L-1: 'How I Taught My Grandmother To
Read': by Sudha Murti
Detailed Summary of the lesson:
1.The narrator used to stay in a village with her
grandmother in north Karnatka when she was about twelve. They used to get their
morning paper in the afternoon as the transport system was not good. They had to wait for the bus anxiously It
would fetch the news papers, weekly magazine and the post in the afternoon for
the weekly magazine for a week.
2. In those days Triveni
was a very popular writer in the language of Kannada. Her style was very
easy to understand and very satisfying one. She usually took complex
psychological problems of ordinary people as the subject-matter of her stories.
Unfortunately she died very young at the age of forty years and it was a big
loss to Kannada literature. Her novels are much appreciated now-a-days also.
3. One of her popular novels titled ‘Kashi Yatra’ was
appearing as a serial in the Kannada weekly Karamaveera at that time. It was
about an old lady who had an ardent (keen) desire to go to Kashi or Varanasi.
It is a common belief among the Hindus that going to Kashi and worship Lord
Vishweshwara is the ultimate ‘punya’. That old lady also had this belief, and
her struggle was described in that novel. There is another thread of story in
the main plot of the novel and that is about an orphan girl who falls in love
with a boy and had no money for the wedding. It he end, the old lady who wanted
to go to Kashiji gave all of her money for the girl’s wedding and did not go to
Kashiji. She says, “The happiness of this girl is more important than
worshipping Lord Vishweshwara at Kashi.’
4. The narrator says that her grandmother, Krishtakka
was unable to read because she never went to school. The narrator would read
the next episode of the story to her on every Wednesday when the magazine came
after one week. She would suspend all of her activities to listen to the story
with full attention. The narrator’s grandmother also never went to Kashi and
she identified herself with the protagonist of the story i.e. the old women who
could not go to Kashi and gave all of savings to the orphan girl for her
wedding. She was always anxious like any one to know what happened next in the
story.
5. After listening to what happened next in Kashi Yatra,
she would do other activities like joining her friends at the temple courtyard.
The narrator and her friends also would gather there for playing hide and seek.
She would discuss the latest episode with her friends also. At that time the
narrator did not understand as why there was a big debate on the story.
6. In those days, a wedding was thought to be a great
event. Once, the narrator went with her cousins to attend a marriage in the
neighbouring village. They enjoyed the marriage fully by eating and moving
about freely there because all elders were so busy. The narrator went there for
a couple of days, but stayed there for a week.
7. When she came back to her village, she saw that her
grandmother was in tears. She asked her the reason. She was worried to see her
grandmother in that condition because she had never seen her cry even in the
most difficult situations.
8. “Avva, is everything alright? Are you ok?
9. The
narrator used to call her Avva that means mother in Kannada language spoken in
north Karnataka.
10. The
grandmother did not reply but nodded her head as if she did not want to tell
her the reason. At night, the narrator along with her cousins was sleeping in
the open terrace of the house. The moon was full in the summer night. ‘Avva’ came
and sat beside her. Then she touched the narrator’s forehead with her
affectionate hands. The girl understood that her grandmother wanted to say
something. So she asked her, “What is the matter?
11. She told the narrator that when she was young, her
mother passed away and there was nobody in the house to look after her. Her
father was a busy man, so he got married again. Those were the days when
education for girls was not considered of much importance. That was the reason
as to why she did not go to school. She was married when she was very young and
she had children. Married life made her very much busy and then with the
passage of time, she had grandchildren also. She felt very much happy in
cooking and feeding her children At times she had regret for not going to
school, but she always thought of sending her children and grandchildren to
school for studies.
12. The
narrator could not understand as to why her sixty-two year old grandmother was
telling the story of her life to a twelve year old grand-daughter. But she knew
that she loved her grandmother greatly and there would be some solid reason for
she was talking to her in that way. She saw her grandmother’s face and felt
very sad to notice tears in her eyes. She could not forget the sad face of her
even today. She leaned forward and caught her hand into hers.
13. ‘Avva,
don’t cry. What is the matter? Can I help you in any way?’
14. ‘Yes, I
need your help. You know when you were away, Karmaveera came as usual. I opened
the magazine. I saw the pictures that accompany the story of Kashi Yatra and I
could not understand anything that was written. Many times, I rubbed my hands over
the pages wishing they could understand what was written. But I knew it was not
possible…”
She also wished she had been educated. She
continued saying that she waited for her return eagerly so that she could
listen from her the whole story of the episode. She further said that she had
even thought of going to the village where her grand-daughter had gone. She had
also thought of asking anybody about the episode, but she was embarrassed to do
so. She was so dependent and helpless at that time. She felt regret for her
being helpless and dependent even though her family was well off.
15. The
narrator was silent and did not know what to say. 16. The grandmother continued
saying that she had decided to learn the Kannada alphabet for the next day
onwards. She would work very hard. She also fixed ‘Saraswati Pooja’ day during ‘Dassara’ as the
dead line. She would be able to read a novel of her own by that day and become
independent I that way.
17. There
was a kind of determination on her face, yet the narrator laughed at her.
18. “Avva,
at this age of sixty-two you want to learn the alphabet? All your hair is grey,
your hands are wrinkled, you wear spectacles and you work so much in the
kitchen…”
19. In a
childish manner, the narrator made fun of her old grandmother, but she only
smiled at her.
20. “For a
good cause if you are determined, you can overcome any obstacle. I will work
harder than anybody but I will do it. For learning there is no age bar.”
21. The
narrator became her grandmother’s tutor from the next day. Avva was a wonderful
student because she did all of her work with full sincerity and devotion. She
would read, repeat, write and recite. She was her granddaughter’s first
student. The narrator did not know at that young age that one day she would
become a teacher and would teach hundreds of students.
22. The
narrator secretly bought one copy of the book ‘Kashi Yatra that had been
published as a novel by the Dassara festival. The grandmother called the
narrator to sit on a stool at the pooja place and gave her a frock material as
a gift. After that she did something unusual. She touched her granddaughter’s
feet. That surprised the little girl as elders did not touch the youngers’
feet. The younger touched the feet of God, elders and teachers only. It was a
great tradition and all considered it as a mark of great respect.
23. She
said, “I am touching the feet of a teacher, not my granddaughter; a teacher who
taught me so well, with so much affection that I can read a novel confidently
in such a short period. Now I am independent. It is my duty to respect a
teacher. Is it not written in our scriptures that a teacher should be
respected, irrespective of the gender and age?”
24. The
narrator also returned ‘namaskara to her grandmother by touching her feet and
gave her gift to her first student. She opened it and read immediately the
title Kashi Yatra by Triveni and the
publisher’s name.
25. She knew
that her student had passed with flying colours.
Textual Questions
a. What made Triveni a popular writer?
b. Why did the grandmother depend on her
granddaughter to know the story?
c.
Pick out two sentences which state the grandmother was desperate to know
what happened in the story.
d. Could the grandmother succeed in
accomplishing her desire to read? How?
e. Which of the following traits would
be relevant to the character of the narrator’s grandmother?
(i) determined (ii) selfish (iii)
emotional (iv) mean
Give reasons for your choice
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