How I Taught My Grandmother to Read Summary – Class 9 English Kaveri, Question Answers

This page gives a complete how I taught my grandmother to read summary, part by part, followed by the main characters, themes and NCERT question answers from Kaveri.

How I Taught My Grandmother to Read Summary in 100 Words

The narrator, a twelve-year-old girl living with her grandparents in north Karnataka, reads the Kannada serial Kashi Yatre aloud to her grandmother, Avva, every week. When the narrator stays away at a wedding for a week, Avva cannot read the new episode and feels helpless. She decides to learn the Kannada alphabet, with Saraswati Puja during Dassara as her deadline. The narrator teaches her every day, and Avva works very hard. On Dassara, Avva touches her granddaughter's feet to honour her as a teacher and proudly reads the title of the novel Kashi Yatre on her own.

About the Chapter and the Author

About the author: The author of How I Taught My Grandmother to Read, Sudha Murty, is a well-known Indian author and social worker who writes in English and Kannada. She is the former chairperson of the Infosys Foundation and was also a teacher of Computer Science, which she mentions at the end of this story. This story is autobiographical: she describes a real experience from her own childhood, told in the first person ("I").

💡 Expert Tip by the eSaral Academic Team: Exams often ask whether a text is autobiographical, biographical or fictional. "How I Taught My Grandmother to Read" is autobiographical, because the author writes about her own life in the first person.

How I Taught My Grandmother to Read Summary – Part I

Part I of the how I taught my grandmother to read summary covers the narrator's village life, the novel Kashi Yatre and the grandmother's tears.

Life in a village in north Karnataka

When the narrator was about twelve, she lived with her grandparents in a village in north Karnataka. The transport system was poor, so the morning newspaper arrived only in the afternoon and the weekly magazine came a day late. Everyone waited eagerly for the bus that brought the papers, magazines and post.

Triveni and the novel Kashi Yatre

Triveni was a very popular Kannada writer. Her style was easy to read and convincing, and her stories dealt with complex psychological problems in the lives of ordinary people. She died very young, but even forty years later people still appreciate her novels.

Her novel Kashi Yatre was appearing as a serial in the Kannada weekly Karmaveera. It is about an old lady who longs to go to Kashi (Varanasi) and worship Lord Vishweshwara, which most Hindus consider the ultimate punya. In the story there is also a young orphan girl who falls in love but has no money for her wedding. In the end, the old lady gives away all her savings to the girl without going to Kashi, saying that the girl's happiness is more important than worshipping at Kashi.

Grandmother Krishtakka and the weekly reading

The narrator's grandmother, Krishtakka, never went to school and could not read. Every Wednesday, when the magazine came, the narrator read the next episode aloud to her. The grandmother listened with great concentration and could later repeat the whole text by heart. She identified with the novel's old lady, because she too had never been to Kashi. After each episode she discussed the story with her friends in the temple courtyard.

The grandmother in tears

Once, the narrator went with her cousins to a wedding in a neighbouring village. She went for a couple of days but stayed for a week. When she returned, she found her grandmother in tears, which surprised her, because she had never seen her cry, even in the most difficult situations. The narrator called her Avva, which means mother in the Kannada spoken in north Karnataka.

That night, on the open terrace under a full moon, Avva told the narrator about her life. She had lost her mother as a young girl and had no one to guide her. Her father was busy and remarried. In those days, education was not considered essential for girls, so she never went to school. She married young, had children and grandchildren, and was happy cooking and caring for everyone, but at times she regretted not going to school. So she made sure her children and grandchildren studied well.

How I Taught My Grandmother to Read Summary – Part II

Part II of the how I taught my grandmother to read summary covers Avva's decision, her daily lessons and her success at Dassara.

Avva's helplessness

Avva explained that while the narrator was away, Karmaveera arrived as usual. She opened it and saw the picture with Kashi Yatre, but could not read a word. She rubbed her hands over the pages, wishing they could understand what was written. She even thought of going to the other village to ask the narrator to read it. She could have asked someone in her own village, but she was too embarrassed. She felt dependent and helpless, and said, "We are well-off, but what use is money when I cannot be independent?"

The decision to learn

Avva decided to learn the Kannada alphabet from the very next day. She set Saraswati Puja day during Dassara as her deadline, when she wanted to be able to read a novel on her own. The narrator laughed at her: at sixty-two, with grey hair, wrinkled hands and spectacles, and so much work in the kitchen, how could she learn? Avva just smiled and replied, "For a good cause if you are determined, you can overcome any obstacle… For learning there is no age bar."

The teacher and her first student

The tuition began the next day. Avva was a wonderful student; she would read, repeat, write and recite, and the amount of homework she did was amazing. The narrator was her only teacher, and Avva was the narrator's first student. The narrator adds that she did not know then that one day she would become a teacher of Computer Science and teach hundreds of students.

Dassara: the student passes

At Dassara, the narrator secretly bought Kashi Yatre, which had by then been published as a novel. Avva called her to the puja place, made her sit on a stool and gave her a gift of frock material. Then she bent down and touched the narrator's feet. The narrator was taken aback, because elders never touch the feet of youngsters. Avva explained that she was touching the feet of a teacher, not of her granddaughter, because the scriptures say a teacher should be respected irrespective of gender and age.

