my grandmother's house essay

My Grandmother's House Summary & Analysis by Kamala Das

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis
• Poetic Devices
• Vocabulary & References
• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme
• Line-by-Line Explanations

"My Grandmother's House," an autobiographical poem by Indian writer Kamala Das, tells a story of nostalgia and sorrow. The poem's speaker longs to return to her grandmother's house, where she once felt loved and secure—especially now that she lives a lonely adult life, mourning the safety and comfort of her childhood. This poem was published in Das's 1965 collection Summer in Calcutta.

• Read the full text of “My Grandmother's House”

The Full Text of “My Grandmother's House”

“my grandmother's house” summary, “my grandmother's house” themes.

Longing and Nostalgia

Loneliness and the Desire for Love

Lines 12-16, line-by-line explanation & analysis of “my grandmother's house”.

There is a ... ... That woman died,

The house withdrew ... ... like the moon

How often I ... ... Dog...

you cannot believe, ... ... in small change?

“My Grandmother's House” Symbols

• Lines 1-2: “There is a house now far away where once / I received love...”
• Line 3: “The house withdrew into silence,”
• Lines 7-8: “to peer through blind eyes of windows or / Just listen to the frozen air,”
• Lines 12-14: “you cannot believe, darling, / Can you, that I lived in such a house and / Was proud, and loved...”

• Lines 9-10: “pick an armful of / Darkness”

“My Grandmother's House” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Line 2: “love... That”
• Line 3: “silence, snakes”
• Line 4: “books, I”
• Line 5: “read, and”
• Line 7: “There, to”
• Line 9: “despair, pick”
• Line 12: “Dog... you,” “believe, darling”
• Line 13: “you, that”
• Line 14: “proud, and,” “loved... I”
• Line 16: “love, at”
• Lines 1-2: “once / I”
• Lines 3-4: “moved / Among”
• Lines 4-5: “young / To”
• Lines 6-7: “going / There”
• Lines 7-8: “or / Just”
• Lines 9-10: “of / Darkness”
• Lines 10-11: “lie / Behind”
• Lines 11-12: “brooding / Dog”
• Lines 13-14: “and / Was”
• Lines 14-15: “lost / My”
• Lines 15-16: “to / Receive”
• Line 3: “The house withdrew into silence”
• Line 7: “to peer through blind eyes of windows”
• Lines 7-8: “ or / Just listen to the frozen air”
• Lines 15-16: “beg now at strangers' doors to / Receive love, at least in small change?”

Rhetorical Question

• Lines 12-16: “ 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?”
• Line 5: “my blood turned cold like the moon”
• Lines 10-12: “lie / Behind my bedroom door like a brooding / Dog...”

“My Grandmother's House” Vocabulary

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• In small change
• (Location in poem: Line 3: “The house withdrew into silence,”)

Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “My Grandmother's House”

Rhyme scheme, “my grandmother's house” speaker, “my grandmother's house” setting, literary and historical context of “my grandmother's house”, more “my grandmother's house” resources, external resources.

An Introduction to Das — Watch a short video that discusses Das's feminist legacy.

A Brief Biography — Learn more about Das's life and work.

Das's Legacy — Read an article honoring Das on the tenth anniversary of her death. 

Das's Obituary — Read Das's obituary to learn more about her influence on the literary world.

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My Grandmother’s House By Kamala Das – Critical Summary and Model Questions

Table of Contents

My Grandmother’s House

Introduction: My grandmother’s house is a poem written by Indian poet Kamala Das. The poem first appeared in an anthology of verse entitled ‘Summer Time in Calcutta 1965). It is an autobiographical poem in which the speaker’s nostalgic desire for home reflects through the inability to visit the happy past.

The poem describes the speaker’s happy life before her grandmother’s death and sad life after her grandmother’s death. The speaker of the poem is a married woman. She is reminded of her parental home which is the symbol of immense love. The poem describes the clear difference between past and present. In past, the life was full of activity whereas now it has turned into deadly silence. The intensity of sadness is expressed by dark and negative imagery.

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Kamala Das is one of the three most popular Indian poets writing in English today, the other being Nissim Ezekiel and Ramanujan. Her poetry is all about herself, her deeply felt desire for love, her emotional involvement, and her inability to achieve such a friendship. In this poem, “My Grandmother’s House,” Kamala Das remembers her ancestral home and her deceased grandmother. This poem takes the form of a confession that contrasts her current fractured state with that of being unconditionally loved by her grandmother.

The poem starts with the reference of a grandmother as ‘that woman’ which is particular and who is no more now. The house is now far away and the past happy condition is irretrievable. The house represents the feeling of love which the speaker could get from her grandmother. But, now the house is silent. The poem moves through the happy past and sad present.

The poet uses the image of snakes moving among the books now for which she was too younger in her childhood. Now very often she thinks to revisit the house but now it is very difficult now to peep through the blind windows. Here, the image of blind windows may represent the eyes which are now visionless. The air is frozen and now she wants to bring the handful of darkness.

The poet uses the simile where she compares herself with the brooding dog who is helpless. The sudden reference to the reader as a ‘darling’ is striking. The speaker again mentions the love which she once received but now her condition is like a beggar asking the change of love.

The poet in intense terms expresses the sadness. The use of language represents the strangeness and unhealthy relationship between people and this woman. Note the words- House, that woman, asking love as a change etc.

Analysis of th e poem

Kamala Das’ s childhood reminiscences are linked to Nalapat House, her family home in Malabar, and her grandmother, whom she loved dearly. These memories are often connected to feelings of nostalgia and wit. In My Story she writes, “from every city, I have lived I have remembered the noons in Malabar with an ache growing inside me, a homesickness.” Her family home and her ‘presiding deity’- her gandmother, symbolise the poetry of ‘joy,’ ‘innocence,’ ‘respectability’ and ‘Traditional values’ .

Themes in the Poetry of Kamala Das

The poetry of Kamala Das is the quest for the essential woman, and hence the woman, the individual of her poems, assumes the numerous roles of the unhappy woman, the unhappy lady, the mistress of the lustful men, the reluctant nymphomaniac, the mute Devdasi and the love-lorn Radha. Kamala Das was also named a confessional poet. Confessional poets struggle with emotional experiences that are usually tabuous. There is a merciless self-analysis and a tone of total honesty. As E.V. Ramakrishnan appropriately points out, “In her poetry, Kamala has always dealt with private humiliations and sufferings which are the stock themes of confessional poetry.”

Critical Appreciation of Poems My Grandmother’s House

‘My Grandmother’s House’ is one of the finest poems in Kamala Das’s maiden publication Summer in Calcutta. Though short, it touches upon many favourite themes of her favourite. It is a poem of nostalgia, uprootedness and the poet’s eternal quest for love in a ‘loveless’ world. Relationship with her grandmother is the poet’s favourite relationship and grandma is a symbol of harmony, affection and security in her poetry. In her poem ‘Composition’ Kamala Das discloses two of her guarded secrets:

I am so alone And that I miss my grandmother

The poem also brings out the poet’s loneliness and her fondness for her grandmother. Both the old lady and the ancestral home at Malabar brought to Kamala Das the feeling of belongingness.

The poet has provided detailed information about the origin of this poem in her autobiography My Story (Chapter 33): After the sudden death of my granduncle followed by that of ‘my dear grandmother,’ the old Nalapat House was locked up and its servants disbanded. The windows were shut, gently as the eyes of the dead are shut… . The rats ran across its darkened halls and the white ants raised on its outer walls strange forms–totems of burial.

After growing up, the poet shifted to another house which was far away from her beloved ancestral house. She still misses the place ‘where I received love’ with great intensity.

The memory of those days when she was loved chokes her with emotion. The poet recalls the death of her dear ancestress – “That woman died” dwells on the difference the death made to the house and the poet’s life. Grandma was the very life and soul of this house. When she passed away, even the house could not take the grief and ‘withdrew into silence’. It was an atmosphere of allround mourning and desolation. At that time the poet was a very young child who could not read books but even at that age, she had a feeling of ‘snakes’ moving among books – a feeling of deadness, horror and repulsion. She recollects how the death of her grandmother had affected her as a child. It had a benumbing and chilling impact on her. Her blood lost all its invigorating power and its colour came to resemble the colour of the pale lifeless ‘moon’.

