Question 1:
Mention three reasons why the author’s grandmother was disturbed when he started going to the city school.
Answer:
The first phase of their relationship is in the village. Grandmother takes care of all the needs of the author. She wakes him up in the morning. She gets him ready for school. She gives him breakfast to eat. She takes him to school. The school is attached to the village temple. While the author is studying, Grandmother sits in the temple and reads scriptures. After school, she brings the author back home. On her way, she feeds the village dogs. The second phase of their relationship begins when the author joins an English school in the city. Now she doesn’t go with him to school. The author goes to school in a motor-bus. She can’t help him in his studies also. The third phase comes when she learns that the author is learning music at school. She feels shocked. For her, music is not meant for nice people. At this stage she rarely talks to the author.
Question 2:
Mention three reasons why the author’s grandmother was disturbed when he started going to the city school.
Answer:
Grandmother could no longer accompany the author to his school as she used to in the village. Now the author went in a motor-bus. She did not like the things the author was taught at school. She thought that children should be taught about God and scriptures. But there was no such thing in the English school where the author studied. The biggest shock came to her when she learnt that the author was learning music at school. For her, music was not meant for noble people. Now she rarely talked to the author.
Question 3:
Mention three ways in which the author’s grandmother spent her days after he grew up.
Answer:
She spent most of her time at the spinning wheel. She recited scriptures. In the afternoon, she fed the sparrows.
Question 4:
Mention the odd ways in which the author’s grandmother behaved just before she died.
Answer:
Grandmother said her end was near. She said she did not want to waste her time. She lay peacefully in bed. She started praying and telling her beads. Soon her lips stopped moving. The rosary fell from her fingers. There was peace on her face. She was dead.
Question 5:
Mention the ways in which the sparrows expressed their sorrow when the author’s grandmother died.
Answer:
Thousands of sparrows came to the place where Grandmother lay dead. They were all very quiet. They didn’t chirp at all. The author’s mother threw some crumbs for them. The sparrows took no notice of the crumbs. They flew away quietly when the dead body was carried away.
Question 6:
The author’s grandmother was a religious person. What are the different ways in which we come to know this ?
Answer:
The author’s grandmother was truly a religious lady. She spent most of her time in praying and telling her beads. She read the scriptures. She wanted children to be taught scriptures and about God. She was shocked to know that no such education was given at the author’s English school. Her feeding the sparrows and the village dogs is also a sign of her religious nature. Like a truly religious soul, she knew that her end was near. She stopped talking to anyone. She didn't want to waste her last moments. She kept praying and telling her beads till the last moment of her life.
Question 7:
Describe the changing relationship between the author and his grandmother. Did their feelings for each other change ?
Answer:
The author spent his childhood in the village with his grandmother. She was his constant companion. She woke him up in the morning. She got him ready for school. She spent her day at the temple till the school closed. Then she would walk back home with him. But this relationship changed suddenly when the author joined an English school in the city. Grandmother didn't like the things taught at the school. Now she rarely talked to him. But this change in no way lessened their love for each other. She kissed the author lovingly when he left for abroad. And when he came back after five years, she took him in her arms. She kept singing and beating the drum for hours.
Question 8:
Would you agree that the author’s grandmother was a person strong in character ? If yes, give instances that show this.
Answer:
The author’s grandmother was really a woman of strong character. At no time does she show any weakness. All her life, she lived in her own way. She was deeply religious. She spent all her time praying and telling her beads. Her routine did not change even when she was in the city. Only she took to feeding the sparrows in place of the village dogs. We see the strength of her character when the author left for abroad. She was already quite old. And the author was to be away for five years. Anything could happen during this long period. Yet she was not sentimental at all. She kept praying and telling her beads even while seeing him off at the station. Thus we see that Grandmother was really a woman of strong character.
Question 9:
Have you known someone like the author’s grandmother ? Do you feel the same sense of loss with regard to someone whom you have loved ?
Answer:
My own grandmother is very much like the author’s grandmother. She loves me very much. She is deeply religious. She has no attachment for worldly things. She keeps praying all the time. When she is telling her beads, she looks very sweet. Her face is full of peace. She is fond of feeding the dogs in our street. Whenever she goes into the street, dogs wag their tails and gather around her. Then she buys some bread for them. All children in the street call her Dadi Ma. Sometimes, she goes to stay with my uncle at Delhi. Then I miss her badly.