Padma Viswanathan PART ONE 1. Thangam 1896 2. Vairum 1902 3. Only one, as an eye 1902 4. Fever 1904 5. Buried Treasure 1904 6. Siddha Song 1904-1905 PART TWO 7. Her Father’s House 1905 8. The House Safe 1906 9. High Time 1907 10. A Woman Alone 1908 11. This Is for You 1908 PART THREE 12. Muchami Gets Married 1908 13. A Hidden Coin 1908 14. Festival Days 1908 15. A Coming of Age 1914 16. Another Coming of Age 1914 17. Vairum Steps Up 1914 18. The Arrival of Children 1915 PART FOUR 19. Keeping Faith in Kulithalai 1917 20. Far from Home 1919 THIRUCHINAPALLI. 21. Two Blooms 1920 22. Yellow Money 1920-1921 23. No Harm Done 1923-1926 24. Two Ramayanas 1929 PART FIVE 25. JanakiStartsSchool 1931 26. The Son of a Son 1932 CHILD DID NOT SURVIVE STOP 27. Thangam Visits 1934 28. In the Karnatak Country 1934 PART SIX 29. Time to Go 1938 30. Rainy Season 1940 31. Gold to Ash 1940 32. Not Another Mother 1940 33. A Suitable Girl 1941-1942 34. Madras, the City by the Sea 1942 PART SEVEN 35. The Tumbling Stars 1942 36. At Home in Madras 1942 37. Married Life 1943 38. The Barber Lover 1945 39. A Jasmine at Dawn 1945 40. Late Surprise 1945-1946 41. Private Cares 1946-1952 42. Touring Talkies 1952 43. Bharati Moves In 1957 44. Summer Hols 1958 Epilogue Acknowledgements Padma Viswanathan
Padma Viswanathan © 2008
for Bhuvana and S. P. Viswanathan and for Dhanam Kochoi
Most of what matters in our lives takes place in our absence: but I seem to have found from somewhere the trick of filling in the gaps in my knowledge… Salman Rushdie, Midnight’s Children
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