just a girl

February 2026 - Priya and Sanjay Ramaswami are 36, Anjali and Padma are 7, Anthony Cooke is 8, Clara Long is 7.

Anjali and Padma are best friends, but now that they're 7, their personalities are starting to diverge.

Padma is an energetic, talkative little girl. When everyone is busy, she can spend hours talking to the parrot.

Anjali is a quieter, more serious child. She likes to spend a lot of time reading and playing on the computer. She met her best friend Anthony Cooke online.

Most of the time she and Anthony keep in touch outside of school on the computer, but sometimes he comes over. They usually end up talking about science or other nerdy things.

Padma's best friend is Clara Long, who lives next door.

Clara was Padma's friend first, but she's also becoming friends with Anjali. They have a lot of things in common; they're both more interested in science and building things than dolls and makeup. Padma, on the other hand, is a lot girlier.

Maybe when they get older things will change, but for now Padma and Clara can still find lots of fun things to do together.

*****

Priya wasn't happy to catch the girls jumping on her bed, and she decides Padma needs an outlet for all of her energy. So one afternoon she takes Padma and Clara to the ice skating rink.

Priya doesn't do so great.

But Padma gets the hang of it right away.

She even figures out how to spin!

Padma and Clara have a great time at the ice skating rink. "Can we come back tomorrow Mom?" Padma asks as they head to the car.

"Okay sweetie. We could even sign you up for lessons if you like," she offers.

"Okay!"

*****

Priya and Sanjay are both thrilled that Padma has found a hobby that she loves. Their parents weren't very supportive of their career choices - Sanjay's father always pushed him to go into business or science - and they want their daughters to follow what they want.

Sanjay's been playing the violin since he was five, and now he performs in an orchestra.

Priya has turned her love of writing into a career as a journalist. Right now she's just writing horoscopes, but she hopes to move up to writing stories soon.

Since they've signed Padma up for skating lessons, they also want to encourage Anjali's hobbies. They buy her a telescope, and she spends hours outside with a star chart staring up at the icy night sky.