How I taught my grandmother to read and other stories

By Sudha Murty

About the author

Sudha Murty (née Kulkarni) (Kannada) (born : 19 August 1950) is an Indian engineering

teacher, author and a social worker. She is also the chairperson of the Infosys Foundation. She is
married to the co-founder of Infosys, N. R. Narayana Murthy. Murty was awarded the Padma Shri, the
fourth highest civilian award in India, for social work by the Government of India in 2006.
Sudha Murty began her professional career in computer science and engineering. She is the
chairperson of the Infosys Foundation and a member of the public health care initiatives of the Gates
Foundation. She has founded several orphanages, participated in rural development efforts,
supported the movement to provide all Karnataka government schools with computer and library
facilities, and established Murty Classical Library of India at Harvard University. Murty initiated a bold
move to introduce computer and library facilities in all schools in Karnataka & taught computer
science. She got the "Best Teacher Award" in 1995 from Rotary Club at Bangalore.
Murty is best known for her social work and her contribution to literature in Kannada and
English. Sudha Murty was born into a Kannadiga Hindu Deshastha Madhwa Brahmin family on
August 19 1950 in Shiggaon, Haveri in Karnataka, India, the daughter of surgeon Dr. R. H. Kulkarni
and his wife Vimala Kulkarni. She was raised by her parents and maternal grandparents. These
childhood experiences form the historical basis for her first notable work entitled How I Taught My
Grandmother to Read, Wise and Otherwise and Other Stories.

Overview
How I Taught My Grandmother by Sudha Murty is a story about a twelve years old girl-the
narrator, and her sixty-two years old grandmother, Avva, as she addresses herself. In the first-person
narrative, the story portrays emphatically the character of an old lady of sixty-two who decides and
learns the Kannada alphabet. If a person is strong willed, he/she can move mountains. The
importance of being literate is described in the story. How a person despite having all worldly
facilities, money, a nice home and a family, feels incomplete and remains dependent and helpless.
The money is of no use when you do not know how to count the numbers. The grandmother proves in
the story that there is no age bar for education. Avva, an illiterate woman has her life full with a
blessed home and a lovely granddaughter. She enjoys cooking and feeding. She feels the jolt when
following a series of episodes appearing in a weekly magazine she was not able to read one of the
episodes on her own for her granddaughter had gone off to a neighboring village to attend a
marriage. She realizes the importance of the skill. She was not delivered duly in her childhood, for at
that time education was not essential for girls. She realizes that the greatest treasure one can ever
possess, which makes a person truly independent is education. The power to read and write is the
greatest skill. She feels dependent and helpless due to her inability to read or write. All the money
was of no use as she is not independent. She makes sure that her children and grandchildren are
well educated. However, she feels miserable for her inability to read. When the author returns, her
Avva cries and explains her grief to the young girl. She expresses her wish to learn the Kannada
alphabet and tells her granddaughter that she wishes to learn it by Saraswati Pooja. The
granddaughter first feels funny about why her grandmother at such an age of sixty-two wishes to
learn the alphabet. However, she sees the determination in Avva and begins to teach her from the
next day onwards. A great student, as the grandmother is, she learns with great zeal and does an
amazing amount of homework. She accomplishes her mission by Saraswati Pooja and receives
Kashi Yatre, the novel, as a gift from her granddaughter.

Setting
The setting is of a village where the narrator lived when she was young. She had a special
bond with her grandmother and would read out a story from the magazine to her. The grandmother
then asked the narrator to teach her to read and write so she would not have to depend on anyone.

Themes and Characters

The story bears the theme of love and human relationship. It also depicts that that true
development of a country is impossible unless we create an atmosphere of education for everyone.
The moral is that attaining knowledge is a lifelong process and there is no age bar for learning.
Through the character of the grandmother the importance of learning is highlighted. This shows that
education was not compulsory for women in those days. The story is highlighting an important issue
of providing education to all irrespective of their age or gender.
 Krishtakka, the grandmother is a sixty-two-year-old lady. She has a loving and caring nature. She is
enthusiastic. She had some adverse circumstances due to which she could not go to school and
remained uneducated. When she felt the need of education to read ‘Kashi Yatre’ she regrets on not
being educated. She feels that money is of no use if one has to depend on others. She was firmly
determined that she had to start her education without considering her age. It was her determination,
strong will power, hard work and self confidence that helped her to get success in learning to read
and write within a short period of time.
Sudha Murty, the authoress and the granddaughter of Krishtakka is a twelve-year-old child. She has
been residing with her grandparents in a village of north Karnataka. Her grandmother is illiterate so,
she used to read a novel serial that regularly published in a weekly magazine to her grandmother.
She was the tool for her grandmother to learn how to read. She was the only source of inspiration for
her grandmother. Her granddaughter took on the role of a teacher and patiently taught her to read
and write. First of all she made fun of her but it was childishly. The narrator was also a preserving
teacher who did her best to teach her student in all the ways possible.

Literary Qualities
The story ‘How I Taught My Grandmother to Read’ conveys that there is no age bar for
learning. One can learn at any age, provided she/he has a strong will power and determination. At
first, like other villagers/the grandmother was also fond of the weekly magazine, ‘Karmaveera’. As she
was not educated, she was dependent cm her granddaughter to read that magazine for her. In her
granddaughter’s absence, she could not read the next episode of ‘Kashi Yatre’. She felt embarrassed
at asking the villagers to read it for her. This incident made her realize (he importance of education.
The grandmother had never gone to school because she was born in an era when education of the
women folk was not given much importance.

Social Sensitivity
“For learning age is no bar.” This has rightly been said that for any good cause age is no
bar. The grandmother proved it also by achieving the task within the limited time. Education is very
important for all age group people and it is a lifelong process. Education process is not limited to any
age, person, place or other limitation of the life. It can continue all throughout the whole life because it
does not end with the schooling. Individual education plays great role in the development and growth
of life, person, society and country. Being a democratic country without education people cannot use
their rights. India is a sovereign democratic republic country struggling hard for becoming the
developed country like many other countries in the world. If we want to be developed we have to be
educated.
Topic for Discussion

1. Describe the role of the author in educating her grandmother.

2.  What were the circumstances which made the grandmother realize the importance of education?
Why had the grandmother not gone to school? 
3. How had the narrator planned to surprise her grandmother? How was she herself surprised?
4. What message does the story ‘How I Taught My Grandmother to Read’ convey? 
5. Why did Krishtakka want her children to study well?
6. Why did the grandmother think of learning to read and write at the age of sixty-two?
7. How did the grandmother actualize her dream of being literate?
8. Was ‘Kashi Yatre’ grandmother’s favourite novel? Give two reasons to support your answer.
9. What resolution does the grandmother make and how does she fulfil it?
10. Imagine you are the grandmother. In about 150 words, write a letter to share your thoughts,
feelings, ambitions and resolutions as a neo-literate.  

Prepared by:
Ezekiel Fredreich V. Villegas
A12

Submitted to:
T. Mary Grace G. Abarico
English Teacher