Student Question
As Ali from "The Kitemaker," how would you describe your grandfather, Mehmood, in a letter to your uncle?
Quick answer:
When writing a letter from the perspective of Ali in "The Kitemaker" to his uncle in Pakistan, recall some of the qualities about Mehmood that the narrator mentions. For example, the narrator describes Mehmood as skilled and creative. Mehmood also shows love and compassion for his grandson. Using the pronoun “I,” pretend to be the grandson addressing the uncle who could not see Mehmood because of the country partition.
I cannot do this assignment for you, but I am happy to provide you with some ideas!
One of the most important parts of this assignment is identifying and incorporating qualities about Mehmood, the kitemaker. It might be useful to start by going through the story and identifying some of Mehmood’s characteristics that you think are important. For example, note how the narrator explains how Mehmood had once made a unique type of kite that was “unlike any that had been seen in the district.” This tells the reader that Mehmood was creative and that he was very skilled at his craft.
Mehmood’s creativity and skill are both qualities that his grandson would likely recall fondly in a letter to his uncle. Recall that the narrator mentioned that his uncle was not able to see his family because of the partition. This means that was not able to be near...
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his father in the time before he died. He would likely be comforted by a compassionate letter that discusses his father’s quiet strength, skill, and compassion.
To write the letter in the first person perspective, use the pronoun “I.” For example, a line from the letter might look something like this:
"Dearest Uncle,
I am deeply saddened by this loss. But it makes me happy to remember how grandfather loved to give me advice. He was so smart and always seemed to know what to do …”
What are the qualities of Ali's grandfather, Mehmood, in "The Kitemaker" by Ruskin Bond?
Here at eNotes, we are not allowed to provide you with fully written essays. However, I will give you some ideas that should help you with your assignment.
In the story "The Kitemaker," Ruskin Bond tells the story of an old man, Mehmood, who is reflecting on his life. At the end of the story, Mehmood sadly passes away, and his body is found by his grandson, Ali.
If you were to write a letter from Ali's perspective about his grandfather, you might want to start off by writing how sad you are feeling after having just lost your grandfather. We can tell from the story that Ali and Mehmood were very close, as the author tells us that it "gladdened the old man's heart to watch the small boy play." This indicates that Ali must have spent a lot of time with his grandfather. Therefore, Ali might want to stress in his letter that one of the old man's qualities had been the love he had felt for his grandson.
To highlight Mehmood's qualities further, you might want to explore how Ali would praise his grandfather's skills as a famous kitemaker. I would imagine that Ali would have been very proud of the fact that his grandfather used to be a famous and successful man in his younger years: he had "been well known throughout the city." Added to that, Ali would probably also mention the fact that Mehmood even made a kite for the "Nawab," the most high-ranking person within the community. This is very important to mention, as it would have been an immense privilege and honor for Mehmood.