How I Taught My Grandmother to Read by Sudha Murthy - CBSE English Class 9 Fiction - 1. An Explanation by Commander S. Mohan\r
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Lesson:\r
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How I Taught my Grandmother to Read By Sudha Murthy\r
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Sudha Murthy (Social Worker)\r
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Sudha Murthy is an Indian social worker and author. Murthy began her professional career as a computer scientist and engineer. \r
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She is the chairperson of the Infosys Foundation and a member of public health \r
care initiatives of the Gates Foundation. \r
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Born: \r
August 19, 1950 (age 63), \r
Shiggaon (North Karnataka)\r
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Spouse: \r
N. R. Narayana Murthy\r
[ INFOSYS Founder- Chairman ]\r
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Education: \r
Indian Institute of Science, \r
BVB College of Engineering & Technology, \r
Cornell University, USA\r
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A prolific writer in Kannada, Sudha has written several Novels, travelogues, and short stories. Equally versatile in English, her book Wise and Otherwise has been translated into 13 Indian languages. Her stories center around abiding values like CHARITY , KINDNESS, AND SELF-REALISATION.\r
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The protagonists in all her books are highly educated, principled women, with unwavering integrity.\r
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Varanasi, Benares, Banaras, and Kashi are the various names of this most sacred of seven pilgrimage sites that Hindus aspire to visit during their lifetime. The Kashi-Vishwanath temple situated here is considered to guarantee one a straight ticket to heaven !\r
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To see the Ganges at sunrise is a magnificent experience!\r
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People go mid-stream, and watch the Sun shimmering on the gentle lapping waves --From a deep red, to a deep orange, then a bright orange, yellow, and finally a fiery bright Gold ---almost setting the river on fire! \r
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Hindus have an ardent belief that it is very fortunate to be cremated on the banks of the Ganga; they believe that their soul directly trans-migrates to Vaikunth (Heaven). \r
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This quaint story is centered around her sixty-two year old grandmother who was unable to read or write, since she never went to school.\r
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However, she was very keen to have a serialized story read out from a weekly magazine. She intently listened to the story with great awe, and identified herself with the novels protagonist.\r
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When twelve year old Sudha had to go away to a neighboring village for a week, the story-telling sessions got disrupted. Her grandmother was in tears, as she could not read!\r
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She resolved to learn to read and write, and become independent; she set herself a dead-line of becoming literate by Dussehra , and strived hard to learn Kannada --right from the alphabets.\r
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Finally, on the day of Saraswati Puja (the Godess of Learning), the grandmother reverentially touched the feet of her teacher, her twelve-year old Guru, and read the opening pages of the book with apparent ease! Despite her age, the old lady had the humility to respect her teacher, with a namaskaar !\r
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Now that you know the gist of this story, answer the questions given therein:\r
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Q.4. \r
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(a). The grandmother could relate to the central charer of the story Kashi Yatre as (i) both were old and uneducated.\r
(b). Why did the women at the temple discussed the latestof Kashi Yatre ?\r
(ı). They could relate to the protagonist of the serial.\r
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(c) . The young girl found her grandmother in tears on her return , as (i). The grandmother had been unable to read the story on her own.\r
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(d). Why did the grandmother touch her grand-daughters feet?\r
(i). As a mark of respect to her teacher.\r
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Q.5. The trait relevant to the narrators grandmother is\r
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(I). Determined. She set herself a target date, and systematically worked hard to meet the dead-line, despite the various obstacles that invariably crop up, and the light-hearted ridicule of youngsters.\r
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