The chapter opens with a lush, humid description of May in Ayemenem, then shifts to Rahel’s rainy arrival at the old family house. The house is empty, locked, but the sky‑blue Plymouth remains parked outside, and Baby Kochamma (Navomi Ipe) is still alive. Rahel has not come to see Baby Kochamma, but to see her brother Estha. The twins are introduced as “two‑egg” dizygotic twins, with a childhood perception of a merged identity that has since fractured.

The narrative then jumps to the twins’ fragmented memories: Rahel recalls giggling at Estha’s dream, remembering the Orangedrink‑Lemondrink Man’s actions in Abhilash Talkies, and the taste of Estha’s tomato sandwiches. The death of their cousin Sophie Mol is recounted in graphic detail—her child‑sized coffin, the yellow church, the mourners, and the strange incidents of a bat and a hovering prayer. After the funeral, Ammu takes the twins to the Kottayam police station, where Inspector Thomas Mathew brutally dismisses their complaint, tapping Ammu’s breasts and threatening them, leaving Ammu in tears for the first time.

Two weeks later, Estha is “Returned” to Ayemenem. Their father, now retired and working in Australia, sends Estha back with a suitcase of new clothes and a letter he claims to have signed. Baby Kochamma shows Rahel the letter; Rahel puts it back into the envelope. The chapter then follows Estha’s monologue about his silence: a gradual “estivation” that made him invisible, his life as a quiet shop‑assistant in Calcutta, his caregiving of a dying friend Khubchand, and his endless wandering through Ayemenem’s changed landscape—passing the pickles factory, the Communist‑run press, the old school, and the riverbank.

The scene returns to the present: Estha walks in the rain, while Baby Kochamma, now eighty‑three, watches him from the dining table, commenting on his lack of recognition and the burden of caring for him. Rahel observes Baby Kochamma’s new haircut, makeup, and the old family jewelry she now wears. A flashback reveals Baby Kochamma’s youthful love affair with Father Mulligan, her forced entry into a Catholic convent, her later study in Rochester, and her eventual return to Ayemenem where she became the household’s obsessive gardener. Her garden, once immaculate, is now overrun with communist‑named weeds.

The narrative then shifts to Chapter 2, describing a sky‑blue December journey in the Plymouth from Ayemenem to Cochin. The family—Chacko, Ammu, Rahel, Estha, Baby Kochamma, and the cook Kochu Maria—travel to pick up Margaret Kochamma (Chacko’s English ex‑wife) and Sophie Mol (returning from London). The twins are punished by Baby Kochamma for speaking Malayalam, forced to write English lines. Chacko’s eccentricities are highlighted (his Oxford quotes, his role in the family pickle business, and his political leanings). The chapter also provides a detailed backstory of Ammu’s abusive marriage, her escape to Calcutta, the birth of the twins during the 1962 Sino‑Indian war, and Pappachi’s violent temper, including his beating of Mammachi and the destruction of his moth’s legacy.

Chapter 3 depicts the house’s decay after years of neglect: insects, filth, and cracked walls. Baby Kochamma watches television, sings with a street busker, and supervises the twins’ bathroom routine. Estha, alone in the men’s restroom, improvises a makeshift platform of rusty cans to urinate, then washes his hands and returns to his sister’s side, where Ammun’s love for him briefly surfaces.

Chapter 4 recounts the family’s visit to Abhilash Talkies. Rahel, under Ammu’s supervision, uses a public toilet (“HERS”) while Baby Kochamma uses “HIS,” leading to comic observations about cleanliness. The twins sit through “The Sound of Music,” experiencing the crowded lobby, the ticket inspection, and the emotional weight of the shared family outing. The chapter ends with Estha’s careful handling of his clothing and his silent acknowledgment of the moment.