Five Pebbles in a Pond

By Afroz Martino

It is a story of sacrifice and love. Five exceptional women originating from diverse backgrounds meet each other at university and strike an everlasting friendship. Despite their differences in language and heritage, they become one in spirit. They name their sisterhood 'SAKTE', each letter representing their name. As they struggle through life,

• Language: English
• Publisher: Shining Dream
• Release date: Mar 22, 2022
• ISBN: 9781922803153

Afroz Martino

Afroz Martino lives in Adelaide, South Australia. She is married to David and together they have four daughters and two grandchildren. Afroz writes stories for her family and future generations to help preserve traditions that are still practiced today by different ethnic communities in Australia. Nonno's tomatoes is a story about the long held Italian tradition of growing tomatoes at home and making tomato sauce for delicious pasta dishes.

Book preview

Chapter One

The Pebbles Meet

In a small, cosy café perched under the shade of an old eucalyptus tree, Ameera waited anxiously for her friends. Her eyes darted back and forth from the rustic clock on the wall to her bejewelled wristwatch. She was on her second cup of coffee, but her friends hadn’t arrived yet.

She looked around the sea of people moving in and out of the café, bagging a doughnut or sipping coffee. None of them looked familiar to her. She saw the sun playing hide and seek from the big glass window casting a beautiful shadow of the bushy tree on the gravel pavement.

As she took the final sip of her coffee, Ameera caught sight of a familiar face—then another, and another. A huge smile replaced the impatient frown on her face. Three women, each dressed to the nines and equally gorgeous, sauntered through the café door.

Suddenly, Ameera forgot her anger. She wasn’t anxious anymore—her crew was here.

Where were you all? I have been waiting for ages now, she said as she hugged each of them one by one.

That’s a question you should ask Shu, replied Elaina, her car keys jingling in her hand as she pointed towards said woman. A frail but cheerful Kiriaki also made her way into the café with the support of Elaina and Shu. Tanvie did not attend these get togethers due to her health issues. Most of the time these women meet at Tanvie’s house, but occasionally they would meet at a café on Kiriaki’s request.

As the four women settled into the café and took their seats, they were transported back to when they had first met as university students. But this was not the first time they were meeting since university—this was their monthly Saturday afternoon’s ritual for the last three years, something they wouldn’t miss for the world. Come rain or shine, the gang had caught up with each other.

To outsiders, it seemed they were inseparable; to some, this friendship seemed irrational. Perhaps they thought their friendship would die out once they had completed university.

But how could it possibly be over? This was the ‘SAKTE’ group. In Bengali, the word means strength. It is normally spelled SHAKTI. Coincidentally, the word was the perfect abbreviation for the gang: S=Shu, A=Ameera, K=Kiriaki, T=Tanvie, and E=Elaina.

It’s almost like their friendship was written in the stars. As different as they were these five women from various parts of the world each carrying their own history were united by chance or luck in Adelaide, Australia. If someone had asked them how they had met each other, they’d be in for a surprise.

While there was no dramatic story behind their meeting, with fates colliding or charming first encounters, it was still something they all held dear. These women met one fine morning on orientation day for their Bachelor of Social Science Degree at Adelaide University.

Ameera had found herself signing up for the international student club’s activities. After the sign-up, one of the student volunteers asked her to sit around and introduce herself.

Ameera, a smart and confident young woman with long, black, tightly braided hair sat at one corner of the room. There were many unfamiliar faces, but they all had one thing in common. They all had found a life and a home in Australia whilst being away from their birthplace.

As the student-volunteer who was running the event went around the room asking everyone to introduce themselves one by one, Ameera was captivated by Shu’s story. Ameera felt like she just had to initiate a conversation with her. She made up her mind that she’d approach Shu once the session was over. Within a few moments, everyone had finished narrating their story and the student volunteer heartily welcomed them. He thanked each one of them for showing up, hinting at exciting events that would take place during their three years at university. After everyone had dispersed, Ameera courageously walked over to Shu, who had already surrounded herself with a few students. She waited for them to leave and stood patiently as they all chatted. Shu was quick to take note of this. Cutting off one student mid-way, she pointed towards Ameera and asked her how she found the orientation schedule and the university generally.

Startled but happy, Ameera began to tell Shu and others how she was overjoyed to be in the company of like-minded people.

I am also glad to be here. Shu squinted at Ameera’s name tag but couldn’t spell out the name correctly.

