ANSWER

The common link of friendship was finally snapped when the author went up to University and was given a room of his own.

From that day the grandmother was left completely alone. She accepted her seclusion with resignation, stopped talking much, and spent her days at her spinning wheel, reciting prayers and feeding the sparrows.

THE TWO STAGES OF THEIR DRIFTING APART:

STAGE 1 — THE TURNING POINT (moving to the city)

When the parents settled in the city and sent for them, the friendship received its first blow.

• The author now went to school by bus, so she could not accompany him any more
• There was no temple attached to the school, so she stopped going out
• He learnt English, science and Western music — subjects she could not understand and did not approve of
• She was distressed that there was no teaching about God and the scriptures
• She was unhappy. She could not help me with my lessons."