Mention the three phases of the authors relationship with his grandmother before he left the country to study abroad.The three phases of the authors relationship with his grandmother before he left the country to study abroad were:(i) The period of early childhood when they used to live together and shared all the moments with each other.(ii) The period when the author shifted to the city with his grandmother, to live with his parents. This was a turning-point in their friendship because now, they saw less of each other. She rarely talked to him as he grew older.(iii) The period when the author went up to university which snapped the common link of friendship between him and his grandmother. In this phase, she rarely talked to anyone and turned to wheel spinning and reciting prayers. By now, she had accepted her seclusion with resignation.The authors relationship with his grandmother went through several changes with time. In the first stage living in a village with her, his grandmother took care of all the needs of the child. She was quite active and agile. It was her domain and she was the queen of her kingdom. In this period she was the sole unchallenged guardian, mentor and creator of the child. The turning point came in their relationship when they came to city to stay with the authors parents. In city, he joined an English School and started to go to school in a motor bus. Here the role of his grandmother in his bringing up was curtailed a little bit. Now she could not accompany him to the school. Despite taking lot of interest in his studies she could not help him in his lessons because he was learning English, law of gravity, Archimedes principle and many more such things which she could not understand and this made her unhappy. She found herself at loss as she could not change the things her way. She was dismayed and withdrew herself to some extent. Perhaps she had realized that in the makeover of the child, her role was finished and this very thought saddened her most. Now he went to school by bus, the grandmother couldn't accompany him to school.There he learnt about science and music, grand mother couldn't help him in science and she didn't like him learning about music since she considered it only for beggars and prostitutes.After finishing school, the author went to university. After Finishing school ,the author went to university after which he was given a room of his own thus breaking the existing link of friendship The authors grandmother got disturbed when he started going to the city school because(i) She could not help him with his lessons as they were all related to western science and learning(ii) She did not believe in the things that were taught at the English school and was distressed that there was no teaching about God and the scriptures(iii) She considered music to have lewd associations so she disapproved of music lessons held at the authors schoolThe authors grandmother spent her days, after he grew up, in the following ways:(i) She fed sparrows in the courtyard of the authors city house(ii) She engaged herself in wheel spinning(iii) She started reciting prayers continuouslyThe sparrows were utterly despaired when the authors grandmother died. They expressed their sorrow by sitting scattered on the floor, with no chirping. They did not even take notice of the bread crumbs, which the authors mother scattered for them.

The different ways in which we come to know that the authors grandmother was a religious person are given below.(i) She said her morning prayers in a monotonous sing-song and wanted the author to learn it by heart.(ii) She went to school with the author as the school was attached to the temple.(iii) The grandmother used to read scriptures inside the temple.(iv) Gradually, she turned to reciting prayers all through the day.(v) Her fingers were busy telling the beads of her rosary and her mind seemed to be lost in prayer.(vi) In the end, she stopped talking to her family members and turned to prayers, before her lips stopped moving, forever.The story describes the entire phase of relationship that the author shared with his grandmother. In his childhood, the author shared a strong bond with his grandmother. However, that tie of friendship loosened a little when they both shifted to the authors city house. She was resentful of the things being taught to the author in the English school. Finally, the day came when the author was to go to the university. This phase of the authors life led to a complete separation in their relationship. The author got a room of his own and his grandmother led a life of seclusion.However, in spite of changes in the courses of lines, their feelings for each other remained unchanged. Even when he was leaving to go abroad, she didnt display any emotion but prayed continuously. Same was her reaction when the author came back after five years.The authors grandmother was a person strong in character. Some of the instances that prove this are listed below.(i) She was not sentimental and did not display any emotion of grief when the author went to study abroad(ii) The day before she died, she got a drum and started to sing, ignoring anyone who tried to stop her(iii) Before she died, she ignored the protests of her family members and laid down peacefully, reciting prayers and telling her beads5. What is the meaning of the line Both wry with the laboured ease or lossBoth refers to the sea holiday as remembered by her mother and the poet remembering her mothers laughing face. Both these now belong to the past. Her mother is no more now.6. What does this circumstance refer to?This circumstance refers to the circumstance when the photo was taken.7. The three stanzas depict three different phases. What are they?The three stanzas depict three different phases. The first stanza refers to the childhood of the poets mother. The second stanza refers to the poets childhood when her mother was an adult. The last stanza refers to the poets adulthood when she is not with her mother.