| Why was grandmother was distressed about western school teachings ? | The author’s grandmother was unhappy after knowing that the things taught to him at school were related to western science and learning. Secondly, she did not believe such things that were taught at his new school. She was disturbed that there was no teaching about God and scriptures. |
| How birds show there grief to grandmother's death ? | The day the author’s grandmother died, thousands of sparrows sat scattered around her dead body. They sat there in utter silence mourning the death of the grandmother. They took no notice of the bread crumbs thrown at them and flew away silently after the body was carried for the final rites. Next morning, the bread crumbs were swept away into the dustbin by the sweeper. |
| The authors grandmother was a religious person. what are the different ways in which we come to know this |? | The grandmothers |
| The authors grandmother was a religious person. what are the different ways in which we come to know this |? | The grandmothers |
| Where Was Grandfather's Portrait ? | The grandfathers portrait was located in the drawing room above the mantelpiece |
| How did the author treat grandmother's stories ? | Author used to treat them as fables of the prophets |
| Describe the looks of Grandmother? | She had always been short and fat and slightly bent. her face was a criss - cross of wrinkles running from everywhere to everywhere. she could never have been pretty, but she was always beautiful. she hobbled around the house in spotless white with one hand resting on her waist and other telling the beads of her roasary. her silver locks were scattered untidily over her pale, puckered face, and her lips constantly moved in audible prayer. she was like the winter landscape in the mountains, an expanse of pure, white serenity breathing peace and commitment. |
| What was the turning point in their friendship ? | When the authors parents were settled in the city, they sent for grandomother and the author, that was the turning point in their friendship. grandmother no longer came to school with him. he used to go to an english school in a motor bus and there were no dogs in streets and she took to feeding the sparrows |
| How would grandmother get author ready for school ? | She used to wake him up and get him ready for school. she said her morning prayer while she bathed and dressed him in the hopes that he will learn it. the author listened because he liked her voice but never bothered to learn it. then she would fetch his wooden slate, which she had already washed and plastred with yellow chalk, a tiny earthen ink pot and a red pen, tied in a bundle and handed it to him |
| what was the experience of author while going and returning from school ? | his grandmother carried stale chapatis for the village dogs. grandmother always went to school with the author because the school was attached to the temple. the priest taught us the alphabet and the morning prayer. while the children sat in rows on either side of the verandah, singing the alphabet or the prayer in chorus, hia grandmother sat inside reading the scriptures. then after they both finished they would walk back together. this time the village dogswould meet them at the temple door. they would follow both of them to home growling and fighting with each other for the chapatis they threw to them |
| what made the grandmother unhappy ? | he would tell her English words and little things of western science and learning, the law of gravity, Archimedes’ Principle, the world being round, etc. This made her unhappy. She could not help me with my lessons. She did not believe in the things they taught at the English school and was distressed that there was no teaching about God and the scriptures. One day I announced that we were being given music lessons. She was very disturbed. To her music had lewd associations. It was the monopoly of harlots and beggars and not meant for gentlefolk. She said nothing but her silence meant disapproval. She rarely talked to him after that. |
| What was the happiest time of the day for grandmother ? | Only in the afternoon she relaxed for a while to feed the sparrows. While she sat in the verandah breaking the bread into little bits, hundreds of little birds collected round her creating a veritable bedlam of chirrupings. Some came and perched on her legs, others on her shoulders. Some even sat on her head. She smiled but never shooed them away. It used to be the happiest half hour of the day for her. |
| what happened when author decided to go abroad for studies ? | When he decided to go abroad for further studies, I was sure my grandmother would be upset. he would be away for five years, and at her age one could never tell. But my grandmother could. She was not even sentimental. She came to leave me at the railway station but did not talk or show any emotion. Her lips moved in prayer, her mind was lost in prayer. Her fingers were busy telling the beads of her rosary. Silently she kissed my forehead, and when I left I cherished the moist imprint as perhaps the last sign of physical contact between us. |
| What was the strange behaviour of grandmother before death ? | In the evening a change came over her. She did not pray. She collected the women of the neighbourhood, got an old drum and started to sing. For several hours she thumped the sagging skins of the dilapidated drum and sang of the home-coming of warriors. We had to persuade her to stop to avoid overstraining. That was the first time since I had known her that she did not pray. The next morning she was taken ill. It was a mild fever and the doctor told us that it would go. But my grandmother thought differently. She told us that her end was near. She said that, since only a few hours before the close of the last chapter of her life she had omitted to pray, she was not going to waste any more time talking to us. We protested. But she ignored our protests. She lay peacefully in bed praying and telling her beads. Even before we could suspect, her lips stopped moving and the rosary fell from her lifeless fingers. A peaceful pallor spread on her face and we knew that she was dead. |
| Explain the three stages of the authors relationship with his grandmother | The three phases of the author’s relationship with his grandmother before he left to study abroad are given below. Early childhood was the initial stage of the author’s life. He used to reside in the village during this time with his grandma. His grandma used to take care of everything for him, including getting him ready for school and waking him up. They were good friends with one another.
The grandmother and the author relocated to the city to live with the author’s parents during the second phase. Their friendship underwent a change because they “saw less of each other” after this. When the author started college, the third phase began. The connecting thread of their friendship was severed when he was granted his own room. The granny spends the entire day praying and spinning wheels. She remains silent as she accepts her isolation. |
| The authors grandmother was a religious person. what are the different ways in which we come to know this |? | The grandmothers |
