—9—
Tanveer left for school, but as he promised, he wrote many letters. He always included a joke or a riddle or a story about a book he was reading.
Until I met him, I’d considered myself the most accomplished reader I knew.
He was even more avid than I, and bested me by reading in several languages—the English we shared, but also his family’s Punjabi, and the courtly language of Farsi, and of course Hindi and Urdu, which were spoken mainly the same under the umbrella of Hindustani, but were written entirely differently.
When he first revealed this to me, on a rainy winter holiday afternoon when our mothers had taken refuge in their friendship, I narrowed my eyes.
“How can they sound the same and be written so differently?”
He shrugged. “Who knows?” He took paper from the stack I used for drawing. “Do you want to learn?”
“Speaking or writing?”
“Both,” he said, as if it were obvious. “Writing words brings a different understanding, wouldn’t you agree?”
“I suppose.” It sounded like a lot of trouble. “Maybe I’d rather just draw.”
“Suit yourself.” But he began to write out script on the page, and the flowing look of it piqued my interest.
“It isn’t like English letters at all.”
“No.” He pushed the pencil and paper toward me. “Try it.”
And while he might be entranced by the words, the elegance of the script itself, the beauty of it, captured me so I could not resist.
A few weeks after he returned to school, I received a letter written almost entirely in Urdu. He opened with Dear Elsie, I have news. Then the rest was in Urdu.
It was a challenge I couldn’t resist. It took me two days to decipher his simple paragraph, another week to compose a few words in return. “Tigers live in the forest.”
He was so delighted by my return letter, he sent another. I asked my mother to find a textbook for me, so I could study, and she did.
And so we began our long history of writing letters in Urdu.
February 3, 1907
Ajmer
Dear Elsie,
I will write about one small beauty in Urdu so you can practice.
[In Urdu]: Today a pair of birds built a nest in the tree outside my window.
[In English]: We have been studying the making of maps.
I think you would like making an old map, with a dragon at the middle, like the old-world explorers.
This year, we have studied Magellan, who sailed the world and discovered places that had not been found before.
I asked my teacher why they were discovered if people already lived there, but he did not answer me.
I do admire Magellan for being the first explorer to sail around the world. Not that he was able to complete it himself, of course, but his expedition was the first to complete it. Have you studied the explorers yet?
I am also learning to play polo, which I quite like. We are also marching in formation. I like the sound of our feet in unison.
Your friend,
Tanveer
March 10, 1907
Nainital
Dear Tanveer,
[In Urdu]: I put a red flower in a vase.
[In English]: There! I will not tell you how long it took. I do love the look of the letters on the paper.
I study explorers. My favorite is Magellan. I have also been reading stories about Alice in Wonderland. I have art classes. The teacher is good.
The explorers’ lives are exciting. It would have been terrifying to sail across a vast ocean with no idea of what was beyond it. I have drawn you a map with a dragon. I hope you like it.
Write soon,
Elsie
[Enclosed map]
March 29, 1907
Ajmer
Dear Elsie,
[In Urdu]: One small beauty is that I found a sarus crane feather.
[In English]: Thank you for the map. It was quite good. My friend thought you must be a grown-up.
I have broken my arm, and not playing polo, but falling from a wall laughing.
Is that the silliest thing you ever heard?
My friend is a good joke teller, and I laughed so hard that I slipped off the wall and cracked the bones in my wrist. I acquired a cast in the infirmary.
It is very heavy! I have to wear it for two months.
At least it is on my left arm so I can still write to you.
Your friend,
Tanveer
Nainital
May 1, 1907
Dear Tanveer,
[In Urdu]: One small beauty is the cat who sat with me while Mother shopped.
[In English]: Thank you for the feather! I drew it for you. I’m sorry you broke your arm. I expect you will be home soon. We shall all have a picnic!
Your friend,
Elsie
[Enclosed drawing of a feather]