Her grandmother’s house always had a special significance for Kamala Das. During one of her serious illnesses, she had taken shelter in Malabar and was nursed back to health by her caring grandmother. The grandmother is no more, yet the poet often yearns to visit her beloved house. She would once again look through its windows. The windows are ‘blind’ -shut, covered with coloured windowpanes and with the overpowering sense of death. Death haunts the house and even the air is ‘frozen air’. A visit to this house would revive memories of her childhood and grandmother in the poet.

Her grandmother’s house has been a citadel of security and protection which is conspicuously missing from the poet’s later life. For her, even the darkness of this house is not terrifying in its impact. It is rather a faithful companion providing comfort and security. The poet wishes to transport some of this comforting darkness and memories of this house to her new house. These memories will be her constant assuring companions in her married life. In his article on Kamala Das, O.J. Thomas has observed, “Memory of that house at Nalapat comes back to her as a soothing thought. The very thought created a sort of energy in her and inspiration to live and love.”

As the poet remembers her present life, she is once again filled with grief over her loveless state. She badly misses her grandmother, the ancestral house and her secure and loved childhood:

You cannot believe, darling can you, that I lived in such a house and was proud and loved

That early stage is in painful contrast with her present state sans love and sans pride. The ‘proud’ and ‘loved’ child is now a beggar, begging at the ‘stranger’s doors’ for love “at least in small change” i.e. a little measure. Since love is not to be found in the company of people close to her, she knocks at the stranger’s doors and begs for it. In her quest for true love, she has ‘lost her way’ and wanders here and there. This wistfully nostalgic poem thus ends on a tragic note.

For Kamala Das, her grandmother was her mother-substitute. “She was the first I loved,” says the poet in her poem ‘Captive’. None of her later relationships could match the warmth and tenderness given by her grandmother. The oft-repeated desire to be with her, to be in her house, is an expression of Kamala Das’s natural desire to be one with the mother in the womb.

In its overall impact the, poem is a forcefully moving poem fraught with nostalgia and anguish. The poet has intensified the emotion by presenting the contrast between her childhood and her grown-up stages. The fullness of the distant and absent and the emptiness of the near and the present give the poem its poignancy. The images of ‘snakes moving among books’, blood turning ‘cold like the moon’, ‘blind eyes of windows’, ‘frozen air’ evoke a sense of death and despair. The house itself becomes a symbol – an Ednic world, a cradle of love and joy. The escape, the poetic retreat is in fact, the poet’s own manner of suggesting the hopelessness of her present situation. Her yearning for the house is a symbolic retreat to a world of innocence, purity and simplicity.

Kamala Das has resorted to her favourite technique of using an ellipsis to convey the intensity of emotion. Ellipsis also serve another purpose of suggesting a shift in mood and tone. She has used a variety of sound patterns, assonance , alliteration and especially consonance . Consonance (e.g. line-1 house, once: /s/) and assonance (e.g. line-11 – bedroom, brooding: /u/) create the drowsy somnolence apt for the atmosphere. Frequent alliteration (e.g. behind, bedroom, brooding) gives emphasis to the poet’s meaning. The rhetorical question spread in the last four lines underlines the emotional state created by the absence of love. The poem is remarkable for its utter simplicity of diction and intensity of emotion.

Reminiscent of the Poet’s Ancestral Home

The poem is reminiscent of the poet’s grandma and her ancestral home in Malabar, Kerala. Her memory of the love she had received from her grandma is associated with the image of her ancestral home, where she had spent some of the happiest days of her life, and where her old grandma had showered her love and affection. The house withdrew into silence with the death of her grandma. When her grandma died, even the house seemed to share her sorrow, which is poignantly reflected in the sentence “the House withdrew”. The house soon became desolate, and the snakes crawled through the books. Her blood was cold like the moon because there was no one to love her the way she wanted to.

Yearning for the Past: Choked with Grief

The poet now lives in another city, a long distance away from her grandmother’s home. But the memories of her ancestral home make her sad. She’s almost heart-broken. The intensity of her emotions is demonstrated by the ellipses in the form of a few dots. Now, in another city, living another life, she’s longing to go home. She knows that she can’t redeem the past, but she wants to go back home, to look through her windows again, and to bring back a handful of darkness – sad and painful memories that she would have made her daily companion, a reminder of her past happiness. For some time, the poet is unable to continue with his thoughts, as shown by the ellipses (dots).

The poet now lives in another city, a long distance away from her grandmother’s house. But the memories of her ancestral house make her sad. She is almost heart-broken. The intensity of her emotions is shown by the ellipses in the form of a few dots. Now, in another city, living another life, she longs to go back. She understands that she cannot reclaim the past but she wants to go back home, look once again through its windows and bring back a handful of darkness – sad and painful memories, which she would have made her constant companion, to keep as a reminder of her past happiness. The poet is unable to proceed with her thoughts for sometime as is indicated by the ellipses (dots).

The poet is now choked with the intensity of his sorrow. She yearns for love like a beggar going from one door to another asking for a little change of love. Her desire for affection and acceptance is not met in marriage, and she follows strangers for love, at least in limited amounts. But even in small changes or coins, she doesn’t get it. Her love-hunger remains unsatisfied, and there is a great loneliness, a void inside her, she tries to fill herself with love, but in vain. The window image is a connection between the past and the present. It means the poet’s urge for a nostalgic peep into his history and to revive his dreams and desires.

The poem springs from her own disillusionment with her expectation of unconditional love from the one she loves. In the poem, the image of the ancestral home stands for the strong support and unconditional love she received from her grandmother. The imagery is personal and beautifully articulates her plight in a loveless marriage. Thus, the old house was for her a place of symbolic retreat to a world of innocence, purity and simplicity, an Edenic world where love and happiness are still possible.

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Central theme of poem My Grandmother’s House by Kamala Das

Table of Contents

“My Grandmother’s House” is a poignant and evocative poem written by Kamala Das, one of India’s most prominent poets in English. The main themes of nostalgia and the longing for one’s heritage and cultural identity are explored in this poetry. Kamala Das adeptly captures her strong bond with her grandmother’s home and her desire to relive her early years through rich pictures, feelings, and sensory aspects.

Nostalgia and Emotional Resonance:

The central theme of “ My Grandmother’s House ” is nostalgia, which is a sentiment that pervades the entire poem. Kamala Das reminisces about her childhood, a time spent at her grandmother’s house, and the emotions associated with it. This theme resonates with readers on a universal level as most people can relate to the bittersweet feeling of longing for the past and the places and people associated with it.

Readers are moved to great emotional depth by Kamala Das’s words. She describes her grandmother’s home as being “guarded by giant ants,” and she has deep recollections of it. The house evokes strong feelings in people because it represents a haven of love, cosiness, and belonging.

Cultural Identity and Roots:

The poem also explores the theme of cultural identity and roots. Kamala Das, who is known for her honest and sometimes controversial writings, uses this poem to reflect on her cultural heritage. Her grandmother’s house represents a cultural hub, a place where traditions, customs, and values were preserved and passed down through generations.

The use of words like “granite gods,” “we are shouting to make them hear,” and “my grandmother’s house stands still” suggests a connection to cultural and ancestral roots. The house serves as a metaphor for the enduring spirit of tradition and cultural identity. The poet longs to reconnect with her roots, emphasizing the importance of cultural preservation.

Memories and the Passage of Time:

“Memory in this poem is a powerful theme. Kamala Das beautifully captures the idea that memories are like ghosts, haunting the present and reminding us of the past. She remembers the “giant ants” that guarded her grandmother’s house, signifying that these memories are ageless, timeless, and indestructible.

Also Read- Ruskin Bond’s Art of story Telling Message of Sri Aurobindo in Life and Death The Solid Mandala are a reflection of the themes of the novel

The poet reflects on how time has passed, and the house itself might have changed, but the memories remain intact. Her memories are as vivid as the “peacock-blue” room and the “floor of sugarcanes.” The central theme of memories and the passage of time prompts readers to reflect on their own experiences and the way they cling to their own memories, no matter how much time has elapsed.

