How I Taught My Grandmother to Read – Sudha Murthy

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 paper only in the afternoon. The weekly magazine used
to come one day late. All of us would wait eagerly for the bus, which used to come
with the papers, weekly magazines and the post. 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. 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 Vishweshvara 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 was 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.’ 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 this
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, and she identified herself with the novel’s
protagonist. So 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. 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 friends. At that time, I
never understood why there was so much of debate about the story. 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. 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 situations. What had happened? I was
worried. ‘Avva, is everything all right? Are you ok?’ I used to call her Avva, which
means mother in the Kannada spoken in north Karnataka. 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?’ ‘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 and got married again. In those days 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 …’ 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.
But 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 usually always smiling. Even today I
cannot forget the worried expression on her face. I leaned forward and held her
hand. ‘Avva, don’t cry. What is the matter? Can I help you in any way?’ ‘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 they could 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?’ I did not know what
to answer. Avva continued. ‘I have decided I want to learn the Kannada alphabets
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.’ I saw the determination on her face. Yet I laughed
at her. ‘Avva, at this age of sixty-two you want to learn alphabets? All your hair are
grey, your hands are wrinkled, you wear spectacles and you work so much in the
kitchen…’ Childishly I made fun of the old lady. But she just smiled. ‘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.’ 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.
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 puja place
and made me sit down on a stool. She gave me a gift of a frock material. Then she
did something unusual. She bent down and touched my feet. I was surprised and
taken aback. Elders never touch the feet of youngsters. We have always touched
the feet of God, elders and teachers. We consider that as a mark of respect. It is a
great tradition but today the reverse had happened. It was not correct. She said, ‘I
am touching the feet of a teacher, not my grand daughter; 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?’ I did return namaskara to her by touching her feet and gave my
gift to my first student. She opened it and read immediately the title Kashi Yatre
by Triveni and the publisher’s name. I knew then that my student had passed with
flying colours.

Author Biography - Sudha Murthy

Birth and family
 Born 19 August 1950 in Shiggaon, Haveri district, in what was then Mysore
State (now Karnataka).
 Father R.H. Kulkarni was a surgeon; mother Vimala Kulkarni was a
schoolteacher. She was raised partly by her grandparents, and many of her
childhood experiences later became material for her essays and stories.
Education
 Completed B.E. in Electrical and Electronics Engineering at B.V.B. College of
Engineering & Technology (now KLE Technological University), graduating at
the top of her class and receiving a gold medal from the state.
 Went on to do an M.E. in Computer Science at the Indian Institute of
Science, Bengaluru.
Early career and breaking barriers
 In the early 1970s, she responded to a TELCO (now Tata Motors) job
advertisement that said “men only”. She wrote a postcard to chairman
J.R.D. Tata challenging the gender discrimination; as a result she was called
for an interview and became the company’s first woman engineer, working
in Pune, Mumbai and Jamshedpur.
 Later worked as a systems analyst in the Walchand Group in Pune and also
taught computer science.
Infosys Foundation and philanthropy
 Married N.R. Narayana Murthy (co-founder of Infosys). In 1996 she founded
the Infosys Foundation, serving as chairperson until 2020.
 Through the Foundation, she has worked on:
o rural development and healthcare,
o building libraries and computer labs in government schools,
o supporting scholarships and higher education,
 o aid for natural-disaster relief.
 She has also supported the Murty Classical Library of India at Harvard,
which publishes critical editions and translations of Indian texts.
Literary work
 Writes in Kannada and English, across genres: short stories, novels,
children’s books, memoirs and columns.
 Well-known works include Wise and Otherwise, How I Taught My
Grandmother to Read and Other Stories, Dollar Bahu, The Day I Stopped
Drinking Milk, and several collections for children. Some works have been
adapted for television and film.
 Her writing style is simple, anecdotal and moral, often drawing on real
people and highlighting values such as honesty, compassion and hard work.
Honours and recent roles
 Major awards: Padma Shri (2006) and Padma Bhushan (2023) from the
Government of India for social work and literature, along with several state
and literary honours.
 In March 2024 she was nominated as a Member of Parliament (Rajya
Sabha) in recognition of her contributions to education and philanthropy.