The narrator returned her namaskara by touching her feet and gave her the gift. Avva opened it and immediately read the title, "Kashi Yatre by Triveni", and the publisher's name. The narrator knew then that her student had passed with flying colours.

[Image: How I Taught My Grandmother to Read mind map]

Characters in How I Taught My Grandmother to Read

How I Taught My Grandmother to Read has only a few characters, and the story centres on the bond between the narrator and her grandmother.

Why Is Kashi Yatre Important in How I Taught My Grandmother to Read?

Kashi Yatre is the reason the grandmother wants to learn to read. She identifies with its old lady, who has never been to Kashi, so she cannot wait to know what happens next. The novel also mirrors the story's message: just as the old lady gives up her pilgrimage to help an orphan, the grandmother values something deeper than money, which is the independence that education brings. The narrator's Dassara gift of the published novel becomes the proof that Avva can now read.

How I Taught My Grandmother to Read Summary: Key Events at a Glance

Themes and Moral of How I Taught My Grandmother to Read

How I Taught My Grandmother to Read carries several simple but powerful messages:

• Education gives independence and dignity. Avva had money but felt helpless because she could not read.
• There is no age bar for learning. At sixty-two, Avva learns to read in a few months through determination.
• Respect for teachers. Avva shows that a teacher must be respected irrespective of age or gender.
• Determination overcomes obstacles. "For a good cause if you are determined, you can overcome any obstacle."
• The power of stories. A serialised novel inspires a life-changing decision.

Moral: It is never too late to learn, and education is the key to independence. That is the message every how I taught my grandmother to read summary should end with.

How I Taught My Grandmother to Read Question Answers (NCERT Kaveri)

These question answers for How I Taught My Grandmother to Read follow the exercises in the NCERT Kaveri textbook.

Check Your Understanding: True or False

1. The grandmother wanted to learn the Kannada alphabet to gain independence. True
2. The grandmother asked someone in the village to read Kashi Yatre to her while the narrator was away. False (she was too embarrassed to ask anyone)
3. The narrator was the grandmother's first teacher and taught her how to read Kannada. True
4. The grandmother believed that there was no age limit for learning. True
5. The grandmother touched the narrator's feet as a mark of respect for her as a teacher. True
6. The narrator was disappointed with the progress her grandmother made in learning to read. False (Avva was a wonderful student and "passed with flying colours")

Extract-based questions

Extract 1 ("When I came back to my village, I saw my grandmother in tears…")

• (i) The phrase "never seen her cry in the most difficult situations" tells us the grandmother was A. strong-willed.
• (ii) The grandmother did not reply because she might have been too emotional to respond.
• (iii) Clue to a rural setting with traditional customs: sleeping on the open terrace of the house on a summer night, and calling the grandmother "Avva".
• (iv) Lines that establish a tender atmosphere: "Avva came and sat next to me. Her affectionate hands touched my forehead."
• (v) The aspect NOT emphasised in the extract is C. the grandmother's regret over her lack of education (she reveals this only later).

Extract 2 ("I have decided I want to learn the Kannada alphabet…")

• (i) "I want to be independent" shows that B. she desires self-sufficiency.
• (ii) The grandmother's determination shows that learning has no age limit.
• (iii) The narrator laughs because she thinks her grandmother is too old (sixty-two, grey-haired, wrinkled hands, spectacles) and too busy in the kitchen to learn the alphabet.
• (iv) Two qualities of the grandmother: determination and a positive attitude (she just smiles and says she will work harder than anybody).
• (v) The narrator assumes that old age, wrinkles, spectacles and housework make learning impossible, but the grandmother proves these assumptions wrong.

Answer the following questions

1. Why do you think the grandmother felt embarrassed to ask someone else to read to her while the narrator was away? She was a respected elder from a well-off family, and admitting in front of others that she could not read hurt her self-respect. She also did not want to depend on outsiders for something so personal.

2. Why does the narrator initially laugh at her grandmother's determination to learn at the age of sixty-two? As a child, the narrator thought learning was only for the young. She childishly assumed that her grandmother's age, grey hair, wrinkled hands, spectacles and busy kitchen work made it impossible for her to learn.

3. What significance does the story of Kashi Yatre have in both the grandmother's life and the story? Avva identifies with the novel's old lady, and her desire to read it independently leads her to learn the alphabet. In the story, Kashi Yatre links the beginning and the end: reading its title at Dassara proves Avva's success.

4. What does the grandmother's desire to learn the Kannada alphabet reflect about her? It reflects her self-respect, determination, love of learning and wish to be independent, as well as the courage to start something new late in life.

5. What lessons can we infer from the grandmother's action of touching the narrator's feet? A teacher deserves respect irrespective of age or gender, knowledge is to be honoured, and true humility means respecting whoever teaches us.

6. What does the line "For a good cause if you are determined, you can overcome any obstacle" tell us about the broader theme of the story? It expresses the main theme: determination and hard work can overcome obstacles like age, and learning has no age bar.

7. How effectively does the story highlight the value of education in supporting personal independence? Very effectively. Avva had money and a loving family, yet she felt helpless because she could not read. Once she learned, she could read any novel confidently on her own and said, "Now I am independent." The contrast shows that education, not wealth, gives true independence.