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SUMITRA'S STORY, Rukshana Smith
MAI'S DIARY
Read the following example of a personal diary, based on "Sumitra’s Story". Then write similar diaries for two of the following:
- Bap
- Sumitra
- Jean
- Maria
Each diary should contain the character’s thoughts about his/her current problems, as well as his/her dreams. Aim to sound as authentic as possible. If you are successful, your two diaries will probably sound quite different from one another.
Mai’s Diary
23rd November 1974
It’s so cold and dark here; I miss the warmth of Uganda and the longer days. It’s depressing to see the light fade when it’s only four in the afternoon.
I detest this so-called guesthouse and the money-grabbing landlord who keeps snooping on us when we try to cook. We can’t possibly afford to eat out and tinned food is so tasteless. Oh, I wish I had my own kitchen! As for the other guests, they are vile. Many of them smoke, even the women, and most them seem to hate us. An old hag called Jean spat on the stairs as she passed me the other day and her friend Rita dragged her child away when I offered the little girl a sweet. What have I done to deserve such bitterness?
The worst thing is the lack of company. I spend the day all alone in this cramped room, miserable and anxious. I’ve lost weight and I don’t sleep properly at night. Devendra’s at work and the children are in school. Who can I talk to? I’m too old to learn this difficult language, and anyway lots of them just laugh when I try to say "How are you". I long for the old days: Yusuf and Cooky chattering away all the time, aunties and cousins dropping in, afternoon "chai" and "chevraa" in the back garden, Devendra coming back for lunch … We lost so much when we left Uganda - my heart aches when I think of it.
I worry about the children too. They are changing fast, becoming so much like the English. What will become of them? Will they get good husbands?
Please, please, Lord Krishna, change our fate so that we may return home!
Frankie Meehan