Summary

The text is an autobiographical narrative by Sudha Murty, told from the point of
view of her twelve-year-old self.
As a child, she lived with her grandparents in a village in North Karnataka. Because
transport was poor, newspapers and weekly magazines arrived late, but everyone
eagerly waited for them. At that time, the Kannada writer Triveni was very
popular, and her novel Kashi Yatre was being serialized in the weekly Karmaveera.
The story was about an old woman who longed to go to Kashi, which Hindus
consider a very holy pilgrimage, but in the end she sacrifices her savings to pay for
a poor orphan girl’s wedding, choosing human happiness over ritual devotion.
The narrator’s grandmother, Krishtakka (whom she calls Avva), is illiterate, but she
is deeply interested in the story. Every Wednesday, when the magazine arrives,
the granddaughter reads the latest episode to her. Avva listens with full
concentration, remembers the story by heart, and even discusses it with her
friends in the temple courtyard. She strongly identifies with the old woman in
Kashi Yatre, because she too has never been to Kashi.
One day, the narrator goes to a neighbouring village for a wedding and, instead of
two days, she stays away for a whole week. When she returns, she finds her
grandmother in tears, which shocks her, because she has never seen Avva cry.
Later that night, under the full moon, Avva confides in her. She narrates her life
story: losing her mother early, having a busy father who remarried, never getting a
chance to go to school because in those days girls’ education was not considered
important, marrying young, raising children and grandchildren, and finding joy in
looking after them. She admits that she has always regretted not being educated
and ensured that her children and grandchildren studied well.
Then she explains why she is so upset: during the granddaughter’s absence,
Karmaveera had arrived as usual, carrying the next part of Kashi Yatre. Avva could
see the familiar picture but could not read a single word. She felt helpless and
dependent, embarrassed to ask others to read, and realized that money is useless
if one is not independent. This pain pushes her to make a firm decision: she wants
to learn the Kannada alphabet from the next day and sets herself a clear goal —
by Dassara, on Saraswati Pooja day, she should be able to read a novel on her
own.
The granddaughter initially laughs at the idea of a sixty-two-year-old woman
learning to read, but Avva replies calmly that for learning there is no age bar, and
that determination can overcome any obstacle. Tuition begins the next day. Avva
proves to be a hardworking and sincere student: she reads, writes, repeats and
recites happily. The granddaughter becomes her only teacher, not realizing that
one day she herself will become a professor teaching hundreds of students.
When Dassara arrives, the granddaughter secretly buys Kashi Yatre in book form.
During the festival, Avva calls her to the puja place, gives her a dress material as a
gift, and then does something shocking — she bends down and touches her
granddaughter’s feet. She explains that she is not bowing to her as a
granddaughter but as a teacher who has given her the gift of literacy and
independence. Citing the scriptures, she says that a teacher must be respected
regardless of age or gender. The narrator then returns the respect by touching
Avva’s feet. Finally, Avva opens the wrapped novel and confidently reads the title
Kashi Yatre by Triveni and the publisher’s name. The narrator understands that her
first student has “passed with flying colours.”

Critical Analysis

1. Central Themes
a) Education and Independence
The strongest theme is that literacy is not just about reading words, but about
freedom and dignity. Avva says clearly:
“We are well-off, but what use is money when I cannot be independent?”
Her inability to read makes her feel powerless, especially when the serial arrives
and she cannot access it. Learning to read becomes her way of regaining control
over her own life. The story shows that real independence comes from
knowledge, not wealth.
b) “No Age Bar” for Learning
The story breaks the stereotype that learning belongs only to the young. Avva is
sixty-two, with grey hair and wrinkled hands, but she becomes a model student.
Sudha Murty uses her to show that as long as there is determination, age cannot
stop learning. This is a direct challenge to old social attitudes, especially about
older women in traditional families.
c) Women’s Education and Social Change
Avva represents an older generation of women who were denied schooling
because “in those days people never considered education essential for girls.” Yet
she, who never went to school, ensures that her children and grandchildren study.
There is a clear contrast between her childhood (no education, early marriage)
and her granddaughter’s life (schooling, reading novels, teaching). This reflects the
gradual change in Indian society regarding girls’ education.
d) Respect for the Teacher (Guru)
A powerful moment in the story is the reversal of roles: the grandmother touches
the granddaughter’s feet. In Indian culture, this is shocking because elders never
bow to youngsters. But Avva insists she is following the scriptural teaching that a
teacher must be honoured regardless of age or gender. This scene elevates the
idea of guru above biological relationships and social hierarchy.
e) The Value of Literature and Empathy
The novel Kashi Yatre itself deals with an old lady who sacrifices her dream of
pilgrimage to help an orphan girl marry. This sacrifice of personal religious merit
for another’s happiness highlights compassion over ritual. Avva’s emotional
involvement with that story shows how literature can shape our values, give us
role models, and inspire us to reflect on our own lives.

