CHAPTER 1

I called my mother every Sunday from the silence of my basement apartment, reluctant to tell her how I yearned to get away from this freezing cold city where even the traffic sounds were muffled by the snow.

"Well, who asked you to go?" Ma would have demanded. "Did somebody tie your hands behind your back and say 'Go-go to that Calgary North Pole place'?"

So instead I said, "Ma, there are mountains in the distance, all covered with snow. I can see them gleaming like silver cones in the sunlight when I go outside my apartment."

"You sound like a travel brochure," said Ma. "I hope you wear that sweater your Aunty Lalli knit for you, you catch cold so easily."

"These mountains are almost as tall as the Eastern Ghats. Do you remember that trip with Dadda in his inspection saloon?"

"The Western Ghats."

"We never went up the Western Ghats, Ma. You are talking about the Eastern Ghats."

"Don't tell me what I am talking about," snapped Ma...

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. Before commencing the story itself, Badami provides this definition of the tamarind tree: "Folklore has it that the tamarind tree is the home of spirits that do not let anything under the tree survive. Accordingly, travelers are advised not to sleep in its shade. The tamarind tree is never used for auspicious ceremonies, as its fruit is sour. It is believed that the ceremony will turn sour and thus become fruitless and lose all meaning. "How did this definition color your reading of the story? Is Saroja the only "Tamarind Woman" in the story? What about Kamini? Amma?
   
   
2. In their first exchange of the novel, Kamini complains to her mother that "you are inventing memories." Were ...