1.3 Reading to Grandmother Every Wednesday

Last updated at July 13, 2026 by

Extract from the Story

"My grandmother, Krishtakka, never went to school so she could not read. Every Wednesday the magazine would come and I would read the next episode of this story to her. During that time she would forget all her work and listen with the greatest concentration. Later, she could repeat the entire text by heart. My grandmother too never went to Kashi, and she identified herself with the novel's protagonist. So more than anybody else she was the one most interested in knowing what happened next in the story and used to insist that I read the serial out to her.

After hearing what happened next in Kashi Yatre, she would join her friends at the temple courtyard where we children would also gather to play hide and seek. She would discuss the latest episode with her friends."

Summary in Bullet Points

  • The grandmother, Krishtakka ( Avva ), never went to school and could not read. Avva = means "mother" in the Kannada spoken in north Karnataka; used as an affectionate term for grandmother here
  • Every Wednesday, the narrator read the new episode of Kashi Yatre to her.
  • Avva listened with full concentration and could repeat it by heart . concentration = giving all your attention to one thing; full mental focus by heart = from memory, without looking at the written text (idiom)
  • She identified herself with the old lady in the story. identified herself with = felt that she was like the character; saw herself in that person
  • Afterwards she would insist on discussing the episode with friends at the temple. insist = to demand something firmly and not accept any refusal
NCERT Questions (from the Textbook)
Cause and Effect Table. Points 2 & 3

(From "Check Your Understanding" - complete the cause-and-effect table based on Part I of the story) See full Cause-and-Effect Table (Part I)

Cause and Effect Table. Points 2 & 3
Complete the cause-and-effect table (Check Your Understanding, NCERT Kaveri page 6):
Cause Effect
The grandmother, Krishtakka, never went to school. ______________________
______________________ She was deeply interested in the story and discussed it with her friends.
How to answer: Start with the key word from the question. Support your answer with specific details from the story. Write in complete sentences.
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Answer (completed table):
Cause Effect
The grandmother, Krishtakka, never went to school. She could not read the magazine on her own.The narrator had to read the episodes of Kashi Yatre to her every Wednesday.
The grandmother identified herself with the novel's protagonist (the old lady in Kashi Yatre), because she too had never been to Kashi.This deep personal connection made her eager to know what happened next and to discuss the story with her friends. She was deeply interested in the story and discussed it with her friends.

Kashi Yatre wali budhiya ne apni savings ek garib ladki ki shaadi mein de di — apna lifelong Kashi jaane ka sapna chod diya. Yeh selflessness aur compassion dikhata hai. Short mein: desire sacrifice ki real purity se zyada important hai.

Board Pattern Questions Mapped to Exam Format
Fill in the Blank (Bracket Choice) 1 mark - 1 sentence only
During the reading, the grandmother would forget all her work and listen with the greatest __________ (concentration / confusion).
How to answer: Start with the key word from the question. Support your answer with specific details from the story. Write in complete sentences.
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concentration
concentration = giving all your attention to one thing; full mental focus without distraction
Why: The extract says "she would forget all her work and listen with the greatest concentration". She gave her full, undivided attention.

Answer 'concentration' hai — story mein 'greatest concentration' likha hai. Avva kaam chhodkar sunta thi — yeh full attention hai, confusion nahi.

Pronoun / Word Reference (1 mark)
Fill in the blank with one word:In the line "Later, she could repeat the entire text by heart", the word "text" refers to the __________.
How to answer: Start with the key word from the question. Support your answer with specific details from the story. Write in complete sentences.
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episode (of Kashi Yatre)
episode = one part of a serial story; a single instalment published at a time
Why: Each week the narrator read the latest episode of Kashi Yatre to Avva. "Text" refers to that episode's content which Avva memorised completely.

Kashi Yatre wali budhiya ne apni savings ek garib ladki ki shaadi mein de di — apna lifelong Kashi jaane ka sapna chod diya. Yeh selflessness aur compassion dikhata hai. Short mein: desire sacrifice ki real purity se zyada important hai.

MCQ. What Does Behaviour Reveal (1 mark)
The fact that the grandmother could "repeat the entire text by heart" after hearing it once shows that she was:
(A) extremely forgetful and needed to hear it many times
(B) deeply engaged and listening with full concentration
(C) only pretending to listen while doing her work
(D) not at all interested in the story
How to answer: Start with the key word from the question. Support your answer with specific details from the story. Write in complete sentences.
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Answer: (B) - Memorising an entire episode after a single hearing takes deep engagement and mental sharpness. The grandmother was fully involved in the story every time.

Yeh vocabulary match question hai. Story se seedha: protagonist = main character, convincing = believable, episode = ek serial ka hissa. Dictionary ki zaroorat nahi — story mein in words ke exact meanings mile hain.

Short Answer. Identify the action (1 mark)
Which action of the grandmother shows that the story Kashi Yatre meant more to her than entertainment?
How to answer: Start with the key word from the question. Support your answer with specific details from the story. Write in complete sentences.
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After every reading, Avva discussed the episode with friends at the temple courtyard for hours. Showing it held deep personal meaning.
Explanation: SHORT-4 (1 mark) = 1 sentence. Do not expand. Name the specific action, name the specific place.

Kashi Yatre wali budhiya ne apni savings ek garib ladki ki shaadi mein de di — apna lifelong Kashi jaane ka sapna chod diya. Yeh selflessness aur compassion dikhata hai. Short mein: desire sacrifice ki real purity se zyada important hai.

Short Answer. Elaborate (2 marks)
According to the extract, why was the grandmother more interested in Kashi Yatre than anyone else? Elaborate.
How to answer: Start with the key word from the question. Support your answer with specific details from the story. Write in complete sentences.
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Avva identified with the novel’s protagonist. Both were elderly women who had never visited Kashi.
This made the story feel like her own unfulfilled dream, not just fiction, so she cared more than anyone.
Explanation: Two layers earn full marks: (1) she identified with the protagonist, (2) both had the same unfulfilled Kashi dream.

Kashi Yatre wali budhiya ne apni savings ek garib ladki ki shaadi mein de di — apna lifelong Kashi jaane ka sapna chod diya. Yeh selflessness aur compassion dikhata hai. Short mein: desire sacrifice ki real purity se zyada important hai.

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