Lecture Notes: My Grandmother's Story

Introduction

• Speaker introduces their grandmother as an old woman whom they have known for 20 years.
• Grandmother's physical description: old, wrinkled, and always perceived as old.

Grandfather

• Grandfather's portrait: big turban, loose clothes, long white beard.
• He appeared at least 100 years old and seemed more like someone with many grandchildren.

Grandmother's Past

• Grandmother claimed she was once young and pretty, played games as a child.
• Speaker found these stories hard to believe, treating them like fables.

Physical Appearance & Habits

• Short, fat, slightly bent.
• Crisscross of wrinkles, face puckered, silver hair, wore spotless white clothes.
• Used a rosary (string of beads) for prayers.
• Compared to a winter landscape: serene, peaceful, content.

Relationship with the Speaker

• Grandmother and speaker were close friends; she raised him when his parents moved to the city.
• Morning routine: woke him up, said morning prayers, prepared him for school.
• Used a wooden slate (Tik te), plastered with yellow clay for writing.
• Breakfast: thick stout chapati with butter and sugar.
• Walked to school together; she read scriptures while he attended school.

Life in the City

• Moved to the city; grandmother no longer accompanied him to school.
• Began feeding sparrows instead of dogs.
• Speaker attended an English school, learning new subjects that grandmother disapproved of.
• Music lessons disturbed her as she associated music with harlots and beggars.
• Relationship became strained; she rarely spoke to him.

University and Seclusion

• Speaker attended university, stayed in his own room, saw less of his grandmother.
• Grandmother accepted isolation, spent time spinning wheel and feeding sparrows.
• Feeding sparrows was her happiest time of day.

Departure and Return

• Speaker went abroad for further studies, grandmother remained emotionless but supportive.
• On return after 5 years, she appeared unchanged, continued her routine of prayers and feeding sparrows.

Grandmother's Illness and Death

• After a day of singing and drumming, she fell ill and predicted her end was near.
• Spent her last hours praying, passed away peacefully.
• Funeral preparations: body laid on the ground, covered with a red shroud.
• Sparrows filled the veranda and her room but remained silent, did not eat the bread crumbs offered.

Conclusion

• Sparrows flew away after her body was taken for cremation, symbolizing their mourning and respect for her.