My GrandMother’s house

-Kamala Das

Word Meaning:

 My blood turned cold: (here) I suddenly felt very frightened or

worried
 Despair: unhappiness
 Brooding: engaged in or showing deep thought about
something that makes one sad
 Nostalgic: feeling, evoking, or characterized by nostalgia
 Armful: as much as a person can hold in both arms.

Born: 31st March 1934, Punnayurkulam

Died: 31st May 2009, Pune

Spouse: Madhava Das

Awards: Muttathu Varkey Award, Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for story, Vayalar Award

Movies: Mazha, Neermaathalathinte Pookkal, House of stories, Raama Raavanan etc

Summary

My Grandmother’s House is a nostalgic poem. Written by one of India’s famous poets Kamala
Das, the poem celebrates the time spent by the poet at her grandmother’s house. The speaker
remembers the house of her childhood where she had been happy as a child and her
grandmother who loved her very much.
“My Grandmother’s House” is an autobiographical poem by Kamala Das. She describes the
pitiable conditions of her grandmother’s house and own life.

Her grandmother is no more. She finds herself alone. She remembers her past when she visits
her old house. The present condition of the house is fearful.

The poetess wants to take from this place an armful of darkness at her house where she used
to live. She wants to put this darkness forever to recollect the memory of past.

The poet considers those moments to be the best moments of her life and desires to get them.

Answer the following Questions:

1) Why is the speaker so nostalgic about her grandmother’s house?

Ans) The speaker is nostalgic about her grandmother’s house because she had been loved by
her grandmother. Her grandmother is now dead and the house had fallen into disrepair. She
cannot go back there to meet her grandmother now. All she can do is to think fondly of it.

2) Does the poet make frequent visits to the house? Quote the line(s) from the poem to
support your answer.

Ans) No, the poet does not make frequent visits to her grandmother’s house. She says, ‘how
often I think of going there’. This indicates that she wants to go back there but has not done so
in the past.

3) What is the poet’s present state of mind?

Ans) The poet’s present state of mind is nostalgic. She thinks about her grandmother and the
love she received from her. The last few lines of the poem indicate that she is not loved now
the way she was when she was a visitor to her grandmother’s house. She is also sad that she
cannot go back to the old house.

Assignment

1) The air in the grandmother’s house was frozen. Why?

2) What is the central idea of the poem ‘My Grandmother’s House’?

3) Which literary devices are used in the poem? Mention those lines.

(Hint: Simile and Metaphor)

4) Why are the eyes of the window described as blind?