No Time for Goodbyes Read Online Free PDF Page A

I’m awake before my mother.
    The air is cool and fresh and is that birdsong I hear? I just know that it’s 1982. I don’t know which month or day and how come my mother and her sisters aren’t yet getting up for school. It’s terrible not to know anything and yet, I seem to have accepted that I’m in the past without panicking any more. Maybe it’s because I’m in Ajji’s home. I push away the blanket and step towards the window, feeling disappointed that I haven’t woken up in my own house with Raina’s snores. But even so, this is quite nice.
    There’s a tree outside the window and I can spot a couple of squirrels running up and down while a bird coos gently from somewhere above the dense branches. I don’t remember the last time I saw or heard these simple things with such clarity. It could also be that the moment my eyes are open, my hands stray towards my phone where I quickly check Facebook for updates. And now … I look at my abandoned cell phone on the side table which has only half its battery power left. It’s pretty useless here.
    I think of Manoj at dinner last night and how Ajji had tried to draw me into the conversation. She kept asking me about Australia and I had to rely on my fundamental knowledge of the continent to reply to her. I spotted Manoj looking at me every time a question was directed at me and I knew he was amused. Thankfully he decided to help me out when Ajji wanted to know about my flight to India in detail.
    â€˜Leave her alone Amma! She’s tired from all that travelling,’ he said, smiling at me. I nodded and quietly ate the food before me, thinking how this was the best part of having gone back in time. Eating Ajji’s home-cooked food. I loved how soft her chapatis were and the potato palya was just the way I liked it.
    Ajji merely made a face at Manoj for berating her but she stopped the inquisition thankfully. But by then, Suma and the others had become curious. They wanted to know about my education, my lifestyle and why I wore such tight jeans. Seriously.
    It had been an exhausting dinner and I was only glad when it was over. Manoj seemed torn between staying a little longer and going back. He probably wanted to know who I was but he was also desperate to tell his grandfather what had happened. He nodded at me and merely said, ‘I’ll see you tomorrow’ and went. After that, the girls helped Ajji and the other women clean the kitchen while I stood around like an intruder, wondering if I could help.
    They insisted I change before sleeping. I look down at what I’m wearing and wince. It’s one of Suma’s outfits. Obviously they’ve never worn pyjamas or night dresses. So here I am with flapping sleeves and a dress that is a complete fashion disaster in the way only a pink and green combo can be.
    When we settled down to sleep, Vidya wouldn’t let me shut my eyes until I explained some of the Harry Potter elementary stuff to her. She was wide-eyed when I finished telling her about Voldemort, and Harry’s friends and his parents.
    â€˜Why hasn’t this book come to India yet?’ she asked me in wonder. How can I tell her that it’s more than a decade too early for that? Nevertheless, we finally manage to sleep although Reena wants to know which movie I’ve seen recently. Avengers obviously won’t make sense to her so I mumble something about being sleepy and nod off.
    I’m worried and excited about today. Manoj said he would take me to meet his grandfather and there might be a chance that he may work out a way to send me back. I feel a chill on my arms and I rub it slightly. Which season is it anyway? I turn and see that the girls are covered with blankets and it is quite cold.
    Will anyone believe this when I get back, I wonder. Especially mom?
    I turn once more to see her and she’s woken up. We’re staring at each other for a few uncomfortable