Three ways in which the author’s grandmother spent her days after he grew up.

The intimacy between the narrator and his grandmother was snapped when they were sent for in the city. As the years rolled by they saw less of each other. When the narrator grew up, he went up to university. He was given a room of his own. The common link of friendship was snapped. The grandmother accepted it as her fate.

The grandmother found out new ways of spending her time. She now spent most of her time at the spinning-wheel. She rarely left her spinning-wheel to talk to anyone.

From sunrise to sunset she sat by the spinning-wheel. While spinning, she continued reciting prayers. She relaxed only in the afternoon to feed the sparrows.

The third way in which the old lady spent her time was her feeding the sparrows. She would sit in the verandah. She would break the bread into little bits. Hundreds of little birds collected round her. They created a ‘bedlam of chirrupings’. They came and perched on her legs and shoulders. Some even sat on her head. She smiled but never shoo’d them away. Feeding the sparrows used to be the happiest hour of the day for her.