The Symbolism of the House:

Kamala Das uses the house as a powerful symbol in the poem. The house represents not only her grandmother’s physical dwelling but also her cultural heritage and identity. The house stands as a testament to tradition and the enduring nature of memories. The symbolism of the house as a repository of emotions and cultural values amplifies the central theme of nostalgia and the yearning for one’s roots.

The house is also portrayed as a place of refuge and comfort. The poet remembers it as a sanctuary where she felt loved and secure. In this way, the house becomes a symbol of emotional sanctuary and a source of strength, emphasizing the profound emotional connection Kamala Das has with it.

Imagery and Sensory Details:

Kamala Das employs vivid imagery and sensory details to convey the central theme effectively. The descriptions of the “peacock-blue” room, “the warping verandah,” and the “sugarcanes” under the floor evoke a sense of place and nostalgia. Readers can visualize and feel the textures, colors, and scents of the house, making the poem emotionally resonant.

The use of sensory imagery helps readers connect with the poet’s emotions and her yearning for the past. The poem’s central theme is enriched by these sensory details, as they transport readers to the world of the grandmother’s house and the memories associated with it.

The Poet’s Desire to Recapture the Past:

Throughout the poem, Kamala Das expresses her longing to recapture the past. She laments the fact that she is now “afraid to go home” because the place has lost its former glory, and she is unable to relive the memories of her childhood. This sense of loss and yearning reinforces the central theme of nostalgia.

Her desire to return to her grandmother’s house and relive the moments of her childhood highlights the universal human experience of wanting to revisit the past, a time when everything was simpler, and life was filled with the innocent joys of youth.

The Conflict Between Past and Present:

The conflict between the past and the present is another theme that emerges in the poem. Kamala Das grapples with the changes that have occurred over time, transforming her grandmother’s house from a sanctuary of love and warmth into a place that is no longer the same. This conflict between past and present is a common human experience, and it underscores the theme of nostalgia.

The poet’s struggle to reconcile her memories with the reality of the present resonates with readers who have faced similar challenges in their own lives. It highlights the complexity of nostalgia, where the past is often idealized, and the present can seem lacking in comparison.

The Role of Family and Relationships:

Family and relationships are integral to the central theme of “My Grandmother’s House.” Kamala Das’s recollections of her grandmother’s house are intertwined with memories of her family, particularly her grandmother. The poem depicts the strong emotional bonds that connect family members and the significance of these bonds in shaping one’s sense of belonging and cultural identity.

The poet’s longing for her grandmother’s house is, in essence, a longing for the warmth, love, and security that her family provided. The theme of family and relationships adds depth to the poem and reinforces the idea that our connections with our roots are deeply emotional and impactful.

Universal Appeal:

One of the striking aspects of this poem is its universal appeal. While Kamala Das writes about her personal experiences and feelings, the theme of nostalgia and the yearning for one’s roots resonate with readers from diverse cultural backgrounds. The poem reminds us that, regardless of our individual experiences, we all share the common human experience of longing for the past and the places and people that have shaped us.

Kamala Das’s “My Grandmother’s House” is a poignant and emotionally charged poem that revolves around the central theme of nostalgia and the yearning for one’s cultural roots. Through her vivid imagery, sensory details, and profound emotional resonance, the poet transports the reader to her grandmother’s house, where memories of her childhood are deeply etched in her heart. The poem captures the universal experience of longing for the past, a time when life was simpler and more innocent, and the places and people associated with it held profound significance.

Kamala Das employs the house as a potent metaphor, signifying not just her actual residence but also her cultural background and sense of self. It is evidence of custom and the persistent quality of recollections. The tension between the past and the present highlights the intricacy of nostalgia, as the former is frequently romanticised and the latter can appear deficient in contrast.

Readers who have encountered such difficulties in their own lives can relate to the poet’s wish to relive the past and her battle to balance her recollections with the reality of the present. The poem gains depth from the issue of family and relationships, which emphasises the importance of emotional ties in forming a person’s sense of cultural identity and belonging.

What makes “My Grandmother’s House” truly remarkable is its universal appeal. While Kamala Das writes about her personal experiences and feelings, the theme of nostalgia speaks to readers from various cultural backgrounds, reminding us of our shared human experience of longing for the past and the places and people that have shaped us.

In essence, “My Grandmother’s House” is a timeless and relatable piece of literature, where Kamala Das’s skillful expression of the theme of nostalgia through her poetic language makes it a profound and evocative work that resonates with the hearts and memories of all who read it.

Q. What is the central theme of Kamala Das’s poem “My Grandmother’s House”?

The central theme of the poem is nostalgia and the yearning for one’s cultural roots and the memories associated with the past.

Q. How does Kamala Das evoke emotions through her poem “My Grandmother’s House”?

Kamala Das evokes emotions by using vivid imagery, sensory details, and personal reminiscences of her childhood, creating a deep emotional connection with the reader.

Q. What does the house symbolize in the poem?

The house symbolizes not only the physical dwelling but also cultural heritage, tradition, and enduring memories. It is a representation of the poet’s emotional sanctuary and cultural identity.

Q. How does the conflict between past and present play a role in the poem?

The conflict between past and present is evident in the poem as Kamala Das laments the changes that have transformed her grandmother’s house, emphasizing the idealization of the past and the difficulty of reconciling it with the present.

Q. What universal human experience does the poem address?

The poem addresses the universal human experience of longing for the past, a time when life was simpler and more innocent, and the places and people associated with it held profound significance.

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Indian english history, poem my grandmother's house: summary and critical appreciation, summary of the poem:.

The poetess remembers passionately her family home in Malabar where she spent some years of her early life under the great affection of her grandmother. The poetess's grandmother was great fond of her. She liked the company of her grandmother. She spent some of the happiest year in her grandmother's company. The poetess had gone to live in a different city which was quite far from grandmother's home. The poetess recalls her grandmother and the day she died. She (the poetess) was very young at that time and did not know how to read the books which lay in the house. The death of her grandmother had robbed the little girl of her capacity to feel. She was greatly shocked by the death of her grandmother.

Critical Appreciation: 

Introduction: .

The poem entitled  My Grandmother's House , has been taken from the first collection of Kamala Das' poems  Summer in Calcutta   published in 1965. This poem deals with the poetess's nostalgic yearning for her family home in Malabar, where she had spent some of the most memorable and happy days of her life. This was the place where her old grandmother showered her with love and affection. In the poem she remembers both of them together, the old woman-her grandmother and the house in which she once lived. Even though the poetess lives in another city, far from her grand- mother's house, the memories of childhood, when she lived in the house are still alive. Her emotions overwhelm her. She indicates her agony by the use of ellipses. She portrays a very emotional picture in the expression "the house withdrew" as if the house were alive and could not bear to stay there anymore, as the one if loved had gone forever. 

Thought-Content: 

The poetess remembers her family home in Malabar where she spent some years of her early life in the affectionate and sheltering care of her grand- mother. She loved the poetess most. Now the poetess had gone to live in a different city, quite far from grandmother's home. But she wistfully remembers the family home where she lived as a girl, and her grandmother who showered love and affection on her. The poetess was very young at that time. There were a large number of books in the house, which seemed to be repulsive and horrible like snakes. The grandmother's death shocked her. She became cold and pale like the Moon. The poetess passionately yearns to go to the great house and to look once again through its windows which are blind. The house is now entirely deserted and no one can look through the windows. The poetess longs to sit there by herself and to listen to the dreary music of blowing cold winter winds, which would revive memories of her grandmother. At the end of her visit to the old family home she would like to return to her new home in a distant, far off place, but the painful memories of the bygone days would accompany her. She got love from her grandmother in her girlhood. Now she pines for love and begs it even from strangers.

