Unit Prose Chapter (Story/Article) Poem

1 How I Taught My Grandmother to Read Bharat Our Land

2 The Pot Maker Gifts of Grace: Honouring Our Vocations

3 Winds of Change (Expository Article) Canvas of Soil

4 Vitamin-M I Cannot Remember My Mother

5 The World of Limitless Possibilities Nine Gold Medals

6 Twin Melodies (Play) A Friend Found in Music

7 Carrier of Words Words

(Documentary Article)

8 Follow That Dream (Letter) Believe in Yourself

Chapter: how I taught my grandmother to read

When I was a girl of about twelve, I used to stay in a village in north

Karnataka with my grandparents. Those days, the transport system was not
very good, so we used to get the morning papers only in the afternoon. The
weekly magazine used to come one day [Link] of us would wait eagerly for
the bus, which used to come with the papers, weekly magazines and the
post. 2. At that time, Triveni was a very popular writer in the Kannada
language. She was a wonderful writer. Her style was easy to read and very
convincing. Her stories usually dealt with complex psychological problems in
the lives of ordinary people and were always very interesting. Unfortunately,
for Kannada literature, she died very young. Even now, after forty years,
people continue to appreciate her novels. Fiction Unit F.1 How I Taught My
Grandmother To Read by Sudha Murthy 4 3. One of her novels, called Kashi
Yatre, was appearing as a serial in the Kannada weekly Karmaveera then. It
is the story of an old lady and her ardent desire to go to Kashi or Varanasi.
Most Hindus believe that going to Kashi and worshipping Lord Vishweshwara
is the ultimate punya. This old lady also believed in this, and her struggle to
go there was described in that novel. In the story, there was also a young
orphan girl who falls in love but there is no money for the wedding. In the
end, the old lady gives away all her savings without going to Kashi. She says,
‘The happiness of this orphan girl is more important than worshipping Lord
Vishweshwara at Kashi.’ 4. My grandmother, Krishtakka, never went to
school. So, she could not read. Every Wednesday, the magazine would come
and I would read the next episode of the story to her. During that time, she
would forget all her work and listen with the greatest concentration. Later,
she could repeat the entire text by heart. My grandmother too never went to
Kashi so she identified herself with the novel’s protagonist. More than
anybody else, she was the one most interested in knowing what happened
next in the story and used to insist that I read the serial out to her. 5. After
hearing what happened next in Kashi Yatre, she would join her friends at the
temple courtyard, where we children would also gather to play hide and
seek. She would discuss the latest episode with her [Link] that time, I
never understood why there was so much of debate about the story. 6. Once
I went for a wedding with my cousins to the neighbouring village. In those
days, a wedding was a great event. We children enjoyed ourselves
thoroughly. We would eat and play endlessly, savouring the freedom
because all the elders were busy. I went for a couple of days but ended up
staying there for a week. 7. When I came back to my village, I saw my
grandmother in tears. I was surprised, for I had never seen her cry even in
the most difficult of situations. What had happened? I was worried. 8. ‘Avva,
is everything fine? Are you alright?’ 9. I used to call her Avva, which means
mother in the Kannada spoken in north Karnataka. 10. She nodded but did
not reply. I did not understand and forgot about it. In the night, after dinner,
we were sleeping in the open terrace of the house. It was a summer night
and there was a full moon. Avva came and sat next to me. Her affectionate
hands touched my forehead. I realized she wanted to speak. I asked her,
‘What is the matter?’ 11. ‘When I was a young girl I lost my mother. There
was nobody to look after and guide me. My father was a busy man. He got
married again. In those days, ardent: showing strong feelings savouring:
enjoying an experience slowly in order to appreciate it as much as possible.
Fi ct io n 5 people never considered education essential for girls, so I never
went to school. I got married very young and had children. I became very
busy. Later I had grandchildren and always felt so much happiness in
cooking and feeding all of you. At times I used to regret not going to school,
so I made sure that my children and grandchildren studied well ...’ 12. I could
not understand why my sixty-two-year-old grandmother was telling me, a
twelve-year-old, the story of her life in the middle of the night. One thing I
knew, I loved her immensely and there had to be some reason why she was
talking to me. I looked at her face. It was unhappy and her eyes were filled
with tears. She was a good-looking lady who was almost always smiling.
Even today, I cannot forget the worried expression on her face. I leaned
forward and held her hand. 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 picture
that accompanies the story of Kashi Yatre and I could not understand
anything that was written. Many times, I rubbed my hands over the pages
wishing to understand what was written. But I knew it was not possible. If
only I was educated enough... I waited eagerly for you to return. I felt you
would come early and read for me. I even thought of going to the village and
asking you to read for me. I could have asked somebody in this village but I
was too embarrassed to do so. I felt so very dependent and helpless. We are
well-off, but what use is money when I cannot be independent?’ 15. I did not
know what to answer. Avva continued. 16. ‘I have decided I want to learn the
Kannada alphabet from tomorrow onwards. I will work very hard. I will keep
Saraswati Pooja day during Dassara as the deadline. That day I should be
able to read a novel on my own. I want to be independent.’ 17. I saw the
determination on her face. Yet I 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 have so much work in the
kitchen...’ 19. Childishly I made fun of the old lady. But she just smiled. 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 next day onwards, I started my tuition. Avva was a wonderful
student. The amount of homework she did was amazing. She would read,
repeat, write and recite. I was her only teacher and she was my first student.
Little did I know then that one day I would become a teacher in Computer
Science and teach hundreds of students. Fi ct io n 6 22. The Dassara festival
came as usual. Secretly, I bought Kashi Yatre which had been published as a
novel by that time. My grandmother called me to the pooja place and made
me sit down on a stool. She gifted me a frock. Then she did something
unusual. She bent down and touched my feet. I was surprised and taken
aback. Elders never touched the feet of youngsters. We have always touched
the feet of God, elders and teachers. We considered that as a mark of
respect. It is a great tradition but today the reverse had happened. It was not
correct. 23. She said, “I am touching the feet of a teacher, not my
granddaughter; a teacher who taught me so well, with so much of affection
that I can read any 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. I did return namaskara to her by touching her feet and gave my
gift to my first student. She opened it and read the title Kashi Yatre by
Triveni and the publisher’s name immediately . 25. I knew, then, that my
student had passed with flying colours.