CBSE · NCERT · Class 9 English · Chapter 1

NCERT Solutions: Class 9 English Chapter 1 - Kaveri: How I Taught My Grandmother to Read

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Chapter-wise NCERT intext questions and exercise answers for Kaveri: How I Taught My Grandmother to Read, grounded in the official textbook.

Questions are taken verbatim from the NCERT textbook; answers were grounded against the chapter's content during generation. Items needing review are marked.
Sections in this chapter
II Answer the following questions. 7Reading for Appreciation — II Answer the following questions. 5
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1II Answer the following questions.7 questions
Q.1Why do you think the grandmother felt embarrassed to ask someone else to read to her while the narrator was away?v
Solution

Her tears and confession after the narrator returns show that dependence, not mere impatience, troubles her.

Answer:

The grandmother had always depended on the narrator to read each episode of Kashi Yatre aloud. When the narrator was away, she realised that although she was an elder who managed the household, she could not discover for herself what happened next. Asking another person would expose a dependence she now found painful and humiliating. Her embarrassment came less from the story itself than from recognising that illiteracy denied her privacy and independence.

Q.2Why does the narrator initially laugh at her grandmother’s determination to learn at the age of sixty-two?v
Solution

The contrast between the narrator’s first reaction and her later respect develops the story’s rejection of age limits.

Answer:

The narrator first treats the plan as surprising because her grandmother is sixty-two, has grey hair, wears spectacles and has never attended school. To a twelve-year-old teacher, beginning the alphabet at that age appears unrealistic. She stops laughing when she sees her grandmother’s seriousness and understands that determination and disciplined practice matter more than age.

Q.3What significance does the story of Kashi Yatre have in both the grandmother’s life and the story?v
Solution

The grandmother’s identification with the heroine and her missed instalment connect the serial to both theme and plot.

Answer:

Kashi Yatre is the grandmother’s favourite serial because she identifies with its elderly heroine, who longs to visit Kashi but sacrifices her savings to help an orphan girl marry. The story gives her emotional pleasure, but her inability to read an instalment independently becomes the immediate cause of her decision to learn. Within the chapter, it is therefore both a mirror of the grandmother’s generous values and the catalyst that turns literacy from an abstract skill into an urgent personal goal.

Q.4What does the grandmother’s desire to learn the Kannada alphabet reflect about her?v
Solution

Her study routine and stated goal provide evidence for each trait.

Answer:

It reflects self-awareness, courage, discipline and a strong desire for independence. She does not blame her childhood circumstances or accept age as an excuse. Instead, she sets a clear deadline, studies diligently, repeats lessons and completes homework. Her effort shows humility in becoming her granddaughter’s pupil and confidence that sustained work can overcome an old disadvantage.

Q.5What lessons can we infer from the grandmother’s action of touching the narrator’s feet?v
Solution

The grandmother explicitly distinguishes respect for the teacher from the narrator’s young age.

Answer:

By touching her granddaughter’s feet, the grandmother honours the teacher rather than age or family rank. She explains that she is saluting the person who taught her, demonstrating humility, gratitude and respect for knowledge. The action also reverses ordinary hierarchy: an elder can learn from a child, and genuine education depends on recognising ability wherever it is found.

Q.6What does the following line tell us about the broader theme of the story? ‘For a good cause if you are determined, you can overcome any obstacle.’v
Solution

Her progress from illiteracy to reading Kashi Yatre demonstrates the statement rather than merely asserting it.

Answer:

The line states the chapter’s central belief that purposeful determination can overcome barriers such as age, lack of schooling and social expectations. The grandmother cannot change her childhood, but she can respond to it through regular effort. Her success shows that obstacles are real yet not always final when the goal is meaningful and the learner accepts patient work and help.

Q.7How effectively does the story highlight the value of education in supporting personal independence?v
Solution

The before-and-after contrast between dependence and self-reading establishes education as independence.

Answer:

The story makes the value of education concrete through one missed magazine episode. Before learning, the grandmother must wait for another person even to enjoy a story she loves; this dependence makes her feel helpless. Literacy lets her read the complete novel herself, protects her privacy and gives her confidence. Because the change occurs in everyday life rather than through examination or employment, the story effectively shows education as personal agency—the ability to seek information, make choices and participate without always relying on others.

2Reading for Appreciation — II Answer the following questions.5 questions
Q.1How does the poem reflect a strong connection to cultural identity and heritage?v
Solution

The answer connects the poem’s catalogue and repeated ‘ours’ to shared identity.

Answer:

‘Bharat Our Land’ builds cultural identity by naming features Indians inherit together: the Himavant and Ganga, the Upanishads, sages, warriors, divine music, Brahma-knowledge and the Buddha’s dhamma. The repeated possessive ‘ours’ makes geography, thought, courage and spirituality part of a shared heritage, while the refrain invites the community to praise the land collectively.

Q.2What can you infer about the poet’s attitude towards India from the repeated phrase ‘she’s peerless, let’s praise her!’?v
Solution

The inference follows from the superlative praise and inclusive imperative in the refrain.

Answer:

The phrase shows intense admiration, gratitude and patriotic pride. Calling India ‘peerless’ presents her natural beauty and intellectual and spiritual inheritance as beyond comparison. ‘Let’s’ turns private admiration into an inclusive appeal, asking readers to recognise and celebrate the country together.

Q.3What does the line ‘many a sage has sanctified this land’ suggest about India’s spiritual heritage?v
Solution

The surrounding references clarify what the sages’ ‘sanctifying’ presence represents.

Answer:

It suggests that India’s sacredness has been deepened over generations by numerous sages who lived, taught and pursued spiritual knowledge here. The line joins the poem’s references to the Upanishads, Brahma-knowledge and the Buddha’s dhamma, presenting the land as a continuing centre of philosophical inquiry and spiritual teaching.

Q.4How does the poet connect warriors and music to India’s greatness?v
Solution

The paired images in the stanza support a balanced idea of greatness.

Answer:

The poet places ‘gallant warriors’ beside ‘the divinest music’ to show that India’s greatness is many-sided. Warriors represent courage and sacrifice, while music represents artistic and spiritual refinement. By celebrating both, the poem defines national achievement through bravery as well as creative culture, not through military strength alone.

Q.5How does this poem foster a sense of national pride?v
Solution

The answer identifies the poem’s subject matter and the verbal devices that create collective pride.

Answer:

The poem gathers majestic landscapes, sacred texts, spiritual teachers, courageous people and artistic achievement into a rhythmic tribute to Bharat. Repetition of ‘ours’ gives readers a sense of belonging, while rhetorical comparisons and ‘peerless’ emphasise distinction. The refrain ‘let’s praise her’ converts this admiration into a shared celebration and encourages pride rooted in cultural memory.