The first phase of the author’s relationship with his grandmother started when he was still a child. The old lady used to tell him and other children of the games she used to play as a child. ‘That seemed quite absurd’. The children treated them like the fables of the prophets she used to tell them.
The second phase of this relationship began when the narrator started going to school. His parents left him with her and they went to live in the city. They were constantly together. She used to wake him up in the morning and get him ready for school. Then she would fetch his wooden slate, a tiny earthen inkpot and a red pen. After a breakfast of a thick, stale chapatti, they went to school. She carried several chapattis for the village dogs. The school was attached to the temple. They would walk back together.
The third phase of their relationship began when the narrator’s parents sent for them in the city. That was a turning point in their friendship. He used to go to an English school in a motor bus. As the years rolled by they saw less of each other. She didn’t like the English school as there was no teaching about God and scriptures there. She hated western science and music. When he went up to university he was given a room of his own. The common link of their friendship was snapped. His grandmother accepted her seclusion with resignation.
Three reasons why the author’s grandmother was disturbed when he started going to the city school.
Three ways in which the author’s grandmother spent her days after he grew up.
The ways in which the sparrows expressed their sorrow when the author’s grandmother died.
The odd ways in which the author’s grandmother behaved just before she died.
