Book Review-How I Taught my Grandmother to Read and Other Stories
Book Review: Amrutha from Team Samarpan
Book Title: How I Taught my Grandmother to Read and Other Stories
Author: Sudha Murthy
Sudha Sudha Murty was born in 1950 in Shiggaon in north Karnataka. Holding an M.Tech in Computer Science, she teaches the same to postgraduate students. She is also the Chairperson of the Infosys Foundation.
A prolific writer in Kannada, she has written seven novels, four technical books, three travelogues and two collections of short stories. Her previous English book, “Wise and Otherwise” has been translated into thirteen Indian languages. “How I Taught my Grandmother to Read and Other Stories” is her first book for children and is a collection of 24 short stories.
This story book is showcasing the pure and warm relationship between a grandmother and her granddaughter.
The granddaughter , Sudha Murthy is very fond of her grandmother and they both are very close . Her grandparents, themselves being illiterate, put all their effort into teaching their children and grandchildren . She goes to a temple and discusses each episode to her friends.
Once the author happens to visit another place and meanwhile, the paper arrives. Grandmother is so addicted to listening to the episode that she tried all ways to read it. She rubbed the pages, brought closer to her eyes trying to extract the story. She feels helpless at her condition and feels extremely sorry for being illiterate. When Sudha Murthy comes back, she tells her about her despair and expresses her strong desire to learn and read on her own.
Now Sudha Murthy encourages her grandmother to read and becomes her guru. Grandmother shows intense determination and learns to read and write. Grandmother gifts Sudha Murthy a frock and touches her feet as a sign of gratitude for her teacher. Sudha Murthy in turn touches her feet. This way, the story ends.
Stories in the book are real incidents that occurred in the life of Sudha Murthy. How the decisions and perspectives change in the world is a great capture by her.
This book, according to me, captures many beautiful moments of life. The book doesn’t tell you or make you know what is right and what is wrong. Rather, it helps you make independent decisions based on life experiences.The book is more than a story, as it carries a motivational facet and probably the valuable teachings of life.