Introduction
- Khushwant Singh Was One Of The Prominent
Indian Writers .
- In The Story The Author Draws A Pen
Portrait Of His Grandmother.
- He Has Beautifully Written An Account Of
His Relationship With Her Grandmother.
Pen Portrait Of Grandmother
- Khushwant Singh Draws A Pen Portrait Of
His Grandmother .
- Old Woman
- Its Hard To Believe That Once She
Had Been Young And Pretty
- His Grandfather’s Picture Hung Above The
Mantelpiece
- He Looked At Least A Hundred Years
Old
Appearance of grandmother
- Old, Short, Fat, Slightly Bent
- Wrinkled Face
- She Looks The Same For Last Twenty
Years
- She Couldn’t Walk Straight
- She Wears White Clothes And Roam In The
House .
- She Keeps Her One Hand On Her Waist To
Balance Herself.
- She Held A Rosary In The Other
Hand.
- Her Silver Locks Scattered Over Her Pale
Face.
- Her Lips Constantly Moved.
- She Always Prayed To Herself.
Close Friends
- Narrator And His Grandmother Were Good
Friends.
- His Parents Had Left Him With Her In The
Village.
- She Used To Wake Him Up In Morning.
- She Got Him Ready For School
- She Used To Wash His Wooden Slate And
Plaster It With Yellow Chalk.
- She Take An Earthen Inkpot And Red Pen
Tie Them In The Bundle And Hand It To Him.
- Prepared His Breakfast (Thick Stale
Chapatti) Little Butter And Sugar Spread On It.
- She Also Carry Some Chapattis For Village
Dogs
Went To School With The Narrator.
- Grandmother Always Went To School With
Him.
- Because School Was Attached To The
Temple.
- There A Priest Taught The Children
Alphabet And Morning Prayer.
- Grandmother Sat Inside Temple
- Spent Her Time Reading Holy Books
- She Would Walk Back Home With Him
Turning Point In Relationship
- Turning Point Came In Their Relationship
When His Parents Call Both To The City
- Narrator And His Grandmother Shared The
Same Room.
- Now Grandmother Don’t Go To His School,
And She Didn’t Like The English School.
- Nor Did She Like Science And Music Being
Taught At The New School.
- There Was No Teaching Of God
- There Were No Dogs In Streets
- Grandmother Took To Feeding The Sparrows.
- Now They Saw Less Of Each Other.
Bond Of Relationship Broken
- Their Common Link Broken When The
Narrator Went To The University.
- Grandmother Accepted Her Loneliness
Quietly.
- She Used To Set On Her Wheelchair And
Recite Prayers.
- At Afternoon She Used To Feed The
Sparrows
- She Broke The Bread Into Little Bits And
Threw Them To The Sparrows.
- Hundreds Of Sparrows Collected Around
Her.
Narrator Goes Abroad
- Narrator Went Abroad For Higher Studies.
- Grandmother Came To Drop Him At Railway
Station. (Kissed Forehead)
- Narrator Thinks Its His Last Meeting With
Her.
- Narrator Returned Home After Five Years.
- She Collected The Neighborhood Women And
Celebrated His Homecoming.
The Grandmother’s Death
- Next Morning, She Fell Ill .
- She Declared That Her End Was Near.
- She Continued Praying And Telling Her
Beads , Then Her Lips Stopped Moving The Rosery Fell Down And She Was Dead
.
- Evening time, sun was setting
- Thousands of sparrows sat near her dead
body.
- They did not chirrup.
- Narrator’s mother brought some bread and
broke it into little piece, but birds took no notice.
- When They Carried Her Dead Body Outside,
The Sparrows Flew Away Quietly………
MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION
1- Describe How Common Bond Of
Friendship Was Broken When The Narrator’s Parents Sent For Them In City.
2- What Was The Turning Point Of
Their Friendship ?
3- Why Was The Author’s
Grandmother Unhappy With The City Education ?