The Theme of Unfulfilled Love: 

In this poem she speaks of her misfortune in not having received true love or affection from any man:  

The 'window' image in this poem is very remarkable and suggestive. It suggests a link between the past and the present. It also underlies the languishing desire of the poetess for a sentiment peep into her past and resurrection of her dreams and desires. The Grandmother's House is a symbolic retreat for the poetess to a world of innocence, purity. love and simplicity from a world of corruption, sterility exploitation and cunningness. It is a sanctuary of love which is conspicuous by its absence in the harsh world of reality. 

The Poetess’ Arousing Deep Sympathy: 

The poetess's life seems to be meaningless because she has always been deprived from true love. The sense of futility of life has most effectively been conveyed to us by this poem. There are some key phrases in the poem which convey us a sense of despair and the feeling of futility The house withdrew into silence, Just listen to the frozen air, And beg now at strangers' door. 

Style and Language: 

A powerful emotional effect has been achieved by the author by a use of minimum possible number, of words. The poetess has shown a remarkable capacity to avoid garrulity and copiousness. The poem is compact and well-knit so far as its structure is concerned. The style of writing here is terse. 'Cold like the Moon' is quite an appropriate Simile. 'An armful of darkness' is quite a satisfactory metaphor. 'Like a brooding dog' is a clumsy simile. The phrase 'in small change' is a metaphorical way of saying 'in a small quantity'.

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My Grandmother’s House

Back to: Kamala Das Poetry

Table of Contents

Introduction

The poem My Grandmother’s House is written by Kamala Das . The poem has been written in the memory of her grandmother with whom she had spent her childhood.

The poet considers those moments to be the best moments of her life and desires to get them. She also mourns their loss. Like her poem An Introduction , this poem also falls into the category of confessional poetry .

Reminiscence

At the beginning of the poem, the poet says that there is a home that is now very far from her where she received love. It was the house of her grandmother in which she spent the days of her childhood.

However, that woman, (her grandmother) is dead now and the home “withdrew in silence” i.e. is without any life because her grandmother was the very soul of it.

Grandmother also had books which she could not read as he was quite young and she would read stories for her (poet). But now the snakes are moving in those books. All these things made the house quite horrible and the poet “like the moon” i.e. quite unhappy. She is now without any life and warmth.

The poet expresses her desire to go to her grandmother’s house because she is emotionally attached to it since her childhood . She wants to look through the “blind eyes of windows” of her grandmother’s house.

The term “blind eyes of windows” means that there is no one (in other words, her grandmother) in the house to look for. She also desires to listen to “the frozen air” of that house. “Frozen Air” probably means that that the house is locked and the fresh air has not moved in.

In my views, the poet desires to move into her thoughts which are buried deep inside her heart and no air has blown into it. Thus the grandmother’s house here is rather a sweet memory that she wants to recall.

The poet further says that she wants to bring the darkness of her grandmother’s house with her “in wild despair” i.e. in her troubled life.

The line makes it clear that her grandmother was very protective. And now that she feels insecure, even the darkness of her grandmother’s house, which is though unpleasant like cold moon comforts her.

Begging for Love

In the final lines, the poet is in conversation probably with her husband or her readers. The poet says that one won’t believe that she had some of the best memories of her grandmother’s house and she is quite proud of it.

Now that she has lost her grandmother, she begs at strangers’ doors for love. She knows well that you won’t be able to get that much love but she still hopes for at least a part of it.

Hence the poet ends with hope and despair. In her poem, My Mother at Sixty-Six the poet is struggling with similar feelings. Please refer to this doc for further reading. Here are some important questions and answers to this poem .

Further Reading

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My Grandmother’s House – Summary and Some Questions and Answers

Published by sirafzal72 on july 7, 2021 july 7, 2021, my grandmother’s house by kamala das.

Introduction

‘My Grandmother’s House’ is one of the nostalgic poems first published in Summer in Calcutta. It is nostalgic because it portrays the happy, carefree days of the poetess when she was a child (before her marriage). She yearns for the return of those days. In Malabar, she used to live in the aristocratic parental home which was affectionately supervised by her grandmother. The permanent departure of the dear and near ones marks almost all her literary pieces, whose dominant mood is one of melancholy and pathos and nostalgia.

Summary of ‘The Grandmother’s House’

Kamala Das provides us detailed information regarding the genesis of this poem in Chapter 33 of her Autobiography, My Story. She writes:

“After the sudden death of my grand – uncle and then that of my dear grandmother the old Nalpat House was locked up and its servants disbanded. The windows were shut, gently as eyes of the dead are shut.

My parents took my great grandmother to the house called Sarvodaya where she occupied noiselessly the eastern bedroom on the ground floor, shaded by the tall mango trees through the leaves of which was visible the beloved house. The rats ran across its darkened halls and the white ants raised on its outer walls strange totems of burial.”

The grandmother has been a source of affection and inspiration to the poetess but her death has rendered her sorrow – stricken and desolate. The house looks totally deserted, now inhabited by snakes and rats. Kamala feels lonely and depressed. During one of her illness – during her nervous breakdown in the noisy city of Bombay – she had taken shelter in Malabar and nursed back to perfect health by her anxious grandmother, but, alas, she is now no more alive. The expression ‘blind eyes of windows’ and ‘the frozen air’ reinforce the idea of death and desperation.

The grandmother’s house is associated with an impenetrable sense of security and protection, which is now missing in her married life. Even the ‘darkness’ of the grandmother’s house was secure for her instead of terror or violence. Kamala Das rather wants that darkness to be lifted bodily and shifted to her new married home flooded with light (but with no security). She expresses this feeling of hers through an evocative image:

“Pick an armful of Darkness to bring it here to lie Behind n\my bedroom door like a brooding Dog …”

A ‘dog’ is a trusted companion keeping an unerring eye on the door to scare away the strangers and the enemies and to safeguard the inmates with all main and might.

The last few lines are addressed to the ‘darling’, i.e. her husband.

Kamala Das tells him that:

“I lived in such a house and Was proud, and loved …”

How nostalgic and pathetic these lines are! The sense of pride and love she once had in the house of her grandmother is now no more her property, since she has become a beggar for love who knocks helplessly at strangers’ doors to receive it at least in a small measure. She has lost her way in quest of true love. This situation is in utter contrast to her previous life lived in the soothing company of her grandmother. Kamala Das tells us that she has often remembered her with a sense of nostalgia and beggarliness. That her present life is sans love, sans pride, is emphatically conveyed by her begging for love at ‘strangers’ doors. There can possibly be no worse pathetic situation for a married woman than this.

Questions and Answers

1. What is Kamala Das’ profession? Ans. Housewife.

2. Name one more poem by Kamala Das where she fondly cherishes her childhood memories?

Ans. “A Hot Noon in Malabar”

3. Name the poetess’ grandmother’s house?

Ans. The name of the poetess’ grandmother is Nalpat House

4. Which expressions reinforce the idea of desperation?

Ans. The expression is ‘blind eyes of windows’ and ‘the frozen air’

5. Which feeling does the poetess miss in her married life?

Ans. The poetess misses the sense of security and protection.

6. Why has the poetess become a beggar for love?

Ans. She has become a beggar for love who knocks helplessly at strangers’ doors to receive it at least in a small measure.

7. How is the present life of the poetess?

Ans. Her present life is sans love, sans pride is emphatically conveyed by her begging for love at ‘strangers’ doors.

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My Grandmother’s House Essay Example

• Pages: 3 (571 words)
• Published: June 15, 2017
• Type: Analysis

In this poem, "My Grandmother's House" Kamala Das, recalls her ancestral home and her dead grandmother. This poem takes the form of a confession comparing her present broken state with that of being unconditionally loved by her grandmother. Her memory of love she received from her grandmother is associated with the image of her ancestral home, where she had passed some of the happiest days of her life, and where her old grandmother had showered her love and affection. The speaker received love there.

When the she speaks of 'love' in particular she ascertains that it is unconditional and selfless. With the death of the Grandmother, the house ceased being Inhabited. It now became an Isolated and remote entity, echoed by the phrase 'far away. When her grandmother died, even the house seem

ed to share her grief, which is poignantly expressed in the phrase "the House withdrew". With the death of the Grandmother, her life that was till now filled only with emotions becomes numb. Her veins thus become cold rather than warm.

