Page 131 - DENG103_English - I

English-I

Notes Then one day, for the first time she does not pray and takes ill the next morning. Like a
prescient, she knows better than the doctor that her end has come. Now more than ever, she
has no time for words with the family. She takes up her rosary, her lips move in prayer and
then the rosary falls from her hand...
The sparrows she used to feed sit scattered about her. Khushwant’s mother throws some
breadcrumbs for them, like his grandmother did but the sparrows will not touch it.
They carry the body away and then do the sparrows fly away. The breadcrumbs, which
remained untouched, are swept away by the sweeper next morning.

Did u know? Singh writes: ‘Always in spotless white, she was like the winter landscape
in the mountains, an expanse of pure white serenity breathing peace and contentment.”

Task How the Khushwant Singh’s grandmother character was.

10.2 Question and Answer

Why was it hard for the author to belief that his grandmother was once young and pretty?
Looking at his grandmother who short, fat and slightly stooped in stature, it was very difficult
for him to believe the stories of his grandmother’s beauty in her younger days.
Three reasons why the author’s grandmother was disturbed when he started going to the
city school?
When the author startd going to the city school his grandmother was distured because she
could not help him with his lessons in english ..etc also she was unhappy whe she heard that
the author was being given music lessons ad that there were no religious teachings about God
and the scriptures at his school.
Briefly describe the typical routine of the grandmother—Village-City
During her village life, everyday she would prepare the author for school.She dressed him
up,gave him breakfast and would accompany his grandson to school because his school was
attached to the temple.While the children learned alphabets and prayer the grandmother would
read the scriptures at the temple. But after she came to the city,there wasn’t much to do.So she
would sit and do some clothing work in her spinning wheel and at the afternoon she would
feed the sparrows.These were her routines in both village and city.
The three phases of the author’s relationship with his grandmother before he left the country
to study abroad?
The author’s relationship with his grandmother went through several changes with time. In
the first stage living in a village with her, his grandmother took care of all the needs of the
child. She was quite active and agile. It was her domain and she was the queen of her kingdom.
In this period she was the sole unchallenged guardian, mentor and creator of the child.

The turning point came in their relationship when they came to city to stay with the author’s
parents. In city, he joined an English School and started to go to school in a motor bus. Here
the role of his grandmother in his bringing up was curtailed a little bit. Now she could not
accompany him to the school.

124 LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY