The three phases of the author’s …

The three phases of the author’s relationship with his grandmother before he left the country to study abroad were:
(a) Admiration and friendship – The author admired his grandmother and described her as the “winter landscape in the mountains, an expanse of pure white serenity breathing peace and contentment”. They were good friends. She woke him up in the morning and got him ready for school. She waited for him while he was in school and then walked him back.

(b) Growing distant – She could not accompany him to school as he went by the school bus. He was now in an English school, where they taught science. She could not understand English and did not believe in science. The fact that they were not taught about god made her unhappy. Khushwant Singh’s learning music in school made her unhappier as she felt it was not meant for gentle folk.

(c) Wide gulf – When he went to the university, he got a separate room and even the last link of a shared room was snapped. The grandmother kept to her spinning wheel, rarely talking to anyone.