For children: Young Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar is not happy about his uncle CV Raman coming to stay

Vidya was crying and Sarada was whimpering. Babuji’s roaring and thundering had disturbed their afternoon naps. Chinnakka tried to soothe them back to sleep but had to give up. There was too much chaos and nervous energy about.

“Is a storm coming? A cyclone?” Sarada, who had missed the drama, wanted to know.

“Worse,” Amma muttered.

“A guest,” Chinnakka whispered in Sarada’s ear.

“A guest and a storm rolled into one,” Rajakka remarked snarkily, adding to Sarada’s confusion.

Visvam and Bala, who did not remember much of their uncle’s previous visits, could not understand what the fuss was about.

Chandra did, but was preoccupied. “What luck! Would you go to a school where you didn’t have a single friend? Where they sniggered behind your back? Called you lady’s finger? Treated you like a freak of nature? Accused you of polishing teachers with ghee and butter?”

In between giving instructions to Panchu maama and Kesavan maama, Amma too muttered, “What luck! As if I didn’t have enough to deal with. A houseful of children home for the holidays, staff threatening to quit, orders and thunder from above, and now this! The world’s greatest critic himself on a grand, extended visit.” Amma took a d-e-e-p breath.

“Even Lokam suspects he married her…

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