My Grandmother’s House Summary, Explanation, Word Meanings | BSEB Class 12

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My Grandmothers House

BSEB Class 12 English Poem 10 My Grandmother’s House Summary, Explanation along with Difficult Word Meanings from Rainbow Book

My Grandmother’s House Class 12 English – BSEB Class 12 English Poem 10 My Grandmother’s House Summary and detailed line by line explanations of the poem along with the meanings of difficult words.

My Grandmother’s House Introduction
My Grandmother’s House Summary
My Grandmother’s House Summary in Hindi
Video Explanation of My Grandmother’s House
My Grandmother’s House Poem Explanation
My Grandmother’s House Poem Literary Devices

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My Grandmother’s House Question Answers

BSEB Class 12 English Rainbow Book Poem 10 – My Grandmother’s House

By Kamala Das

My Grandmother’s House Introduction

“My Grandmother’s House” is a short poem written by Kamala Das which focuses on love lost, nostalgia and emotional pain. Basically, the speaker is looking back to a time as a child when she could enjoy love in a comfortable and contented household. She contrasts this blissful existence with that of her current situation, which is loveless and horrible.

My Grandmother’s House Summary

My Grandmother’s House by Kamala Das was an auto-biographical poem in which the poet memorized her past days at her grandmother’s house and how the love and affection she got from her grandmother had been lost since her death. The house had become deserted after the demise of her grandmother. It became a place of silence over the death of the old woman because her grandmother was the very soul of that house. After her grandmother’s death the snakes were moving on the books. The poet was too young, she couldn’t read anyway and she didn’t really understand what was going on. All these things made the house quite horrible and the poet’s blood turned cold like the moon. But still, the poet expressed her desire to go back to the house because she was emotionally attached to that house since her childhood. She wanted to look through and observe closely through the windows, which might be blind eyes as no one was there in the house. The air of the house was frozen, because no fresh air had circulated through the house since the death of her grandmother, as it was locked. The poet wished to pick up an armful of darkness which was a reminder of the past and wanted to take it back to her distressed, troubled and hopeless life so that even a pinch of darkness from her beloved grandmother’s house might provide her with security and warmth. This shows that her present life is worse than the darkness of the empty house of her grandmother. The poet was really desperate for her grandmother’s memories that even darkness would be enough to ease her current crisis. She told her husband that he could never believe that his wife once found happiness in the small house of her grandmother. In that house, she was very much loved and felt proud. Her marriage no longer assures her security and love. She knew well that she wouldn’t be able to get that much love but she still hoped for at least a part of it. Hence the poem ended with hope and despair.

My Grandmother’s House Summary in Hindi

कमला दास की ‘माई ग्रैंडमदर्स हाउस‘ एक आत्मकथात्मक कविता थी, जिसमें कवि ने अपनी दादी के घर में बीते दिनों को याद किया है और बताया है कि किस तरह उन्हें अपनी दादी से जो प्यार और स्नेह मिला था, वह उनकी मृत्यु के बाद खो गया था। दादी के निधन के बाद घर सूना हो गया था। दादी की मौत पर वह सन्नाटा छा गया क्योंकि उसकी दादी उस घर की आत्मा थीं। दादी की मौत के बाद किताबों पर सांप लोट रहे थे। कवयित्री बहुत छोटी थी, वह वैसे भी पढ़ नहीं सकती थी और उसे वास्तव में समझ नहीं आ रहा था कि क्या हो रहा है। इन सब चीजों ने घर को काफी भयानक बना दिया और कवि का खून चंद्रमा की तरह ठंडा हो गया। लेकिन फिर भी कवयित्री ने उस घर में वापस जाने की इच्छा जताई क्योंकि वह बचपन से ही उस घर से भावनात्मक रूप से जुड़ी हुई थी। वह खिड़कियों से, जो शायद अंधी आँखें थीं, झाँकना और करीब से देखना चाहती थी क्योंकि घर में कोई नहीं था।

