Chapter 2
In 1962, the narrator’s grandmother, after 27 years at a girls’ school (27 years of service, the last six as headmistress), retires. A formal farewell ceremony is held; representatives from the Calcutta Corporation, Congress, and CPI attend. The girls present a large marble model of the Taj Mahal that lights up like a lamp. During the reception the home‑science department serves dishes from across India, but a mishap with a “dahi‑bara” girl causes a brief disruption. The school lends a bus for the family’s departure, and the whole school waves them off.
Back at home, the grandmother clears her old files, leaving the room bathed in the Taj Mahal’s glow. That night she tells funny early‑school stories, but a few days later she and the narrator’s mother lock themselves in their rooms. The narrator discovers a man with a turban in the grandmother’s room; the grandmother is on Ayurvedic oil treatment, fearing baldness. The narrator’s friend “Montu” (actually Mansoor from Lucknow) points it out. The grandmother later begins daily visits to her former school, but the new headmistress threatens to bar her. After a confrontation, the grandmother is finally kept away until Founder’s Day.
In the same year the narrator’s father is unexpectedly promoted to General Manager of his firm, prompting the family’s move to a spacious house on Southern Avenue, opposite a lake. The narrator introduces the grandmother to the new house; she pretends interest but feels detached. Household authority shifts: the mother now controls food and money, and the grandmother retreats to her large, window‑filled bedroom, spending most time staring out at the lake. The narrator occasionally brings homework to her, but she is increasingly disengaged, her eyes still bright but her mind elsewhere.
The narrator recounts the grandmother’s childhood in Dhaka: a joint‑family house that was later divided by a literal wall after bitter disputes between cousins, especially with Jethamoshi, a stern, whip‑wielding elder who punished children with knuckle‑raps. The house became a “upside‑down” labyrinth, and familial bitterness persisted. Partition in 1947 made returning impossible; the grandmother later worked in Calcutta for 27 years, never revisiting Dhaka.
Later, in 1964, Mayadebi writes a letter saying her uncle (the grandmother’s brother’s father‑in‑law) still lives in the old Dhaka house, now occupied by Muslim refugees. She arranges a meeting with a local woman, Mrinmoyee, to locate the uncle. The family travels from Southern Avenue, through congested streets and shanty‑filled neighborhoods, to a cramped two‑storey building where they meet a middle‑aged relative (the uncle’s widow). She shows them a postcard from the uncle confirming he is alive but frail. The grandmother, though disappointed, decides to go anyway, hoping to bring him back to India.
Throughout these events, the grandmother’s health fluctuates: Ayurvedic oil treatments, episodes of crying, and a growing preoccupation with her past. She also hears rumors about the new headmistress’s plans to replace the school’s rose beds with a basketball court. The family’s dynamics shift: the mother assumes control, the father’s promotion brings new status, and the grandmother’s former “placental” presence recedes, leaving her mostly confined to her bedroom. The chapter ends with the family’s resolve to travel to Dhaka in January 1964 to retrieve the ailing uncle, marking a concrete step toward confronting the lingering legacy of the divided house and the partition’s aftermath.