Question 5.
Gradually, the author and the grandmother saw less of each other and their friendship was broken. Was the distance in the relationship deliberate or due to the demands of the situation?
Answers
Answer 5:
The relationship between the grandmother and the author traced the graph of gradual change from a parental role to that of a grandmother, due to changing circumstances. Moving to the city and the change in the educational curriculum with the author’s admission into an English-medium school led to her first orientation to her changed circumstances. The grandmother realized that her affection could no longer be a wholly possessive one. As the author graduated to the university level, his lifestyle underwent changes and the grandmother realized that her role as an educator had ceased altogether. She, therefore, adopted the role of a loveable elder overseeing her grandson’s progress and basking in it. When he returned from England, the grandmother, was no longer concerned with his day-to-day achievements, but showed her elation by organizing a musical soiree, even overstraining herself in her excitement, leading to dire circumstances.