GRADE -9 ENGLISH LESSON-1 HOW I TAUGHT MY GRAND MOTHER TO READ (KAVERI)
📚 EnglishWithMRK
Class 9 English • Kaveri Textbook • CBSE / NCF 2023
How I Taught My Grandmother to Read
How I Taught My Grandmother to Read
Sudha Murthy
Autobiographical Short Story / Personal Narrative
A village in Karnataka, India (during summer holidays)
It is never too late to learn — self-respect and determination can transform a person at any age.
A sixty-two-year-old illiterate grandmother, inspired by deep self-respect and the love of a story, decides to learn to read Kannada with the help of her young granddaughter. Her remarkable transformation proves that age is never a barrier to education.
Lifelong Learning • Self-Respect • Humility • Guru-Shishya Bond • Determination • Gratitude
Imagine you love a story so much that you wait all week to find out what happens next — but you cannot read a single word yourself. Every day, you depend on someone else to tell you the story. Then that person leaves. The story is unfinished. You cannot follow it. You cannot do anything about it.
How would you feel? Helpless? Embarrassed? Angry at yourself?
Now imagine that instead of giving up, you decide — at the age of sixty-two — to learn to read. From scratch. Taught by your twelve-year-old granddaughter.
About Sudha Murthy
Sudha Murthy (born 1950) is one of India's most celebrated authors, philanthropists, and educators. She is the Chairperson of the Infosys Foundation and has written over forty books in Kannada and English — novels, short stories, and non-fiction. She is known for writing in a simple, honest style that carries powerful life lessons. Many of her stories are drawn from her own life, making them deeply authentic and relatable. This lesson is an autobiographical narrative — it happened to Sudha Murthy herself as a child.
Background of the Lesson
The story is set in a village in Karnataka during Sudha's summer holidays at her grandparents' home. A popular Kannada magazine called Karmaveera was running a serialized story titled Kashi Yatre (Journey to Kashi) written by the celebrated author Triveni. The serial was hugely popular across Karnataka. Sudha's grandmother, though deeply intelligent and curious, had never had the opportunity to go to school. This was common for women of her generation in rural India.
🌐 Why This Lesson Matters Today: In India, millions of women from earlier generations were denied formal education due to poverty, social customs, and patriarchal norms. This story celebrates their inner strength. It also challenges us to rethink our ideas about who can learn, when learning happens, and what it truly means to respect a teacher — lessons that are as urgent in 2026 as they were when this story was first published.
Part 1 — The Setting and the Serial (Situation)
Sudha, the narrator, is spending her summer vacation at her grandparents' village. Every week, the Kannada magazine Karmaveera arrives with a new episode of the serialized story Kashi Yatre. This story is about an old woman who dreams of visiting the holy city of Kashi (Varanasi) before she dies. Sudha's grandmother is very fond of this serial. Since she cannot read, she depends entirely on Sudha to read each episode aloud. The grandmother listens with full attention and deep emotion, waiting eagerly every week for the next installment. The serial has become the most exciting part of her week.
Part 2 — The Conflict (Problem)
Vacation ends and Sudha must return to school in the city. The problem: the serial Kashi Yatre has not yet reached its climax. The grandmother will not know how the story ends. When Sudha leaves, the grandmother is not just sad — she feels deeply humiliated. She realizes that for something as simple and important as reading a story she loves, she is completely dependent on a twelve-year-old child. She cannot even manage her own reading life. This realization hits her like a shock. The feeling of helplessness and shame is the central conflict of the story.
Part 3 — The Turning Point and Realization
Instead of accepting her helplessness, the grandmother makes a remarkable decision: she will learn to read Kannada. She approaches Sudha with humility and requests her to become her teacher. Sudha is surprised but agrees warmly. Every day, the grandmother sits with Sudha and practices the Kannada alphabet. She makes mistakes, gets confused, and starts over — but she never stops. She treats the learning with absolute seriousness, as a dedicated student. The roles are completely reversed: the sixty-two-year-old grandmother is the student, and the twelve-year-old granddaughter is the teacher. What makes this extraordinary is the grandmother's complete absence of ego — she puts aside pride and focuses only on learning.
