From a letter
There’s a letter from Dad to our mother dated the 21st of September, 1938. He’s twenty-one, she’s eighteen. He’s impatient, impetuous and very much in love.
Impatient: – “Those damned mails are late by 72 hours. It means that I won’t have any news from you till tomorrow evening.” Wondering: – “What do you think of the central European situation? I am certain there is going to be no war. How would you like my joining the Reserve of Indian Air Force officers? I am not anxious to spill my blood for the Britishers but I would like to do it for the defence of India …I have been here since the 17th: it is as well that you are not waiting for me at the other end, otherwise I do not know how very restless I would be. But it is only a few days; then there need be no waiting. Of course, I’ll do my best to come over, but that was not what I was thinking of; I was picturing myself as an instructor and you my beloved, my companion for life.”
Ardent, demanding, teasing: “What are you doing now? Are you writing to me? How is your little finger? Have you started to play tennis? Do you go riding? I mean to take it up seriously for otherwise I will feel stupid or look stupid before you … The only thing you may beat me badly with would be with your brains – but you so often forget them at home!”And filled with the dream of a life together: “How long does it take you to write a three page letter? This one took over three hours – for I was half dreaming & half awake.”They are so young, almost children. And it breaks my heart as I, an old woman in her eighties, read and transcribe his letter. She outlived him by sixty-five years. He was thirty-six when his plane crashed, less than half your age or mine.
The excerpt above is from pp 8-9 of O Sister Swallow by Suniti Namjoshi, published by Spinifex Press, Australia (https://www.spinifexpress.com.au/shop/p/9781922964083), and distributed in North America by Independent Publishers Group (www.ipgbook.com), but distributed in the UK by Gazelle Book Services (https://gazellebookservices.co.uk).