2. Character Analysis
Grandmother (Avva / Krishtakka)
 Emotional and sensitive: She cries for the first time not over money or
hardship but because she cannot read.
 Deeply devoted: She loves religious ideas like the punya of going to Kashi
and worshipping Lord Vishweshwara.
 Intelligent and reflective: Although illiterate, she can memorise entire
episodes and analyse them with her friends.
 Strong-willed and disciplined: Once she decides to learn, she does
“amazing” homework — reading, writing, reciting tirelessly.
  Humble yet dignified: She openly admits regret about her illiteracy and
seeks help from her own grandchild.
 Courageous: She breaks custom by touching her granddaughter’s feet,
putting truth and gratitude above social convention.
Overall, Avva is not portrayed as a helpless old woman, but as a powerful symbol
of late awakening, determination, and self-respect.
Narrator (the granddaughter / young Sudha)
 At first she is a typical child: she loves weddings, forgets promises, and even
laughs at the idea of her grandmother learning at 62.
 But she is also affectionate, responsive, and capable of growth. She quickly
understands the seriousness of Avva’s feelings and becomes a patient
teacher.
 Later, she realises the deeper meaning of teaching; this early experience
foreshadows her future as a professor.
Through her eyes, we see both childhood innocence and the gradual
understanding of adult emotions and responsibilities.

3. Narrative Technique and Style

 First-person narration gives the story intimacy and authenticity. We feel as if
the author is personally telling us a memory from her childhood.
 There is a story within a story structure (Kashi Yatre inside the
grandmother’s story). This double narrative allows Sudha Murty to:
o Show how fiction affects real life.
o Parallel the old woman in Kashi Yatre (who sacrifices her dream of
Kashi) with Avva (who sacrifices her shame and ego to pursue
literacy).
 The language is simple, clear, and conversational, making the emotions and
scenes easy to visualise. This matches the author’s stated description of
 Triveni’s style — “easy to read and very convincing” — and reflects Murty’s
own style too.
 The detailed setting of rural North Karnataka (late papers, bus arrival,
temple courtyard, open terrace, full moon, Dassara festival) gives cultural
richness and realism.

4. Symbolism
 Kashi / Varanasi: Symbol of ultimate religious merit (punya) and spiritual
fulfilment. In Kashi Yatre, the old woman sacrifices this for another’s
happiness; in the outer story, Avva sacrifices her pride to gain knowledge.
Both acts elevate human values over external rituals.
 Saraswati Pooja during Dassara: Saraswati is the goddess of learning;
Dassara celebrates victory of good over evil. Avva choosing this day as her
“deadline” symbolises the victory of knowledge over ignorance in her own
life.
 Touching the feet: Normally children touch elders’ feet, but here the elder
bends to the younger. This reversal symbolises the triumph of true respect
based on merit and role — the role of teacher — rather than age alone.

5. Message / Moral
 Education is a lifelong right, not limited by gender, age or background.
 Literacy brings independence, confidence and dignity; without it, even rich
people can feel “helpless.”
 A true teacher deserves respect regardless of age.
 Good literature can deepen our empathy and inspire positive change.
 Traditions are important, but they must not prevent us from doing what is
right and meaningful.
6. Relevance Today
Even though the story is set “forty years” earlier in a small village, its issues are
still relevant:
 Many older people and women across the world are still semi-literate or
illiterate.
 The emotional pain of being dependent on others to read forms, letters, or
even a bus board still exists.
 The story quietly encourages literacy campaigns, adult education, and
respect for all learners, whether they are six or sixty.