Why didn’t the sparrows take any notice of the bread crumbs thrown to them? How would you explain their strange behaviour at the death of the grandmother?

The author’s grandmother was a religious person. What are the different ways in which we come to know this?

Describe the changing relationship between the author and his grandmother. Did their feelings for each other change?

Would you agree that the author’s grandmother was a person strong in character? If yes, give instances that show this. 

Have you known someone like the author’s grandmother? Do you feel the same sense of loss with regard to someone whom you have loved and lost?

Which language do you think the author and his grandmother used while talking to each other?

Which language do you use to talk to elderly relatives in your family?

How would you say ‘a dilapidated drum’ in your language?

Can you think of a song or a poem in your language that talks of homecoming?

Notice the following uses of the word ‘tell’ in the text:

1.  Her fingers were busy telling the beads of her rosary.

2. I would tell her English words and little things of Western science and learning.

3. At her age one could never tell.

4. She told us that her end was near.

Given below are four different senses of the word ‘tell’. Match the meanings to the uses listed above.

1. make something known to someone in spoken or written words

2. count while reciting

3. be sure

4. give information to somebody

Notice the different senses of the word ‘take’.

to take to something: to begin to do something as a habit

to take ill : to suddenly become ill

Locate these phrases in the text and notice the way they are used.