Kulfi Sampath
Kulfi Chawla is Sampath's mother. The story of "Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard" begins when Kulfi is pregnant with Sampath. She is the "odd" one in the family, not taking part in many conversations with the others nor behaving as most young, pregnant women do. Kulfi is obsessed with food and eating food. One could attribute her thoughts of food to normal cravings during a pregnancy. However, as the story progresses, she becomes even more obsessed with food.
Although she is non-communicative in most cases, she does have a special affinity with Sampath. He is her favourite child and she can relate to him since he is the one most like she is. He likes his solitude and he does not ascribe to the conventional things people plan for or pass their time doing. When Sampath decides to live in the guava tree, she is the only family member who says, "Let him be." She knows the isolation he craves because she had similar experiences in her youth—in fact, she still feels many of those same yearnings of youth—to be truly satisfied in life. The lack of satisfaction with her life is symbolized by her obsession with food, a persistent hunger to be fed spiritually as well as physically.
Kulfi's storyline has a strong impact on the main storyline, which is Sampath's story. It is Kulfi who gives Sampath the first magical guava and it is Kulfi who devises intricate recipes with exotic ingredients for her son. Kulfi is finally able to satisfy her obsession for food by providing abundant amounts of it for her son. The food nourishes him physically and