8. Would you agree that the author’s grandmother was a person strong in character? If yes, give instances that show this.
9. Which language do you think the author and his grandmother used while talking to each other?
Answers
Ans 8:
Yes, the grandmother was a strong person in character. The instances to show this are as follows:
1. She had her own thoughts about schools and their teachings. She considered learning scriptures a better thing than studying science or English.
2. She didn’t like music as according to her, music was for low-level people.
3. When the author went to the university, in seclusion, she would spin the wheel, chant prayers, tell beads and feed bread crumbs to the sparrows.
4. When she sang the homecoming of the warriors for hours and didn’t stop even when her family tried a million times.
5. During her last time, she didn’t want to waste any time talking to anyone so she lay silently on her bed and chanted her prayers till she died.
Ans 9:
The author and his grandmother used to talk to each other in their mother tongue. As the author belongs to Punjab state, they would talk in Punjabi language.
The three phases of the author’s relationship with his grandmother before he left the country to study abroad are:
childhood – when he went to the village school and the grandmother helped him to get ready and went to school with him.
boyhood – when he went to the city school in a bus. He shared a room with grandmother but she could no longer help him in his studies.
early youth – when he went to the university and was given a room of him own. The common link of friendship was snapped.