Friendship isn’t dictated by logic or form—it just is.’ This powerful quote encapsulates the conundrum in Chitra Soundar’s delightful and adventurous tale that is inspired by her own childhood in Chennai and a young girl’s anxiety of moving countries and searching for a new friend. The ancient mancala game[1] Pallanguzhi that the author played with her friends as she grew up is at the centre of her tale as her main character Tara also plays it with her best friend Farida before moving to England with her family.
On the flight to London, Tara finds a maths book called Solving the Problem of Life in her bag along with a little note from her professor that reads, ‘There isn’t a problem in the world that maths can’t solve.’ The first chapter called ‘The Friendship Theorem’, also the title of this book, is what Tara uses to help her find a new friend in Camp Wilderness, a camp that she and her brother Kapil are enrolled in upon arriving in London. More comfortable indoors with coding and maths, needless to say that Tara is less-than-thrilled with this outdoor camp with its trees and animals. Determined to find a new friend, Tara sets out to apply the Friendship Theorem in her new surroundings.
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