Part 4 — Resolution and Guru Dakshina
By the time of the Dasara festival — about three months later — the grandmother can read Kannada on her own. She reads the magazine Karmaveera independently and finally finishes the story of Kashi Yatre. On the auspicious day of Dasara, she calls Sudha and presents her with a beautiful silk sari. She tells Sudha that this is her guru dakshina — the traditional gift from a student to her teacher — because Sudha is truly her guru. This final scene is profoundly moving. The grandmother, who was once helpless and embarrassed, is now independent, proud, and grateful. The story ends with the lesson that age is no barrier to learning, and that education is the greatest act of self-respect.
👤 Character: The Grandmother
- Curious: Deeply engaged with stories and ideas despite being uneducated
- Self-Respecting: Cannot accept dependence on others for something she loves
- Disciplined: Practices every single day without fail
- Humble: Accepts a child as her guru without ego
- Grateful: Honors the teacher-student bond with guru dakshina
👤 Character: Narrator (Young Sudha)
- Observant: Notices and understands her grandmother's feelings
- Patient: Teaches without impatience or condescension
- Empathetic: Respectful of the grandmother's dignity
- Humble: Does not boast about being a teacher to an elder
- Truthful: Narrates the story honestly, including her own surprise
⚡ Internal Conflict
The grandmother's internal conflict is between her love for stories and her inability to read them independently. This conflict is deepened by her self-respect — she cannot bear to remain dependent on a child for something so personal. The pain of this conflict is what triggers her transformation. It is not an external force that changes her; it is her own wounded dignity.
🔄 Turning Point
The turning point occurs when Sudha leaves for school and the grandmother realizes she cannot access the rest of the story herself. The shock of helplessness becomes the catalyst. At this moment, she stops being passive and becomes active. She decides: I will learn. This is the pivotal moment of the story.
📈 Psychological / Emotional Shift
This emotional arc is the true story. Each stage reveals a different dimension of the grandmother's character — and shows that transformation requires not just desire, but sustained, daily effort.
🌟 Message / Moral
- Age is never a barrier to learning
- True self-respect means refusing to remain helpless
- Humility — accepting to learn from anyone — is a strength
- Education empowers; it frees a person from dependence
- The guru-shishya relationship is sacred, regardless of age
✍ Author's Intention
Sudha Murthy honors the unacknowledged intelligence of uneducated women of her grandmother's generation — women who were brilliant but denied formal schooling. She also celebrates the intergenerational bond. By making the narrator a child and the learner an elder, she subverts the usual hierarchy to show that the desire to learn matters more than age, status, or experience.
Reason (R): She was determined not to remain dependent on her granddaughter for something she loved deeply.
Options:
A) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A. ✓
B) Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A.
C) A is true, but R is false.
D) A is false, but R is true.
Answer: A — Her determination to overcome dependence is precisely why she chose to learn.
Reason (R): Dasara is a festival when people traditionally exchange gifts with family members.
Options:
A) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A.
B) Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A. ✓
C) A is true, but R is false.
D) A is false, but R is true.
Answer: B — The sari was given as guru dakshina (a teacher's tribute), not as a routine festival gift.
Instructions
Write a diary entry from the perspective of Sudha's grandmother on the day she reads the magazine Karmaveera all by herself for the first time — three months after she began learning to read. The entry should reflect her emotions, her journey, and her gratitude. Write approximately 120–150 words.
Format to follow:
Date: [day of Dasara]
Dear Diary,
[Content]
Yours,
Krishtakka
Points to include: How she felt when she first held the magazine alone • The struggle of learning • Gratitude towards Sudha • What she will do with her new skill • A reflection on age and learning
Sample Answer:
Date: The day of Dasara
Dear Diary,
Today, I held Karmaveera in my hands and read it myself. Every word. Every line. Alone. I could not hold back my tears.