It is as cold of the moon, the moon being an emblem of love. The she now longs to 'peer' at a house that was once her own. She has to peek through the 'blind eyes' of the windows as the windows are permanently closed. The air Is frozen now. as contrasted to when the grandmother was alive-the surroundings were filled with the warmth of empathy. In wild despair, she longs to bring in an "armful of darkness". Note firstly, that it is not a 'handful' but an armful. Secondly, 'darkness' that generally has negative shades to it, has positive connotations here of

protective shadow.

It also reflects the 'coziness' Inside the house. This armful of darkness Is her essence of nostalgia. With this piece of darkness, she can Ile down for hours, Iike a brooding dog behind the door, lost In contemplation. The poet Is unable to proceed with her thoughts for some time as is indicated by the ellipses (dots). Her present state is so miserable that one can hardly believe that she was happy once. She yearns for love like a beggar going from one door to another asking for love in small change.

The poem springs from her own disillusionment with her expectation of unconditional ove from the one she loves. In the poem, the Image of the ancestral home stands for the strong support and uncondltlonal love she received from her grandmother. Thus, the old house was for her a place of symbolic retreat to a world of innocence, purity and simplicity, an Edenic world where love and happiness are still possible. " By ChristopherG123 the house ceased being inhabited. It now became an isolated and remote entity, echoed by the phrase 'far away'. When her grandmother died, even the house withdrew'.

With the death of the Grandmother, her life that was till now filled only windows as the windows are permanently closed. The air is frozen now, as also reflects the 'coziness' inside the house. This armful of darkness is her essence of nostalgia. With this piece of darkness, she can lie down for hours, like a brooding dog behind the door, lost in contemplation. The poet is unable to proceed with her love from the one she loves. In the poem, the image of

the ancestral home stands for the strong support and unconditional love she received from her grandmother.

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Essay on A Visit to My Grandmother’s House

Every summer vacation, my parents and I go to visit my grandmother. This time too we went to stay with her for a week.

My grandmother stays in a small town near Berlin.

Her house is very beautiful and it is located in the middle of the town. The house has four bedrooms and a huge kitchen. This time when we went to meet her, I found her lovely garden full of beautiful flowers.

She was very happy to see us. We stayed with her for a week, and each day she cooked something special for us. She also baked my favorite chocolate cookies.

The weather there was very pleasant. So one day we all went for a picnic to the lakeside.

At night I slept in my grandmother’s room, and she told me lovely stories. She not only showed me my father’s pictures when he was young but also narrated many funny incidents about my father and his friends.

She gifted me two pullovers which she had knitted herself.

I always feel happy to be with her. I wish I could stay with her for a little longer. I left her house with a heavy heart. She too felt sad about us going back. We promised to visit her soon.

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When thinking of typical grandmother’s house, the first image that comes through person’s mind is probably a cozy comfortable house placed among beautiful natural surroundings, with sunny garden and birds singing all the year round. You may either believe me or not but I was lucky to live in such a house during the years of my happy childhood. My granny owned a grand building which left an indelible impression in my soul. In my narrative I want to recall the most touching moments of my life in that ‘house of wonders’.

It’s common knowledge that the place of our birth and childhood leaves the strongest impressions in our souls. Later it is always nostalgic to recall dear places, where we used to explore the world around during our early years of life. When we recall the place of our childhood, we may feel the very scent of the surroundings. Places where we used to spend good lot of our time make us feel especially nostalgic. And we are often eager to return to those places. When we do return, everything seems to be touchy and cute.

As for my personal experience, I’d like to begin with I’d like to say that I spent my childhood in Florida in my grandmother’s house. I spent there too much time not to remember it in details. As I’ve already mentioned, return to native place always arouses certain feeling of happiness or so. As for me I seem to be lucky that I spent my childhood in the country house of my dear granny. In the course of time visiting old relatives became an excellent chance to turn the time round and to become child once more. Every time I was at my granny she couldn’t help taking care of me. May be that’s why I love to visit her so much. Countryside is actually the nicest place for everybody to have really unforgettable rest. Fresh air always cheers you up and little noise helps to relax to full extent. The years of my staying in granny’s country house in Florida remained the most remarkable years in my life. I remember sand beach, which now became so popular among tourists. I was always fascinated by vast and mysterious sea. I used to walk in the forest which seemed to be full of adventures. Frankly speaking I did millions of things all children usually do in the countryside, but my staying there remained something special and dear for me personally. This impression is completed by the image of my old granny, which is a kind and cute woman, always affable and helpful. All her life she worked hard and now she is still very industrious and tender-hearted. All best moments in my life belong to my granny’s place at Florida. I consider myself to be lucky in this way, because nowadays it became the most visited resort for tourists in the USA. Florida. People tend to come here in any season, because it’s always warm and pleasant. Conditions are ideal in any way. The temperature is always stable and in my early age I was able to bathe all the year round. As I lived in the west peninsula of Florida, Mexican gulf water was especially suitable for bathing. It was warm and pleasant. Apart from this Mexican gulf is less salty in comparison with ocean waters. The water here never hurts eyes or skin. I remember how hot it was in summer when the temperature was about 35 degrees. Bathing however didn’t protect from the heat, as the water itself was 30 degrees. However I don’t really remember whether I suffered much, cause I used to spend the whole days long in the garden or in woods. Speaking about my grandma’s country house I can’t help mentioning that for some reason pensioners tend to buy houses in Florida, cause it is an ideal place for calm and tranquil life. Perfect climate attracts hundreds of people. May be just because of this I felt so satisfied and comfortable there. I don’t remember a moment of unhappiness staying there. However speaking about it, I can’t help mentioning that natural catastrophes often occur in the USA. Unfortunately it especially concerns the state of Florida. In comparison with other states, Florida was more often attacked by various hurricanes, storms, tornados and watersprouts. During my years of childhood, I experienced it on my own. I remember being amazed by this. I always knew much about different storms and tornados, cause I saw them with my own eyes.

There are people who like to move from one place to another, to live in towns, villages or country sides. My grandmother however keeps to another mode of life. During the whole life she used to stay in one place among peaceful hills, mountains, fields, rivers and streams. She has always preferred tranquil life instead of busy world of streets, city traffic, buildings and constant crowds. May be due to this she was never depressed. She was always satisfied with the place where she lived, even though she was deprived of certain modern conveniences. May be due to this I’m never feeling uncomfortable when I return there. There is always warm and friendly atmosphere. The house itself looked impressive, as it was big and old. The ivy was creeping from its red-brick walls. On the whole it seemed to be done in old-fashioned style with its big half-round windows. The surroundings amazed with numerous green trees everywhere. It created an impression of being somewhere in the park or even in the wood. Due to this I often felt a sort of lonely to some extent. It always seemed that trees hid some part of the world from me. Sometimes I felt like being in the jungles. In such moments I deepened into my inner world. In this way such surroundings gave me an opportunity to think over numerous things. Everything seemed to be so friendly that I couldn’t help just admiring it. I consider native house to be the most attractive destination in my life. Warm and gentle climate and the beauty of scenery made me fall in love with those places. I remember there being several lakes, stretching in miles of coastlines. My grandma often took me there to see the beauty of clear waters. Besides I find it outstanding that I could eat grapefruit and oranges right from the trees. It may sound odd but I do miss those happy days.

The house was not so luxurious, but there was something cute in it. From the first sight it was a usual one. There were two vast rooms with wide windows and old-styled furniture. I always felt sort of shy at the sight of those grand apartments. There also was an attic, which seemed to be just as it must be in such old houses. It was full of old things all in dust and disorder. Actually I don’t remember much from my staying there. But one of the strongest impressions was that attic. I was so attracted by the mystery of it that often spends time there trying to reveal its secrets. It’s quite ordinary children’s activity. There was always possible to find something to do. I can’t remember being bored or tired either. I always managed to entertain myself. My granny owned a vast territory of land, so I could always find attractive places to explore. Another impressive thing is federal highway Turn Pike. Actually there are not so many things which can really impress, but as a child, I admired those deserted surroundings. There were great relict swamps which later became national reserves. I dare say there is much to admire. As I spent much time there I can’t help recalling it with cute but painful feeling of nostalgia. These were happy days of my life. But every time I return to those native places, I regret I can’t really return to the past. There is no one living there now. And the house itself changed much from the times of my childhood. But the feeling of tranquility remained. Sometimes I see that narrow path leading to my grandma’s house. Though now it may have been completely hidden with grass. Life changes and we change together with it. But the only thing that remains the same is our feelings. I will always bare in heart the sense of security that I used to feel in my granny’s house.