घर की हवा जमी हुई थी, क्योंकि उसकी दादी की मृत्यु के बाद से घर में कोई ताजी हवा नहीं आ रही थी, क्योंकि वह बंद था। कवयित्री अतीत की याद दिलाने वाले एक मुट्ठी अँधेरे को उठाना चाहती थी और उसे अपने व्यथित, परेशान और निराश जीवन में वापस ले जाना चाहती थी ताकि उसकी प्यारी दादी के घर से एक चुटकी अँधेरा भी उसे सुरक्षा और गर्मी प्रदान कर सके। इससे पता चलता है कि उसकी वर्तमान जिंदगी उसकी दादी के खाली घर के अंधेरे से भी बदतर है। कवयित्री वास्तव में अपनी दादी की यादों से बेताब थी कि अंधेरा भी उसके वर्तमान संकट को कम करने के लिए पर्याप्त होगा। उसने अपने पति से कहा कि वह कभी विश्वास नहीं कर सकता कि उसकी पत्नी को एक बार अपनी दादी के छोटे से घर में खुशी मिली थी। उस घर में उसे बहुत प्यार मिलता था और वह गौरवान्वित महसूस करती थी। उसकी शादी अब उसे सुरक्षा और प्यार का आश्वासन नहीं देती। वह अच्छी तरह से जानती थी कि उसे उतना प्यार नहीं मिल पाएगा लेकिन फिर भी उसे कम से कम इसके कुछ हिस्से की उम्मीद थी। अतः कविता आशा और निराशा के साथ समाप्त हुई।

Video Explanation of My Grandmother’s House

My Grandmother’s House Poem Explanation

Poem : 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’s 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?

Word Meaning :
Peer- observe closely, carefully or with attention
Wild- strong feelings, untamed
Brooding- contemplative, threatening
Despair- anguish, hopelessness

Explanation of the Poem: In the poem ‘My Grandmother’s House’ written by Kamala Das’, the poet started the poem by describing a house that still might exist but was far away in her memory. The poet received love in that house. It was the house of her grandmother in which she spent the days of her childhood. However, that woman was dead and the home withdrew in silence by which the poet meant that the house was without any life because her grandmother was the very soul of that house. After her grandmother’s death snakes moved on the books. Snakes represent a symbol of danger and coldness. The poet was too young, she couldn’t read anyway and she didn’t really understand what was going on. All these things made the house quite horrible and the poet’s blood turned cold like the moon, to think of it. She only had dark feelings and was very unhappy. But still, the poet expressed her desire to go back to the house because she was emotionally attached to that house since her childhood. She wanted to look through and observe closely through the windows, which might be blind eyes as no one was there in the house. Perhaps she won’t be able to see anything at all and she won’t be able to go back in her memory to once again feel the love. The air of the house was frozen, because no fresh air had circulated through the house since the death of her grandmother, as it was locked. Next, the poet said that she wished to pick up an armful of darkness which was a reminder of the past and wanted to take it back to her distressed, troubled and hopeless life so that even a pinch of darkness from her beloved grandmother’s house might provide her with security and warmth. The poet was really desperate for her grandmother’s memories that even darkness would be enough to ease her current crisis. She wanted to bring back some memories of her beloved grandmother into her room and place them behind her bedroom’s door just like a pet dog sits. She does such a comparison to indicate that the dog is faithful and obedient to the master just like the memories of her grandmother’s house which remind her of the affection and love. The poet was in conversation probably with her husband as she addresses her husband as ‘darling‘ and said that he could never believe that his wife once found happiness in the small house of her grandmother and she was quite proud of it. In that house, she was very much loved and that’s why she felt proud. The poet further said that she was so desperate to be loved that she had to beg at stranger’s doors asking for love. The poet tried to provide a fantastic contrast to her present life, where there was no one to provide her love. It appeared that her marriage no longer assured her security and love and therefore she recollected events of the past, about her days at her grandmother’s house when she was loved beyond any comparison. All she was now left with were memories of the past. She knew well that she wouldn’t be able to get that much love but she still hoped for at least a part of it. Hence the poem ended with hope and despair.

Literary Devices

Following poetic/literary devices have been used in the poem My Grandmother’s House are as follows-

Simile- Simile is a figure of speech comparing two unlike things that is often introduced by like or as. The poet has used the simile in the poem which are-

My blood turned cold like the moon,
Lie behind my bedroom’s door like a brooding Dog

Metaphor– it is a figure of speech in which an expression is used to refer to something that it

does not denote a similarity. Example is – to peer through blind eyes of windows.

Personification- Personification is a poetic literary device in which non-living things are given human traits. Example is- ‘The house withdrew into silence’,

Here, the poet uses personification, a house has been personified.

Blind eyes of the windows – window has been personified

BSEB Class 12 English Lessons Explanation

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