CHAPTER 58

Summary

• The chapter is set in Parambil,1959, centered on Big Ammachi and her eight-year-old granddaughter, Mariamma.
• They sit in the glow of an oil lamp with Philipose, Mariamma's father, calling for prayer time after which they discuss Philipose’s eccentric belief that frogs come from pebbles, something he probably read from English books.
• Mariamma shares a sad story from a book her father read to her about a boy named Oliver, which makes Big Ammachi wish her son would choose more uplifting stories.
• The conversation shifts to Mariamma's white streak of hair, which her grandmother regards as a special mark signifying good fortune.
• They then discussed the day Mariamma was born that resulted in the lighting of a large brass lamp (velakku), a significance usually reserved for a firstborn son but was done in honor of Mariamma, as an indication of her specialness.
• Philipose, who lives by a strict routine is shown as having a complex character—an organized lifestyle following a past filled with instability. His routines are grounded in faith and routine which his mother believes are crucial for his stability.
• There is a flashback to Mariamma's birth and how Philipose was disappointed that Mariamma was not a son, and Big Ammachi’s fierce responses to those who had expected and wanted a male child.
• The grandmother recounts the grandeur of the celebration when the velakku was lit the night Mariamma was born, proclaiming her uniqueness and potential.
• Big Ammachi shares her belief that everyone can create their own unique life narrative and assures Mariamma that being a woman from Parambil allows her to do whatever she imagines.
• The roles reverse when Mariamma asks her grandmother about her childhood dreams to which she responds that she’d have liked to be a doctor and build a clinic in Parambil but was limited by her timing. She encourages Mariamma to dream bigger for herself.
• Mariamma surprises everyone by expressing her desire to be a bishop before they move on to prayer time.