Three months ago, I was ashamed — a grandmother who could not read her favourite story. When Sudha left for school, I sat in the dark and felt helpless for the first time in my life. But I made a decision that night: I would not remain helpless.
Learning was not easy. The letters confused me. My eyes are old. My hands shook while writing. But I remembered: every day, even a little. Sudha never lost patience with me. She was more than a granddaughter; she was my guru.
Today I gave her a sari — a small token, but from my whole heart. They say old people cannot learn new things. I say: they have never tried hard enough.
Yours,
Krishtakka
🗣 Pair Discussion / Class Debate
Topic: "It is never too late to learn anything new."
Guiding Questions for Discussion:
- Do you personally believe that adults and senior citizens can learn new skills as effectively as young people? Give examples.
- What stops people from learning new things as they grow older — is it ability or attitude?
- The grandmother learned to read at 62. What skill would you like to learn at 62, and what would motivate you to do it?
🎤 Listening Activity
Your teacher will read aloud the scene where the grandmother presents Sudha with the sari. Listen carefully and then answer: What emotions do you detect in the grandmother's voice? How does this scene make you feel, and why?
Task
Imagine the grandmother has a smartphone and an Instagram account today. She has just read Karmaveera on her own for the first time. Write an Instagram caption (60–80 words) she might post, along with 5 relevant hashtags.
Sample Post:
At 62, I picked up a magazine. My granddaughter Sudha had been reading it to me for months. Then she left for school and I felt helpless. So I asked her to teach me. Today, I read every word myself. MYSELF. 💕
They say learning stops with age. I say learning IS life. It is never too late to begin. Dedicate this to every woman who was told she didn't need to read. 🌟
#NeverTooLate #GrandmaGoals #LiteracyForAll #KashiYatre #EnglishWithMRK
Alternative Creative Tasks:
- Draw a poster with the message: "Education has no age limit" using imagery from the story
- Write a short dialogue between Sudha and her grandmother on the first day of their learning sessions
- Create a role-play: Student A is a reluctant adult learner; Student B is a patient young teacher. Enact a lesson scene.
This story connects powerfully to the real world around us. In India, National Literacy Programmes like Saakshar Bharat have worked to teach millions of adult women to read and write — because education changes lives at every age. Many of our grandparents and great-grandparents, especially women, were denied schooling due to poverty, social customs, and early marriage. Yet many of them, like the grandmother in this story, showed extraordinary intelligence and curiosity throughout their lives.
The grandmother's story also speaks to young people today: in an age of smartphones and social media, we sometimes forget that there are millions of people who still cannot access information independently because they cannot read. We can be part of the solution — by volunteering to teach, by advocating for education, and by never taking our own literacy for granted. Most importantly, this story reminds us that the best way to honour a teacher is to actually learn.
★ 5 Important Exam Questions
What made the grandmother decide to learn to read at the age of sixty-two? What values does her decision reflect?
What is guru dakshina? How and why does the grandmother give it to Sudha at the end of the story?
How does the author use the serial Kashi Yatre as a plot device in the story? What is the connection between the serial's protagonist and the grandmother?
Describe the transformation in the grandmother's character from the beginning to the end of the story.
The teacher-student relationship in this story is unconventional. Explain what is unusual about it and why the author presents it this way.
⚠ 3 Tricky / Commonly Misunderstood Questions
In what sense is the grandmother in this story more of a dedicated student than many school-going children today? (Examiners test whether students go beyond surface-level reading.)
The author mentions that her grandmother was sixty-two years old. Why is this specific detail important to the theme? What would be lost if the grandmother were thirty years old?
"The story is as much about Sudha as it is about her grandmother." Do you agree? Give reasons. (Tests critical thinking about the narrator's role.)
