Baby Kochamma's reaction to Rahel's return is a sour one. She doesn't understand the twin's siamese soul. To her, it is frightening so she approaches it with hostility. Baby assumes that Estha might talk to his sister and when he doesn't she takes it out on Rahel, arguing that Rahel shouldn't have assumed he would acknowledge her. Even though she didn't. It is evident her struggle to understand their relationship as well as Estha's silence. and when she is still confronted with blankness, her reaction is an extremely hostile one.