Time of people’s childhood influences the personality most of all. My life in grandma’s house until the age of 6 made great impact on me. As I used to live in natural surroundings, apart from the city noise, I learned to feel close to nature. Everything in the house was filled with grandeur and I still respect it. And my granny was like a mistress of all those wonders which I’ve met there. I remember even there being a big dog. I don’t know exactly whether it really was big or just I was too little, but for me that dog remained a guard of the house in the first place. So that was actually how we lived. There were three of us: my granny, the dog and me. We used to spend evenings together in front of a big old fireplace. It hardly remained there now, but at that time we sat there, my granny telling me fairy-tales or real stories from life. But I didn’t see much difference cause I was no more than a child. My granny was a talented story-teller and I liked it, but it is a bit painful for me to recall it now. The more I try to remember those times, the more painful it is to continue the narration. Another vivid memory is portraits our ‘ancestors’ looking from large paintings on the walls in the hall. The matter is that the house was not quite usual. It was too old and ancient traditions still remained there. It hard to believe but still…

To know the personality of a person, psychologists make him recall for the earliest memories in his life. If you’d ask me, these would be my first days in the granny’s house, when everything seemed to be sort of enigmatic for a little child like me. I dare say I tried to explore it as deep as possible.

The very atmosphere of the house and its surroundings made me feel calm and relaxed. Sometimes it seemed that time had stopped for a moment for me to admire that world. As I moved from there when I was just 6 years old, I don’t remember much, but I do remember my feelings. The most touching recalling is may be autumn in my granny’s house. I remember it being neither warm nor cold. It just made me feel lonely a bit. I remember me walking among those numerous grand trees and admire colored leaves on the trees and on the ground. I miss that feeling of calmness and stability of the world around. I wish I could return the reality of those feelings once more. But I’ve nothing else to do rather than to keep those memories in mind and never forget about happiness of staying in my grandmother’s house. Even though I didn’t last long, I would never forget it.

References:

1. Tampa Bay Convention & Visitors Bureau ‘Tampa Florida attractions and activities’ ― 2007 http://www.visittampabay.com/ 2. Robertson ‘Tampa Guide’ ― 2006 http://www.tampaguide.com/

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Essay on A Visit to My Grandparents House

Students are often asked to write an essay on A Visit to My Grandparents House in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on A Visit to My Grandparents House

Arrival at grandparents’ house.

The journey to my grandparents’ house is always filled with anticipation. As we pull up to the familiar old house, my heart leaps with joy.

Warm Welcome

Upon entering, the smell of my grandmother’s cooking fills the air. Their warm smiles and tight hugs make me feel loved and cherished.

Enjoying the Visit

Time flies as we share stories, play games, and enjoy delicious meals. I especially love my grandfather’s tales about his childhood.

Leaving is always the hardest part. As we wave goodbye, I look back, already eager for my next visit.

Also check:

• Paragraph on A Visit to My Grandparents House

250 Words Essay on A Visit to My Grandparents House

The journey.

The trip to my grandparents’ house always begins with a sense of nostalgia, a journey back in time. The city’s concrete jungle slowly gives way to open fields, the air becomes cleaner, and the noise of the city is replaced by the chirping of birds. It’s a transition from the fast-paced, technology-driven life to a simpler, more peaceful existence.

The Arrival

On arrival, the old wooden gate creaks open, revealing the familiar rustic charm of the house. The structure, though old, stands tall, representing years of love and memories. The garden, my grandfather’s pride, is a riot of colors, with flowers blooming in every corner.

The Warm Embrace

My grandparents, despite their age, always greet us with an energetic welcome. Their faces light up with a warmth that fills the room. Their stories, filled with wisdom and humor, are the highlight of our visit. The tales of their youth, the struggles and triumphs, are lessons in resilience and perseverance.

The Farewell

Leaving is always the hardest part. The house, once buzzing with activity, seems to sigh in the quiet. As we pack our bags, we carry with us not just souvenirs but also the wisdom and values imparted. The visit to my grandparents’ house is not just a break from routine, but a journey of self-discovery and connection with my roots.

In conclusion, the trip to my grandparents’ house is a cherished experience. It’s a reminder of the importance of family, tradition, and the simple joys of life. It’s a journey that, no matter how often undertaken, always feels new.

500 Words Essay on A Visit to My Grandparents House

Introduction.

Visiting my grandparents’ house is always an enriching experience, filled with warmth, wisdom, and a sense of timeless tranquility. Nestled in the countryside, their abode is a haven away from the hustle and bustle of city life, a place where the clock seems to slow down and life takes on a different rhythm.

Stepping Back in Time

Arriving at my grandparents’ house is like stepping into a time capsule. The house, a charming old cottage, is adorned with relics from the past, each telling its own story. Antique furniture, black and white photographs, and vintage decor pieces transport me to a bygone era, offering a glimpse into the life and times of my ancestors.

The Garden of Eden

Their backyard is a sprawling garden, a veritable Eden, teeming with fruit trees, blooming flowers, and buzzing bees. The garden is a testament to my grandparents’ love for nature and their dedication to nurturing life. It’s here that I’ve learned some of my most invaluable lessons about patience and the rewards of hard work.

The Kitchen of Memories

The kitchen, the heart of the house, is where my grandmother weaves magic with her culinary skills. The aroma of home-cooked meals, the clatter of utensils, and the warmth of the old wood-fired stove, all contribute to a sense of comfort and nostalgia. It’s here that I’ve learned that food is not just about sustenance, but also about love, tradition, and community.

Wisdom in Stories

Evenings are reserved for storytelling sessions with my grandfather. His tales, filled with wisdom and humor, are a window to the world beyond textbooks. They’ve taught me about the resilience of the human spirit, the importance of kindness, and the value of humility. These stories, told in the soft glow of the setting sun, have shaped my worldview and left an indelible mark on my character.

A visit to my grandparents’ house is more than just a break from routine. It’s a journey into the past, a communion with nature, a culinary adventure, and a treasure trove of wisdom. The memories I’ve made and the lessons I’ve learned there are invaluable. They’ve enriched my life and broadened my perspective, reminding me of the simple joys of life and the timeless wisdom of the older generation.

In the end, my grandparents’ house is not just a physical structure; it’s a living, breathing entity, filled with stories, wisdom, and love. It’s a place where I’ve grown, learned, and evolved. It’s a place I call home.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

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A girl wanted to help buy her mom’s headstone. She made a lemonade stand.

Emouree Johnson looked around at the graves in a northern Alabama cemetery last month and noticed her mother’s looked different from the rest.

The 7-year-old saw granite and marble headstones jutting out from the grass near other graves, inscribed with epitaphs. But beside her mother’s grave stood a green postcard-size marker with her name and a generic sunset photo printed on white paper.

Emouree pointed at the other headstones and asked, “Why doesn’t mommy have one of those?,” recalled Jennifer Bordner, the girl’s grandmother. They visited the cemetery on Easter to lay flowers for Emouree’s mother, Karli Bordner, who died weeks earlier at the age of 29.

A headstone would cost at least $500, which the family was working to save, Jennifer Bordner said she explained to her granddaughter.

Emouree wanted to pitch in. The next day, she set up a lemonade stand at the Scottsboro, Ala., house where she lives with Bordner. Emouree asked family members to share photos of her stand on social media to help spread the word about her cause.

“I knew my grandmother didn’t have the money,” Emouree told The Washington Post. “And I was really trying to help her.”

The photos of the stand — which showed Emouree sitting outside with a clear pitcher of lemonade, a green bucket of ice and a stack of red Solo Cups — were shared so widely that over the next week, hundreds of people started visiting the stand and donating to an online fundraiser. Emouree ultimately helped raise about $15,000.

