Gifted
Nikita lalwani
Penguin, Rs 395
Rumika vasi has a gift. She can calculate her age to the last possible second (10 years, 2 months, 13 days, 2 hours, 42 minutes and six seconds old). She can work out her chances of walking home with the most fancied boy in her class ( 0.2142). However, what she cannot calculate is how this talent of hers will take over her life.

From the time her mathematical ability is discovered, her father, a lecturer at the University of Swansea, takes control. Mahesh Vasi was always filled with ambition from the day he landed in Cardiff as a PhD student with his new bride. Now when he sees a golden opportunity he is clear that Rumi will not be allowed to fritter it away. She is forced to study long hours on an empty stomach in cold rooms because her father believes hunger will lead to better concentration.

Her mother Shreene — a product of Mahesh’s stark discipline as well — doesn’t dare go against his will but in her heart believes too much education will ruin Rumi’s chances of a good marriage.

What no one realises is that Rumi is a normal young girl and numbers do not consume her the same way. She wants the freedom of time. To make friends. To read books about girls who live in boarding schools. To fit in. But Rumi — the immigrant “coloured” girl who dresses strangely — isn’t given the time to do so. Instead her life is regimented every step of the way. She rebels in her own little ways. She lies, she calls friends over when she is not supposed to. She calls the emergency service 999 just to talk. And she develops an addiction to cumin seeds, devouring them almost by the kilo. She enjoys the bitter, burning sensation — it serves as a constant reminder of her own abbreviated life.

... contd.