🚫 3 Common Mistakes Students Make
- Mistake 1: Students confuse who wrote Kashi Yatre. The author of the lesson is Sudha Murthy. The serial Kashi Yatre inside the lesson was written by Triveni — two different people.
- Mistake 2: Students describe the sari as a "festival gift given on Dasara." In fact, it was given as guru dakshina — a specific tribute from student to teacher. The context and meaning are entirely different.
- Mistake 3: Students write that the grandmother "could not" learn. The truth is she chose to learn. The story is about determination, not disability. Saying she "could not" misses the entire point.
5-Point Summary
- Sudha's grandmother loves the Kannada serial Kashi Yatre in magazine Karmaveera, but cannot read herself — she depends on Sudha to read it aloud.
- When Sudha returns to school mid-serial, the grandmother feels deeply ashamed of her dependence and helplessness.
- Motivated by self-respect, she asks Sudha to teach her Kannada — beginning a daily practice despite the difficulty.
- By Dasara (three months later), she reads the magazine independently and finishes the story herself.
- She presents Sudha with a silk sari as guru dakshina — honouring the sacred teacher-student relationship and proving that age is never a barrier to learning.
3 Key Takeaways
- Learning has no age limit — the desire to learn matters more than years lived.
- Self-respect is the greatest motivator for change — the grandmother's shame became her strength.
- Humility is power — accepting to learn from anyone, regardless of age or status, is the mark of a truly great person.
Comprehension Check
Q1. Who is the author of "Kashi Yatre" and what is it about?
The story Kashi Yatre was written by Triveni, a well-known Kannada author. It tells the story of an elderly woman who has a deep desire to visit the holy city of Kashi (Varanasi) before she dies. The serial was published in the Kannada magazine Karmaveera.
Q2. Who would read the Kashi Yatre to the narrator's grandmother and why?
The narrator (Sudha Murthy) would read the serial to her grandmother. The grandmother was illiterate — she had never been to school and could not read Kannada. Since she loved the story but could not access it herself, Sudha read each episode aloud to her.
Q3. What problem did the grandmother face when the author left for her school?
When Sudha left for school, the serial had not yet reached its climax. The grandmother could not follow the rest of the story because she could not read. She felt deeply helpless and embarrassed, as she was entirely dependent on her young granddaughter to know what happened in a story she loved.
Q4. How long did it take for the grandmother to learn to read?
It took approximately three months. The grandmother began learning around the time Sudha returned to school and was able to read independently by the Dasara festival.
Q5. What did the grandmother do on the day of Dasara?
On Dasara, the grandmother called Sudha and presented her with a beautiful silk sari as guru dakshina — the traditional gift offered by a student to their teacher. She acknowledged Sudha as her true guru, celebrating both her own achievement and the sacred bond between teacher and student.
Thinking About the Text
Q1. Why does the author say her grandmother was her first Guru?
While the story frames Sudha as the grandmother's guru (teacher of reading), the grandmother had been a teacher to Sudha in many informal ways throughout her life — in wisdom, in values, in stories. However, in this specific context, the grandmother calls Sudha her guru because Sudha taught her to read. The gesture of guru dakshina formally acknowledges this role. The term "first guru" reflects the grandmother's deep respect for the person who opened the world of written language to her.
Q2. "She is not a 'strong' woman in the way the word is commonly used..." Explain.
The common use of "strong" refers to physical strength, social power, or professional achievement. The grandmother has none of these in the usual sense. Yet she displays extraordinary inner strength — the strength to feel shame, to accept it without bitterness, to seek help from a child, and to persist daily until she achieves her goal. This is a different, deeper kind of strength.
Q3. What does this story tell us about the relationship between books / reading and the sense of self?
The story powerfully suggests that the ability to access literature — to read — is connected to a person's sense of self-worth and dignity. The grandmother's inability to read made her feel helpless and diminished. Gaining literacy restored her sense of self. This tells us that reading is not merely a skill; it is a pathway to identity, independence, and personal dignity.
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