• My Grandmother’s House ; In 1999 Kamala Das controversially converted to Islam, renaming herself Kamala Surayya.
• She received many literary awards, including the Asian World Prize for Literature in 1985.
My Grandmother’s House
There is a house now far away where once
I received love……. That woman died,
The house withdrew into silence, snakes moved
Among books, I was then too young
To read, and my blood turned cold like the moon
How often I think of going
There, to peer through blind eyes of windows or
Just listen to the frozen air,
Or in wild despair, pick an armful of
Darkness to bring it here to lie
Behind my bedroom door like a brooding
Dog…you cannot believe, darling,
Can you, that I lived in such a house and
Was proud, and loved…. I who have lost
My way and beg now at strangers’ doors to
Receive love, at least in small change?
Summary My Grandmother’s House
” My Grandmother’s House” is a lovely poem. It is an auto-biographical poem composed by Kamala Das who was an outstanding Indo-Anglian poetess.
In her poetry, we find a very free and frank expression to her personal experience of life. Here, She very madly remembers her grand-mother’s house where she had spent the sweet days of her childhood.
She says that the house is a symbol of innocent love which she used to get from her grandmother is dead. With her grandmother’s death, The house got deserted. Nobody lives in that house. Now she lives far away from that house. The place where she lives now is deprived of true love.
There is nothing but falsehood, cheating and faithlessness here. She is totally fed up with her way of life. That is way, she wants to go there and feel the presence of her grandmother in that silent house. After the dean of her grandmother. She is left with a sad feeling.
Here, we find a beautiful comparison between the innocent life of childhood and that of an adulthood.
Questions & Answers My Grandmother’s House
1. Who is ‘I’ in the second line of the poem?
Ans – The poet, Kamala das is ‘I’ in the second line of the poem.
2. Where did the speaker once receive love?
Ans- The speaker once received love at her grandmother’s house. She used to live there with her grandmother when she was child.
3. Why did the house go into silence?
Ans- The house went into silence because the speaker’s grandmother had died. Her death became the cause of silence in the house.
4. Why was the speaker unable to read the books?
Ans- The speaker was unable to read the books because she was then very young.
5. Why did the speaker often wish to go to that house?
Ans- The speaker often wished to go to that house to peep through the windows and to listen to the frozen air of that house where she had spent her childhood with her grandmother.
6. Why was the speaker proud of living in that house?
Ans- The speaker was proud of living in that house because she used to receive love there. She got a lot of affection there. Her childhood was spent under the love and guidance of her grandmother.
7. Why does the speaker say that she has lost her way?
Ans – The speaker has no time to go to her grandmother’s house. She is busy at her work. She wants to go there but finds no time because of her job. So, she says that she has lost her way .
8. Is the speaker satisfied with her present life? If not, why ?
Ans – The speaker is not satisfied with her present life because she feels a lack of love. She also feels loneliness. She is unable to get love and guidance which she had at grandmother’s house during childhood.
Objective Questions MCQs My Grandmother’s House
1. Who has composed the poem, ‘My Grandmother’s House’ ?
(A) Keki N Daruwala
(B) Kamala Das
(C) TS Eliot
(D) Walt Whitman
2. Kamala Das is an ………… Poetess.
(A) American
(B) Indian
(C) African
(D) Russian
3. Kamala Das was born in ………………
(A) 1933
(B) 1934
(C) 1935
(D) 1936
4. Kamala Das has written the poem –
(A) Snake
(B) Fire-Hymn
(C) My Grandmother’s House
(D) The Soldier
5. Who is the speaker in ‘My Grandmother’s House’ ?
(A) John Donne
(B) TS Eliot
(C) Kamala Das
(D) Keki N Daruwala
6. During her childhood the speaker of ‘My Grandmother’s House’ lived with her –
(A) grandmother
(B) aunt
(C) mother
(D) None of house
7. Kamala Das is talking about her……… who is dead now.
(A) father
(B) mother
(C) grand father
(D) grand mother
8. The speaker of ‘My Grandmother’s House’ is proud of-
(A) her parent’s house
(B) her grandmother’s house
(C) her uncle’s house
(D) None of these
9. The house went into silence due to the death of the
(A) woman
(B) man
(C) girl
(D) boy
10. She noticed a ……………. behind the door of the bedroom.
(A) ox
(B) cow
(C) dog
(D) cat
11. Kamala Das remembers the happy days spent in the sweet company of her
(A) grand mother
(B) grand father
(C) father
(D) mother
12. The poetess in ‘The Grand Mother’s House’ begs at …………… doors.
(A) friend’s
(B) family’s
(C) stranger’s
(D) enemy’s
13. ‘There is a house now far away where once I received love’ ………… is from the name of the poem.
(A) Song of Myself
(B) Ode to Autumn
(C) My Grand mother’s House
(D) Snake
14. ‘Behind my bedroom’s door like a brooding’ is written by
(A) Rupert Brooke
(B) Kamala Das
(C) Keki N. Daruwalla
(D) T.S. Eliot
15. ‘My Grandmother’s House’ is an …………… poem by Kamala Das.
(A) Biographical
(B) Auto biographical
(C) Bibliographical
(D) None of these
16. When did the speaker of ‘My Grandmother’s House’ live with her grandmother ?
(A) during her childhood
(B) during her adolescence
(C) during her youth
(D) None of these
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