CHAPTER 48

Summary

• In 1946, Baby Ninan's premature arrival shocks everyone in his family.
• Ninan is tiny and very weak when he is delivered by Big Ammachi and Odat Kochamma.
• After his precarious birth, Ninan spends the next two months attached to his mother, constantly kept warm by her and monitored by his family.
• Despite Ninan's difficult start in life, he quickly grows to be strong, often found climbing the house or being boisterous.
• Ninan's mother, Elsie, falls ill with a high fever, believed to be typhoid, and Philipose nurses her back to health.
• During Elsie's illness, Philipose feels an uncharacteristic surge of emotion towards her, leaving him frustrated when he cannot express it accurately.
• While Elsie is recovering, Philipose makes a promise to finally cut down a tree that has been a point of contention between them.
• As Elsie recovers, Ninan continues exploring their house and pushing boundaries, with Big Ammachi noting that he shares a genetic condition with his father and grandfather.
• Elsie's artwork wins the gold medal at an exhibition in Madras, and she tells Philipose she attributed her win by using her maiden name in the submission to trick sexist judges into thinking she was a man.
• The chapter narrates the family's experiences against the backdrop of a newly independent India, spared of the bloody violence thanks to their South Indian location and Malayali identity.

• Shamuel urinates behind a jackfruit tree and is almost hit by a falling fruit. He tells a story about the incident often, annoying his wife, Sara.
• Sara and her daughter-in-law, Ammini finish a thatch panel while Shamuel instructs men to amputate branches from the jackfruit tree, confusing his nephew.
• Shamuel doesn't know why the tree should be cut in that manner, but does it because the thamb'ran said to. The men cut off each branch and gather the sap. Shamuel plans to use some of the sap to caulk his old canoe.
• Shamuel suggests the men keep the wood, and afterward is left with a tall trunk with dagger-like arms. His son, Joppan, criticises the decision to cut the tree this way before walking off.
• Philipose watches the activity from the bedroom; he initially intended to preserve his talisman while making the room brighter, but realises the tree now looks like an unsightly scarecrow. He considers telling Shamuel to cut the whole tree down, but stops himself out of pride.
• Noting the light in his room, Philipose observes a change in the sky and smells a new scent. Remembering the approaching monsoon, he heads outside, joining others watching the sky. Philipose appreciates how rainfall will cause the land and their bodies to rest and renew.
• With a cloud approaching, Philipose appreciates the coming rainfall, remembering how it will accumulate and flow along streams, ponds and rivers. He refrains from entering the water, and runs to the house to partake in an important ritual.
• Baby Mol, adorned with make up, jasmine and gold dress, waddles onto the front verandah to perform her traditional monsoon dance, which is believed to ensure continued rainfall. She performs a fluid, authentic dance, conveying messages of hard work, suffering, reward, and gratitude. The dance is met with approval, securing the goodwill of the monsoon and the safety of the family.