Oh, sorry, my name’s Ameera, she said boldly, pointing towards the name tag.

Shu complimented her name and asked her to sit with her during the lunch break. Ameera sighed with relief. Even though she was never shy when it came to making friends, she was a bit nervous as it was all new for her. She looked forward to having lunch with Shu.

As the orientation day continued and the lunch break neared, Ameera surveyed the cafeteria and chose the farthest table. She kept her bag and books and went on to see the cafeteria menu. A turkey sandwich and some apple juice would be enough, she thought. Hurriedly, she paid at the counter and waited for Shu to arrive. Her eyes wandered all over the place, looking for her newfound friend.

As she unwrapped the sandwich and took a bite, she couldn’t help thinking about all the food her mother cooked. Nothing came close to her mother’s rich and aroma-filled Bengali cooking. But as a young woman, always on the go, Ameera did not have time to pack boxes of her mother’s curry and carry it around in school, or now at university. She was halfway through her sandwich when Shu arrived with three more women.

Without an invite, they made themselves comfortable and filled the table with their lunches. Each woman sat and pulled out their sandwiches, salads, and drinks from their bags. Ameera was a bit surprised since she had only been expecting Shu. After some initial awkwardness, she took it upon herself to introduce herself to everyone. As she did so, each woman received her so warmly and listened to her intently. Later, Elaina, Kiriaki and Tanvie introduced themselves in return. Ameera felt that this was the beginning of something grand.

Shu, I really liked how you spoke during the orientation session. Truth be told, that’s why I came running up, wanting to talk to you, Ameera said, continuing to praise her.

See Shu? We keep telling her she’s very eloquent, but she never listens, Tanvie applauded her. Shu smiled shyly and thanked the women for their kind words.

The rest of the women then erupted into a series of conversations and laughter. Kiriaki, with black hair and ivory skin, raised her soda can to make a toast.

To us, she said. One by one, each woman raised their cans except for Ameera.

Go on, Ameera. Make a toast for the next three years. Let’s hope we make it out alive and in one piece, hopefully with a degree in our hands, Shu said, unable to hide her mischievous tone.

Ameera smiled. She knew the next three years would be tough. But she was adamant about getting her degree. She knew it would make her parents proud and shut down the naysayers in her community.

However, seeing these women a new hope was kindled deep within Ameera. She saw their smiling faces and welcoming personalities—it seemed like they had embraced her without questions and doubts.

Erm… I don’t have a soda can or anything. How do I raise a toast? Ameera asked. She pointed towards her apple juice and gestured if this was okay. The girls laughed and nodded enthusiastically.

Oh honey, raise your juice box. We don’t mind. Do we, girls? That’s fine. You don’t need any soda cans. We make the rules here. Don’t we, girls? said Kiriaki, with one hand raised, holding her can.

Ameera raised her apple juice giddily, with a wide smile plastered on her face. As the soda cans clinked against each other, Ameera’s juice box was the odd one out. But it didn’t seem to bother her. Nor had it made a difference to the girls.

To us. To our future, said Elaina with contagious enthusiasm.

The girls had their lunch after this little celebration. During the conversation, Ameera found out Shu came to Australia for her studies. Her parents were doctors in Hong Kong, living a comfortable life, but Shu wanted to come to Australia to study as Australia’s universities were some of the top universities in the world. At eighteen, she decided to locate to Australia for her chosen programme and studies. Shu said that it was initially very hard, but she had created a life for herself in Adelaide, alone and without any family. Ameera didn’t know what she admired more: Shu’s independence or the fact that Shu had travelled all the way to Australia to pursue her goals. Ameera’s story was a bit different, but she somehow felt connected to Shu in the moment. She was born in Dhaka, a city she vaguely remembered. Unlike Shu, Ameera and her parents struggled initially before settling into their lives in Adelaide. But they both agreed they were now in much better places in their lives and looked forward to beginning university.

As the girls were engrossed in their chitter-chatter, they saw people dispersing from the cafeteria and back to the student lounge room.

I can’t believe we have been talking for almost an hour, Shu announced. The girls got up, packed their lunches, fixed their bags, and walked slowly over to attend the next session of the orientation.

Chapter Two

The Red Door

One summer afternoon, Ameera sat in her quaint bedroom, waiting for her friends to arrive. This would be the first time Ameera’s parents were meeting her gang ‘SAKTE’. She dressed in designer denim jeans and a pink powder top that hugged her