A classical theory for the Raman optical activity (ROA) is proposed ba
sed on a picture that for a normal mode, atoms of a molecule with part
ial residual charges act as oscillating dipoles around their equilibri
um positions, which also induce magnetic moments on the other atoms (d
ipoles), reciprocally. Then the resulting coupling between electric di
poles and magnetic moments of the molecule contributes to the optical
activity. Despite its crude approximation, this model offers a physica
l essence for ROA and produces results that are of quality comparable
to the complicated quantum-chemical calculation, as far as the sign of
the circular intensity difference for the ROA is concerned.