Nisha and her twin brother, Amil, awaken to celebrate their 12th birthday. The day is bittersweet for the family because it also marks the anniversary of their mother’s death. Each year, Papa gives Nisha a piece of her mother’s jewelry in a blue velvet box, and this year, Papa gives Amil a book.

Kazi, the family’s cook, gives Nisha a diary and tells her “it [is] time to start writing things down […] someone needs to make a record of the things that will happen because the grown-ups will be too busy” (3). Nisha is unsure what Kazi means, but she writes daily, addressing her entries to Mama. Kazi gives Amil charcoal pencils and makes a special dinner for the twins’ birthday. The twins skip school and spend the day in the sugarcane field where Amil draws.

Papa is harder on Amil than he is on Nisha. Nisha recalls how Amil used to be Papa’s favorite, but at seven or eight, Papa told Amil to “stop smiling so much, that it made him look ridiculous” (5). Amil tells Nisha their Papa would always be mad at him, “[he’s] just not what [Papa] wanted” (7).