How I Taught My Grandmother to read

How I Taught My Grandmother to Read

                                                                        by Sudha Murty

Analysis : 

The short story 'How I taught My grandmother to Read' is written by Sudha Murthy, the new age writer and a prominent business woman, renowned as the co founder of Infosys.

This is a touching autobiographical story about love, learning, and determination as it is based on an important episode in her own life.

The story touched upon the themes of determination and dedication, importance of education, respect and love among relations, and joy of self reliance emphasising that age is no bar for education.

It teaches the readers that education and self reliance is important for each person as it provides confidence, joy and freedom. Education is that which liberates and for learning there is no age bar. It also teaches that teacher deserves respect whatever her age or gender may be.

The style of the story is narrative, simple, autobiographical and realistic as it is based on personal experience.

The tone of the story is emotional and inspiring.

The strong characters of the narrator and the grandmother are realistic, simple and inspiring.

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Summary / Synopsis :

The story is set in a village in Karnataka, where the narrator, Sudha Murthy who was a young girl of 12 years lived with her grandmother, Krishtakka. She used to call her Avva. Her grandmother was very fond of listening to stories, especially the popular Kannada novel, Kashi Yatre written by Kannada writer, Triveni who was very popular among the masses due to her convincing style and simple and relatable characters. Those days the novel, Kashi Yatre used to be published in the weekly newspaper, Karmveera in series. Due to lack of transport facilities the newspaper used to come one day late, on Wednesday and the grandmother used to wait eagerly for the newspaper leaving all her work that day. The narrator used to read aloud the published part of the story to her every week. The novel 'Kashi Yatre' was about an old woman who collected money all her life to visit Kashi and worship lord Vishweshwara but at the end, gave all her money to an orphan girl for her marriage. That's why the grandmother was always eager to know whether the old woman would be able to go to Kashi or not. 

One day, the narrator went out of the village to attend a family wedding and could not come back before a week. During her absence, the newspaper came and her grandmother couldn’t get to know what happened next in the story. Thus, she felt helpless because she was unable to read the next part of the story herself. This made her realise the importance of literacy. Deeply moved, she decided to learn how to read and write, even at the age of 62.

When the narrator returned from wedding, the grandmother told her helplessness to read the story and informed about her decision to learn to read and write Kannada language. She also told her that in her childhood her mother died and father remarried. Being a busy man, he could not pay attention to her education which wasn’t considered important for girls. After marriage and having children and grandchildren she found happiness in looking after them and feeding them. Thus, her education was ignored by all.

That night her grandmother humbly requested her to become her teacher. The young girl took up the responsibility seriously and taught her grandmother the Kannada alphabet. After months of diligence and dedication, the grandmother successfully learnt to read and write.

During the festival of Dussehra, on the day of Saraswati puja, the grandmother made the narrator sit on a stool and touched her granddaughter's feet as a mark of respect for her teacher. She also gave a frock to her granddaughter as a gift and token of her love. The narrator had secretly bought the novel as a gift to her grandmother as by that day 'Kashi Yatre' had been published as a novel. Then, the grandmother proudly read the name of the novel and the publisher on her own. That day, her grandmother who was also her student passed with flying colours and the moment became unforgettable for both of them.

Themes

• The story emphasises that education is essential at every stage of life and brings independence and confidence.
• Strong will power, diligence and determination are important as they help the grandmother achieve her heart's desire even in the age of 62.
• Traditionally, elders teach the young, but age is no bar for learning as well as teaching. The young granddaughter becomes the teacher for her 62 years old grandmother. A teacher deserves respect whatever her age may be.
• The bond between the grandmother and granddaughter is very strong and cordial. A loving relation is based on mutual respect, affection, and trust.

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Character Sketch

• Grandmother 
  The narrator's grandmother, Krishtakka is determined and diligent, loving and caring, strong but humble, and most importantly eager to learn. Her willingness to learn to read and write at an old age reflects her courage, will power and open mindedness. She gives respect to her granddaughter as she is also her teacher. She finds joy in looking after and feeding her children and grandchildren.

• Narrator (Granddaughter)
  The narrator, Sudha Murthy is patient, responsible, and caring at such a young age. She takes her role as a teacher seriously and respects her grandmother’s efforts. She understands her grandmother's pain and respects her decision of learning Kannada alphabet in her old age instead of laughing at her unusual decision.

Message 

• For learning there should be no age limit.
• Education empowers individuals and gives them independence and self reliance.
• A teacher deserves respect fer knowledge and efforts no matter what his/her age or gender is.

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