“I never expected this,” said Bordner, 53. “And I’m still trying to catch my breath.”

Bordner’s daughter and granddaughter had been living with her in Scottsboro for about three years. She described the relationship between her daughter and Emouree as “one of those mommy-daughter best-friend type of things.”

They had a special saying they would repeat to each other: “One, four, three. That’s enough for me, always and forever,” the digits representing the number of letters in the phrase “I love you,” Bordner said.

“She was all for her daughter,” she said of Karli Bordner. “That was her whole world.”

Karli Bordner helped teach Emouree how to play soccer, basketball and softball, then cheered her on at games. They spent hours after school dancing and making TikTok videos. When Emouree brought report cards home with straight As, Karli Bordner took her shopping for makeup products her daughter had seen on YouTube.

On March 12, Emouree and Jennifer and Karli Bordner spent the night curled up in the same bed, watching Adam Sandler movies before they all fell asleep. And just before Emouree nodded off, she said she and Karli Bordner whispered to each other:

One, four, three. That’s enough for me, always and forever.

It was one of the last things Emouree heard her mother say.

The next morning, Bordner said her daughter left the house. Police later arrived at her door to report that Karli Bordner had been found dead. The family is still waiting to hear from authorities about an official cause, Bordner said.

The days that followed were grief-stricken. Emouree pored over the videos she had made with her mother, Bordner said. When she received her next report card, Emouree tried to call her mother’s cellphone, hoping to share the news about her good grades.

“She was still waiting for her mommy to come in and give her a hug,” Bordner said.

On March 17, which would have been Karli Bordner’s 30th birthday, the family hosted a balloon release. They buried her at the cemetery in Guntersville, Ala., the next day and visited her grave again on Easter to lay flowers.

That was when Emouree noticed the marker and had the idea to start a lemonade stand. She asked to stop by a produce stand on the way home from the cemetery.

“I bought four lemons,” Emouree told The Post. “And I thought it would help.”

She opened the stand on April 1, selling her lemonade for $1 per cup.

As photos of her stand spread on social media that week, people turned out in droves. Strangers showed up with batches of fresh lemons to help keep her stand going. Donations started pouring in.

“All of a sudden, they’re calling and saying that all these city officials are coming, several different fire departments, there’s people coming from Tennessee,” Bordner said. “I don’t know where all these people come from, but it’s been a lot.”

Emouree poured lemonade for five days. Her grandmother recalled her saying, “I cannot believe so many people care for and love my mommy.”

“She was really excited about it,” Bordner said.

Between the lemonade stand and online donations , she said the family received enough to cover funeral costs plus start an account for Emouree to use in the future.

As for the headstone, a company is now donating one to the Bordners.

They haven’t decided when it will replace the marker at the cemetery, but Bordner said they do know what it will say:

How to make Michael Twitty’s matzoh ball gumbo, a soup of Black and Jewish cuisines

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With a rainbow knitted kippah affixed to the crown of his head, Michael Twitty is paced and intentional as he moves through the test kitchen at the L.A. Times. He’s here to make one of his classic Passover dishes, matzoh ball gumbo, which combines two recipes from his food memoir “ Koshersoul .”

The crimson stew adds buoyant, scallion-studded matzoh balls to a heartening okra gumbo, joining two staple dishes from Jewish and Black Southern cuisines. Chicken broth and diced tomatoes lend the finished gumbo their umami, with a Creole spice blend that imparts a gentle, humming heat.

Twitty, who hails from the Washington, D.C., area, says he’s always wanted to winter in Los Angeles. He’s been living at the junction of Beverly Hills, Pico-Robertson and West Hollywood since November and, following a short trip back to the East Coast in March, plans to stay through June.

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After hosting a conversation at chef Martin Draluck’s Black Pot Supper Club series in February, Twitty will take over the kitchen at Baldwin Hills’ Post & Beam restaurant with his “Koshersoul” dinner pop-up on Wednesday, May 15. The evening will include back-to-back dinners with recipes from the book. The first service will lean into Twitty’s Jewish background with West African brisket and peach rice kugel, as well as matzoh ball gumbo. The second will embrace a cookout vibe with the same brisket plus barbecue chicken and lamb (all of the meat will be kosher), baked beans and collard green lox wraps.

“Koshersoul,” the follow up to his James Beard Award-winning “The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History,” details Twitty’s journey as a Black, gay and Jewish man and draws meaningful links between Afro-Atlantic and global Jewish culinary practices, including the contributions of Jews of color. It was named the 2023 book of the year at the National Jewish Book Awards, making Twitty the first Black author to win the distinction. Currently, Twitty is working on a cookbook with essential recipes from the American South and has plans to write another food memoir and history that will serve as a queer journey through the culinary world.

Michael Twitty became the first African American author to win the National Jewish Book Award in 2023 for his book “Koshersoul.”

Chef and author Michael Twitty adds matzoh balls to okra gumbo in a Passover recipe from his “Koshersoul” book.

He credits food historian Marcie Cohen Ferris for inspiring the matzoh ball gumbo recipe. Published in 2010, Ferris’ book “ Matzoh Ball Gumbo ” explores the historic foodways of Southern Jews, including the influence of Black Southerners and Black women in particular.

“When I make this dish, I’m thinking how can we connect to that past and history, and recount the people who were often nameless?” says Twitty. He says that for European Jews assimilating in the Deep South in the early and mid 20th century, food, often prepared by Black domestic workers, was a conduit for belonging.

Rather than a blending or “fusion” of culinary styles, Twitty sees his matzoh ball gumbo as an act of preservation. It’s a continuation of Southern food stories, highlighting the traditions that extend across the African and Jewish diasporas.

“You can compare it to soup and dumplings from Jamaica, or omo tuo from Ghana,” he says. “In West and Central Africa, the main meal is often a soup, sauce or stew with a starch — sauce and fufu, sauce and banku, sauce and millet or rice balls. There are so many parallels there.”

He continues, saying that, “Jewish tradition is extremely fluid and flexible. We eat foods that have their roots in very ancient ideas, but bear very little resemblance to their original concept.”

Twitty begins by methodically chopping the herbs and vegetables for his gumbo and matzoh balls: parsley, green onions, garlic and the “holy trinity” of onion, celery and bell pepper.

Next, he makes the dough for the matzoh balls. Cooking alongside Twitty reminds me of sharing kitchen space with my late great-grandmother Madea, a born-and-raised Mississippian. Like her, he measures in pinches, makes last-minute adjustments (such as substituting salt for baking powder in the matzoh ball dough) and gives a deep, satisfied grunt when his taste-testing yields the desired results.

Once the matzoh ball dough is finished, Twitty seals the bowl with plastic wrap and puts it in the refrigerator to rest.

As he slices the okra into razon-thin rounds, our conversation winds from the Yiddish words for matzoh ball and Passover (kneidlach and Pesach, respectively) to his experiences traveling to Italy and various countries in West Africa.

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We’re weeks away from Passover, but the atmosphere feels similar to a Seder Twitty might host. The conversation is peppered with laughter, and topics that are usually avoided at the dinner table — namely, religion and politics — are met with curiosity and understanding. Such discussions, Twitty says, are integral to the spirit of Passover. He describes a long history of Seders that supported early labor movements, women’s rights and Black and Jewish liberation.

“It’s exactly what Pesach is supposed to do, which is open those gates of liberation and lack of constraints to the rest of humanity,” he says. “It can be both an origin story moment for the Jewish people, and a human liberation story for all of mankind. It was always meant to be that way.”

Twitty pauses to give the roux his full attention. He stirs slowly, peeking into the deep-bottomed pot to gauge its progress. The potato starch that he uses instead of flour takes longer to brown, about 15 minutes. Twitty dips a spoon in to taste; his throaty purr tells us that it’s ready for more broth.

Green and red onion, ginger and garlic add aromatic, peppery notes to chef Michael Twitty’s matzoh ball gumbo.

Sliced okra is added into a pot of simmering gumbo.

