How would you say ‘a dilapidated drum’ in your language?

Which language do you think the author and his grandmother used while talking to each other?

Which language do you use to talk to elderly relatives in your family?

Can you think of a song or a poem in your language that talks of homecoming?

Notice the following uses of the word ‘tell’ in the text.

1. Her fingers were busy telling the beads of her rosary.

2. I would tell her English words and little things of Western science and learning.

3. At her age one could never tell.

4. She told us that her end was near.

Given below are four different senses of the word ‘tell’. Match the meanings to the uses listed above.

1. make something known to someone in spoken or written words

2. count while reciting

3. be sure

4. give information to somebody