This refers to the chapter The Portrait of a Lady (Class 11), where the author starts going to an English medium city school. His grandmother, who is deeply religious and traditional, feels disturbed by the changes in his education and lifestyle.
1. She could not help him with his new subjects
She did not understand English, Science or other modern subjects taught at the city school.
In the village, she used to help him with his lessons based on religious texts. In the city, she felt helpless and cut off because she neither knew English nor believed in the modern, Western-style education he was receiving.
2. Absence of religious teaching at the school
There was no teaching about God or the scriptures at the city school.
The grandmother believed that education must include prayers, moral values and religious scriptures. The purely secular education of the city school disturbed her, as she felt it ignored spirituality and moral instruction.
3. Introduction of music lessons
She considered music fit only for beggars and prostitutes.
When she came to know that music was being taught in the school, she was deeply upset. In her conservative outlook, music was not meant for respectable families, so she felt that such training would degrade her grandson’s character and family dignity.
| Reason | What disturbed the grandmother |
|---|---|
| 1 | She could not understand or help with English and Science, and did not believe in such subjects. |
| 2 | The city school had no teaching of God, prayers or holy scriptures. |
| 3 | Music was taught at school, which she considered vulgar and meant only for low-class people. |
Short exam answer:
The author’s grandmother was disturbed because: (i) she could not help him with English and Science and did not believe in them, (ii) there was no teaching of God and scriptures in the city school, and (iii) music was taught there, which she thought was meant only for beggars and prostitutes.