what about social life? Views And Reviews:Īlthough I have briefly outlined the story above, which is interesting in itself, the book draws its strength from the rich and detailed narrative. Her feelings start to grow more and more confused as she approaches adolescence and sees her contemporary kids start exploring romantic adventures, while her traditional Indian parents are clear that she is not to get involved with boys until she is married.Īfter years of hard work, she does achieve the goal of being accepted at Oxford at tender age of fifteen. Her loneliness grows as she prepares for more demanding examinations that require rigorous work. By the time her younger brother Nibu comes along, Rumi is getting quite lonely. At home, she feels that her father has a complete control over all aspects of her life, especially her intense studies. Routines are drawn for her to devote hours and hours every day to this area of her life with an end goal of achieving an entrance to prestigious academic institutions along with other child prodigies.įor Rumi, there is the world of school – playground politics and discrimination, not being able to make friends as easily because not only she carries a different cultural heritage, is dressed by parents who lean towards frugality rather than immerse themselves in debt and is considered geeky due to her prowess with Maths. Soon, they had their daughter Rumika and when Rumi was five-years old, the school informed them that she was a ‘ gifted mathematician‘.įrom that point onwards, the life in Vasi household has focused on Rumi‘s study of mathematics. He was newly-wed at the time and his new wife Shreene started their marital journey in a student bed-sit, visiting libraries to learn this new world they were thrust in. Mahesh Vasi, a mathematician, came to UK in 1972 to earn his PhD with full scholarship, “five pounds in his pocket, bare-toed and shivering” in his own words. Overall, a decent cover page that could have been more attractive. The illustration of a young girl – representing the female protagonist – adds to the cover elements. In that way, the cover page is faithful to the book title. The design tries to emulate “gift wrapping paper”. It uses the pink-purple and white colors for the major part. The cover page of this book is very simple.
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