The Mummy Factor

Favourite Stories for Girls

Puffin India 
2007
144 pages
Rs. 150
Paperback

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I have a story in the Puffin anthology above, for girls of 10-plus. My story ~ The Mummy Factor ~ is about a little girl who is obsessed with mummies (yes, the Egyptian kind). 

It begins:

Bangalore, Aug. 13, 2004

Dear Di…

Being ten years old is driving me nuts. Yeah, you can choose between cashewnuts, almonds and … peanuts. It’s a definite no-no age.

How old are you?

Baba says I’m too big to wear denim skirts and candy-pink sneakers. He wants me to dress in a more lady-like fashion. His words, not mine. Ma says I’m too cheeky for my size. J 

As for Souk Dada and Soup Dada (my twin brothers Sukanto and Supriyo), they are much worse than brandy-breathing dragons. Just because they’re in the first year at that stinky, moss-covered St. Germain’s College, they never let me forget that I’m eight whole years younger.

You know what they call me? Midget! Pygmy! Semi-colon! Afterthought! (I wonder what that means). Just a few examples, so you know how odd they are.

Is there anywhere we can trade old siblings for new ones? I’d give mine away without a second sneeze. They’re ancient, all of 18 years old. If you know of a good swap centre, write back ASAP.

These days, I’m in a total mummy mood. Not Ma, you loop-soup, those Egyptian chappies all wrapped in bandages. I’ve collected enough stuff on them to pack a volcano with.

Would you have guessed that the mummy of an Egyptian Very Important Person had upto 20 layers of wrappings? Gulp!

Will you be my friend for life?

GR8 2 NO U (I love SMS, too),

Sreela Chatterjee aka The Perfect Class Prefect (PCP)