Priya misses her family in Sri Lanka. She is finding it hard to make new friends in her new home in New Zealand. A surprise visit from a neighbour gives Priya an idea.
Read by Marguerite Tait-Jamieson
Nalini – Baked Slowly
Nalini grew up in the town of Badulla in the hill country of Sri Lanka. She went to university in the capital Colombo, but before she finished her studies her father fell ill and she returned home. Aged 18 she was offered a job as a teacher at a boy’s school, so for the first time she put on a sari and began working. There were students at the school who were older than her. Some teachers teased her about her age. One of those who teased her also loved her and became her husband. Throughout her youth and adulthood Nalini was a sports enthusiast playing badminton, volleyball and netball. She was also an athlete. In 2003 Nalini and her husband came to live in New Zealand to be closer to their daughter and their two eldest grandchildren, who had left Sri Lanka several years earlier. They missed them very much. After several years their daughter's family relocated to Australia and Nalini and her husband decided to return to Sri Lanka.
But it was only to be a temporary move. Life in New Zealand beckoned and four years later they returned here permanently. Both have now retired, but work as volunteers - Nalini with the Salvation Army and her husband as a guide in the hospital. Nalini loves reading and a book will keep her company late into the night.
This is Nalini's first experience writing creatively.
