No one can know

CHAPTER 1

'Congratulations! You got in! My baby is going to CALLINGTON!!!', my mother exclaimed while waving my acceptance letter in her hand.

That's India for you. Privacy is a foreign concept here. Your phone is never your phone. Your life is never yours to talk about and your freakin' letter from CALLINGTON is never yours to open. It's all in the hands of your parents.

Not even god has any power over them. We have multiple methods for bringing him down to his knees... at least that's how I think it goes.

Anyway... too much about India and its cultures. I got accepted into Callington!! This is the only thing I ever wanted. To get out of this country. Travel to a foreign land and meet new people with different morals than mine!

***

Two weeks later I was packing my bags to Boston. God I loved the thrill of it all.

' You got your passport?'

'Shit! Ma! I think I forgot it at home'

'What! What will you do without me? We have to go back. Hai bhagwan! ( oh god!)'

'Ma! Chill. I was just kidding. I got my passport. See?' I said taking it out of my pocket.

'And- '

'My ID and my Visa and my laptop.'

'So you're all set?'

'Yes'

'Pakka? (Sure?) '

'Haan pakka ( yes sure)'

'Ok then'

'If you two are done... may I step in. I believe my daughter is going as well', my dad said, bringing my mum out of her reverie.

He hugged me tight and told me to take care of myself

With that I was gone... all set-as my mother said- alone but determined to find my way in the world.

***

It took me three days to reach Boston.
There, I was gonna stay the night. So I found a B&B, which have always been my personal favourite, and walked upto the front desk.

'Hello dear! How may I help you today?', the lady behind the counter asked me. I was instantly awestruck by her beauty. It wasn't as if she was a 21 year old model or something, she was old... probably the age of my grandmother, but her eyes were green and her hair were so white that they were silver. And she had the warmest smile.

I found myself thinking that that lady is the perfect person to run a B&B. She was radiating the feeling of home. I felt like I was facing my own grandmother then.

I must have been staring for a while now because the next thing I heard her say was
'Are you okay, dear? Do you want something to drink? Water, maybe?'

'No! I was just thinking about something' I said trying to brush off the awkwardness 'May I have a room for a day please?'

'Sure! Under what name?'

'Maanya... Maanya Mall' I spelt it out for her as I knew that mine is not a common name.

I paid her the price for the room and headed upstairs with my luggage despite her constant request to let her carry my bags.

My room was only on the first floor so it wasn't any heavy labour. I spent the night counting everything that is different in America from India and fell asleep at the speed of light

What? Don't judge me. I'm not lazy. I just have a jet-lag!

The next morning I woke up to a loud knock on my door. I hopped out of the bed to greet the sweet lady good morning. Except it wasn't her