How Old is Muttajji? - English Story Book

Jul 17, 2026

Uploaded by Theodore

A children’s English story follows twins Putta and Putti as they rush to celebrate Muttajji’s birthday in Mysore before their train departure. Muttajji, the twins’ great relative, invites curiosity about her age, but responds with humor instead of a direct number. She shares memories of a Maharaja’s Delhi visit that earned a gold medal and of her uncle’s tales about clean trains in Bombay, sparking wonder and questions about when she was born.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryStory & Novel

FormatPDF

Pages27

Reading Time42 min

AccessFree to download

Putta and Putti’s Birthday Surprise

Muttajji’s Humorous Answers

Memories: Delhi and the Gold Medal

Clean Trains in Bombay

How Old is Muttajji? Author: Roopa Pai Illustrator: Kaveri Gopalakrishnan English Story Book How Old is Muttajji? Author: Roopa Pai Illustrator: Kaveri Gopalakrishnan English How Old is Muttajji? Author: Roopa Pai Illustrator: Kaveri Gopalakrishnan Copyright © 2016, Pratham Books You are free to make commercial use of this work. You may adapt and add to this work. You must keep the copyright and credits for authors, illustrators, etc. Putta and Putti jumped out of bed. It was Muttajji's birthday and they had a train to catch! Muttajji, who was the twins' mother's mother's mother, lived in Mysore with Ajji, who was the twins' mother's mother. No one actually knew when Muttajji's birthday was; but Ajji had always celebrated it on the Makara Sankranthi holiday. "Amma, will there be a cake?" asked Putti. "A big, spongy cake with pink icing and a rose on top?" "Naah," said Putta. "Old people don't have birthday cakes. And 200 candles won't fit on any cake. " "Muttajji isn't 200 years old, silly," said Putti. "How old is Muttajji, Amma?"Amma smiled. "Why don't you ask her when we get there?" The moment they reached the old green house in Mysore, the twins burst into Muttajji's room."Happy birthday, Muttajji! How old are you today?" Muttajji hugged the twins. "How old am I? Who knows? How does it matter?" "But it does!" cried Putta and Putti together. Muttajji smiled. "Well," she said, "I know that around five years before I was born, our Maharaja went to a grand party for Indian Maharajas and Maharanis in Delhi. A British king and queen had come to visit, and our Maharaja got a gold medal. " "Oooh! A party! There must have been lots of cake!" said Putti. "Who was this king, Muttajji? If you know, we can find out which year he visited. if we add five years to that, we will know when YOU were born!" Muttajji shrugged. "I've forgotten, Putta. " Putta's face fell. "Wait," said Muttajji. "Let me see if I can remember something else. Aaaan! When I was about your age-nine or ten-my uncle from Bombay visited us and told us about clean trains. " "Clean trains?" "Yes!" Muttajji was excited. "They had started running in Bombay that year. You never got dirty travelling in them. No black dust on your clothes and face, no grime, nothing!" The twins stared at her. Why would anyone get dirty travelling by train?

FAQs

Why do Putta and Putti celebrate Muttajji’s birthday?

Muttajji’s birthday is being observed because it is traditionally celebrated on the Makara Sankranthi holiday, and the twins have a train to catch so they hurry to her house.

Why doesn’t Muttajji tell the twins exactly how old she is?

Muttajji jokes that no one knows her exact age and suggests that it does not really matter.

What memories does Muttajji share to help the twins think about her age?

She recalls her Maharaja’s Delhi party visit around five years before she was born and also mentions an uncle from Bombay who described clean trains running that year.

Jul 17, 2026

Uploaded by Theodore