After adding the cooked vegetables, tomatoes, okra, thyme and Creole seasoning, we let the concoction simmer and turn our attention back to the matzoh balls. We fill a large pot with salted water and wait for it to reach a rolling boil. Twitty shapes the dough into walnut-sized spheres.

One by one, the matzoh balls get dropped into the pot with boiling water. In a departure from the recipe in his book, Twitty takes them out early and transfers them to the gumbo, where he lets them simmer under a lid for an additional 15 minutes.

Finally, we ladle the gumbo into bowls, at least two or three matzoh balls per serving. The okra retains a pleasant crunch and the matzoh balls are savory, a persuasive replacement for rice or even chicken. Someone notes the rare silence that has befallen the kitchen — this gumbo is good.

There are several of us in the kitchen, and Twitty’s gumbo speaks to different parts of each of our heritages. For me, the okra and tomato-rich broth recalls my maternal Mississippi roots, while the matzoh balls take someone else back to childhood experiences making them alongside their Bubbe.

“We have to remember that we co-created the Southern culture with Indigenous people, with white people, with immigrants from all over the world,” Twitty says. “And all of those stories have to be told for it to be a true, full and honest recounting of how we got here, and what mistakes we should refuse to make going forward.”

Find Michael Twitty at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books on Sunday, April 21, at Booth 410, where he’ll have signed copies of “Koshersoul” available to purchase, 2-3 p.m. Tickets are available for Twitty’s “Koshersoul” dinner pop-up at Post & Beam on Wednesday, May 15, and can be purchased via Eventbrite .

The Recipes

Matzoh Balls

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A new Mediterranean cookbook from José Andrés celebrates ‘dishes that belong to the people’

If you love cookbooks, come see us at the L.A. Times Festival of Books

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Danielle Dorsey is the assistant editor and writer of guides for the Food section. Previously, she was the senior West Coast editor at Thrillist, where she covered food, drink and travel across the California region. She grew up across San Diego and Riverside and has happily called Los Angeles home for more than 15 years.

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California Today

Angelenos Reflect on a ‘Big Moment in American History’

The murder trial of O.J. Simpson was a defining part of a turbulent era in Los Angeles.

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By Jill Cowan and Shawn Hubler

In Los Angeles, where the murder trial of O.J. Simpson was a defining part of a turbulent era , news of his death rippled through families and friend groups Thursday as a collection of vivid images or half-forgotten personal connections.

What year, they wondered, was the trial, again? What was the thing with the glove? Do you remember that restaurant where Ronald Goldman worked?

But in 1994, just about no one in Los Angeles — or the world — was unaware of the details around the celebrity who had been accused of violently killing his then-35-year-old ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Goldman, 25. The case was larger than life in a moment that had come to seem riddled with larger-than-life events.

In that respect, the Los Angeles of 1994 foreshadowed the 21st century that was just a few years from dawning. Freeways were still flattened from the disastrous Northridge earthquake. Los Angeles was still reeling and raw from the 1992 riots. Immigration had surged, throwing a spotlight on disparities of wealth and privilege. And the rise of cable television was starting to magnify every nuance on a 24-hour news feed.

It was against this backdrop that authorities who had once pestered Simpson for autographs now accused him of murder, and that his lawyers decided his best defense was to convince jurors that anything could have happened.

“It was such a big moment in American history,” recalled Laurie Levenson, a Loyola Law School professor who became an early legal celebrity doing televised commentary on Simpson’s trial. “And it had an enormous impact.”

Even now, the narrative around the Simpson case remains fractured. Many Americans — but especially Angelenos — recall where they were when the Simpson car chase unfolded live on television. They recall where they were when the verdict was read in 1995. Their lingering impressions vary, however, based on where they were in life and how they processed what happened through the now ubiquitous lens of race, celebrity, generation and class.

Patrik-Ian Polk, 50, who has since gone on to do pioneering work as a Black, gay filmmaker, said he had watched the trial and followed the twists and turns like nearly everyone else in America.

“I don’t know if I would have been able to find him guilty, either,” Polk said. There was evidence that seemed to point to Simpson, sure, but there was also, Polk believed, reasonable doubt. And that’s the law.

“What was interesting was, obviously there was a racial divide in terms of the reaction to the verdict,” he said.

He said he was keenly aware of the ways in which the police in Los Angeles mistreated Black communities. So for him, Simpson’s acquittal wasn’t worth much outrage.

“I certainly remember thinking, ‘Maybe he did do it, and if he did do it, and if he has gotten off … ,’” Polk trailed off and shrugged. “How many times have we heard of a Black person in jail for decades for murders that they didn’t commit? How many times did we see race riots? Whole Black communities bulldozed by racist white people?”

Janette Balderas, 34, didn’t remember much about Simpson or the trial — except that white Bronco. She was small. Someone turned on the TV at her grandmother’s house.

“I was just like, ‘Why is he doing that?’” she recalled as she walked with her baby and her partner on Thursday morning at Echo Park Lake. “‘Like, if he’s not guilty, why is he making them chase him?’”

Balderas said that Simpson hadn’t been a household name for her family; her mother didn’t really speak English. Balderas recalled her mother saying, “Look at this crazy man having the police chase him.”

It wasn’t until Balderas watched “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story,” the 2016 series depicting the trial, that she was able to connect what she had watched as a child with modern L.A. This was how the Kardashian name became known, she realized as she watched David Schwimmer portray the family patriarch, Robert Kardashian, Simpson’s friend and lawyer. This was the birth of an American dynasty.

The murders and the car chase took place just two years after the acquittal of white police officers in the beating of a Black motorist, Rodney King. After that verdict, rioting occurred for days in South Los Angeles, and racial tensions remained high in the city.

During the Simpson trial, “white people thought he was going to be convicted and Black people didn’t want him to be convicted,” recalled Richard Smith, 67, a South Los Angeles resident.

Smith said it wasn’t just that Simpson was Black but that Johnnie Cochran, one of the lead defense lawyers, was, too. “You got a Black man defending another Black man,” he said.

“We were all — as a whole, a Black community — captivated at the moment that this happened to him,” Smith added. “Everything that happened from the pullover to the arrest to the trial.”

Corina Knoll contributed reporting.

The rest of the news

President Biden plans to expand the San Gabriel Mountains and the Berryessa Snow Mountain Monuments by redesigning their boundaries to protect land that is of cultural significance to Native American tribes, as well as biodiversity and wildlife corridors.

California lawmakers voted to reduce their budget deficit by about $17 billion , The Associated Press reports.

Southern California

A 22-year-old volunteer runs a makeshift refuge for migrants in southeastern San Diego County, passing out blankets to people from four continents who arrive there under the cover of night.

Federal prosecutors charged Ippei Mizuhara, Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter, with bank fraud, claiming that Mizuhara had stolen $16 million from Ohtani to feed his gambling addiction.

The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will install “Hollywoodland,” a permanent exhibition that spotlights the contributions of Jewish filmmakers and their effect on the American film industry.

Central California

The Sierra Islamic Center is one of six nonprofit groups and faith-based organizations in the Central Valley that received state money toward security and safety, The Sun reports.

Northern California

Small clusters of whooping cough have been found among students at Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory, a Catholic high school in San Francisco, The San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Checkr, a San Francisco-based provider of background check and employment verification services, is laying off 260 employees working in the city , The San Francisco Examiner reports.

And before you go, some good news

Noema Magazine’s essay on the life of a coast redwood tree , a species that can be found almost exclusively on the coast of Northern California, highlights the majesty of the trees.

Coast redwood trees have reached a point of ecological stability while still maintaining their ability to adapt. California’s coastal fogs provide moisture, but the wildfires the state regularly manages also help the trees fit into the state’s environment.

Thanks for reading. I’ll be back on Monday. Enjoy your weekend. — Soumya

P.S. Here’s today’s Mini Crossword .

Maia Coleman , Sofia Poznansky and Briana Scalia contributed to California Today. You can reach the team at [email protected].

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Jill Cowan is a Times reporter based in Los Angeles, covering the forces shaping life in Southern California and throughout the state. More about Jill Cowan

Shawn Hubler is based in Sacramento and covers California news, policy trends and personalities. She has been a journalist for more than four decades. More about Shawn Hubler