The cloud expert

Two siblings talk about ‘cotton candies’ in the sky. Rachna Chhabria recounts the conversation

Rohan was drawing clouds in his notebook. All his clouds were of the same shape and size like they had emerged from a factory.

“Rohan, you aren’t drawing correctly. No two clouds resemble each other in shape or size,” his older sister Natasha, watching him from her desk, said.

“Oh, oh,” Rohan made a face. “Please help me didi.”

Leaving her books, she sat beside Rohan. Opening a new page, she sketched a few clouds. They were all of different sizes and shapes. They looked like the clouds in the sky.

“So beautiful,” Rohan said.

“Thank you, kiddo,” Natasha smiled.

“These clouds resemble puffs of cotton candy,” Rohan smiled. “What are clouds made of?” he asked.

“Clouds are made up of water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere,” began Natasha. “My Science teacher explained that clouds form when water vapour, an invisible gas, condenses into liquid water droplets. These droplets form on tiny dust particles floating in the air,” she explained. “Clouds are a crucial part of Earth’s weather and climate.”

“So a large cloud must be having many droplets of water?” Rohan asked.

“Yes,” she nodded.

“So, amazing,” Rohan said.

“The different types of clouds are cumulus, cirrus, stratus and nimbus,” she continued.

“Nice names,” Rohan smiled. “Are clouds white?”

“The light from the sun is white. When it passes through a cloud, the larger water droplets scatter all the colours equally while the sunlight continues to remain white. This in turn makes the clouds appear white against the backdrop of the blue sky,” Natasha said.

“What about dark clouds?” Rohan asked.

“I explained that clouds consist of water droplets that reflect sunlight. As the clouds thicken, less sunlight can pass through these clouds. That’s why the clouds appear dark,” she said.
“Interesting,” he said.

“Clouds are much more than what we see,” said Natasha, staring at a group of clouds drifting past their window.

“What are Cirrus clouds, didi?”

“Remember, last week when we went on a picnic, you pointed to the sky showing me very thin clouds that looked like wisps of grandma’s hair? They are the Cirrus clouds. The reason they are so thin is because they are not made of water droplets but ice crystals,” Natasha explained.

“A blue sky with a handful of clouds, it was a perfect day for a picnic,” Rohan nodded.

“The fluffy clouds scattered throughout the sky are the Cumulus clouds. They resemble tufts that can be either white or grey. Cumulus clouds signify no rain but when they form into darker or grey clouds, it’s a sign of rain,” Natasha said.

“I like these cauliflower-shaped, fluffy and puffy clouds. They look as though someone has thrown thick chunks of cotton into the sky,” Rohan said.

“Nice description,” Natasha nodded. “Stratus clouds look like someone has covered the sky with a thick white blanket. Not an inch of the blue sky is visible. In a warm place, Stratus clouds signify rain and in a cold place, snow.”

‘Just like the clouds, we saw in the hill station a few years back?” Rohan asked. “In fact, they looked like a flat sheet of clouds.”

Natasha nodded. “Remember, how we threw snowballs at each other?”

“Yes,” Rohan grinned. “My snowball hit your nose.”

“I forgave you for that,” she smiled.

“What are Nimbus clouds?” he asked.

“Nimbus clouds are large and dark. You see them during rainfall or snowfall.”

“Does that mean that Nimbus clouds already have either rain or snow falling from it?”

“Yes,” Natasha said, shutting the notebook.

“Enough for now or else your head will burst.”

“Now I’ve become a cloud expert,” Rohan grinned, watching his sister draw beautiful clouds.

(Rachna is a children’s author and columnist.)

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