NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English provide detailed and comprehensive answers for the main textbook titled Kaveri. The book contains 8 thematic units, each pairing one prose piece with one poem. These NCERT solutions for Class 9 can help students understand chapters, poems and prose in a simple and organized manner.
Designed according to the latest NCERT textbook and CBSE Board 2026 syllabus, our NCERT solutions offer accurate answers to all exercise questions. Each answer is explained in clear and easy language to help students develop stronger reading, writing, grammar and comprehension skills while improving their overall understanding of the English language.
Latest NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English 2026 Kaveri Book
| S.No. | Prose | Poem |
| 1 | How I Taught My Grandmother to Read | Bharat Our Land |
| 2 | The Pot Maker | Gifts of Grace: Honouring Our Vocations |
| 3 | Winds of Change | Canvas of Soil |
| 4 | Vitamin-M | I Cannot Remember My Mother |
| 5 | The World of Limitless Possibilities | Nine Gold Medals |
| 6 | Twin Melodies | A Friend Found in Music |
| 7 | Carrier of Words | Words |
| 8 | Follow That Dream | Believe in Yourself |
Overview of Chapter-wise NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English
Prose - How I Taught My Grandmother to Read
The first chapter discusses Sudha Murty's story of teaching her 62 old grandmother, Krishtakka, fondly called Avva, to read in their village in north Karnataka. Students learn how Avva, who never had the chance to attend school, depends completely on her granddaughter to read aloud each week's installment of the novel Kashi Yatre.
The chapter explains how Avva is reduced to tears of helplessness when she leaves for a wedding and the new installment arrives, leaving her unable to read it herself, sparking her determination to learn the Kannada alphabet. In the end, Avva, after working tirelessly under her granddaughter's teaching, finally reads the novel on her own and touches her young teacher's feet in a gesture reversing traditional notions of age and respect.
Poem - Bharat Our Land
This poem discusses Subramania Bharati's ode celebrating India's natural beauty, spiritual heritage and ancient wisdom. Students learn how the poet praises the gigantic Himalayas and the generous river Ganga, declaring there is no equal to them anywhere on earth, while also honouring the sages and spiritual teachers, including the Buddha, who have sanctified the land through centuries of wisdom.
The chapter explains the poem's celebration of India's contributions through warriors, music and philosophical texts such as the Upanishads. It also includes the poet's proud declaration of India's greatness, urging readers to honour and value the nation's unmatched cultural and spiritual legacy.
Prose - The Pot Maker
This chapter discusses Temsula Ao's story of Sentila, a young Naga girl determined to become a pot maker like her mother Arenla, despite her mother's reluctance to teach her the craft. Students learn how Arenla, having found no joy and only hardship in pottery making, initially refuses to pass on her skills, prompting the village council to intervene.
The chapter explains Sentila's early struggles under pressure and fear during her training, freezing up whenever she attempts to shape the clay, until a kinder mentor named Onula helps rebuild her confidence with patience and guidance. It also includes Sentila's breakthrough, as she finally masters the skill of shaping a pot's rim and successfully creates a batch of pottery on her own.
Poem - Gifts of Grace: Honouring Our Vocations
This chapter is a free-verse poem celebrating the dignity and identity found in many vocations across India. Students learn how the poet honours craftspersons, artisans and musicians, describing them weaving colours and emotions into their work, while also praising carpenters, electricians, boatmen, cooks, shoemakers and masons for the pride and skill they bring to their daily labour.
The chapter explains the poem's central idea, captured in the line, the voice of their vocation is the voice of their identity, suggesting that a person's work is deeply tied to who they are. It also includes the poem's circular structure, opening and closing with the same line about hearing Bharat celebrating its many vocations, reinforcing the sense of an ongoing, nationwide tribute to honest work.
Prose - Winds of Change
This chapter discusses an article about the rich heritage of the traditional Indian pankha as a window into the country's craftsmanship and culture. Students learn about the long history behind this simple object, tracing its evolution and the artistry involved in producing it across different regions of India.
The chapter explains the wide variety of regional designs, each shaped by local materials, traditions and styles unique to different communities. It also discusses how the pankha has retained cultural and symbolic significance over generations, even as modern cooling devices have become more common.
Poem - Canvas of Soil
This chapter discusses Maya Anthony's poem that portrays gardening as a form of artistic expression. Students learn how the poet compares soil to a painter's canvas and seeds to brushstrokes, suggesting that a gardener, much like a painter, creates something beautiful.
The chapter explains the poem's central idea that creativity and artistry are not confined to traditional art forms but can be found in everyday activities connected with nature. It ends with the poem's invitation to readers to see the natural world with a more appreciative eye.
Prose - Vitamin-M
This chapter discusses Asha Nehemiah's story of Ravi, a boy entrusted with watching over his elderly grandfather, a retired lawyer, while his worried mother is away at work. Students learn how Grandpa, though seemingly forgetful about everyday details, still remembers complex things like famous chess games clearly, and insists on going out alone to buy a Tamil newspaper despite Ravi's promise to keep him safely at home.
The chapter explains how Ravi secretly follows his grandfather through the city, watching him enjoy a park visit and indulge in forbidden treats like sweet tea, bananas and ice cream, all while trying to avoid being noticed himself. In the end, Grandpa reveals that he was fully aware of being followed all along, even giving Ravi a book on detective stories as a hint.
Poem - I Cannot Remember My Mother
I Cannot Remember My Mother by Rabindranath Tagore is a poem written from the perspective of a child trying to recall their mother who passed away too early. Students learn how the child cannot remember their mother's face or voice, yet senses fragments of her presence through fleeting sensory impressions, such as the rhythm of a half-remembered tune or a fragrance that stirs something unexplained.
The chapter explains how these scattered sensory memories allow the mother's love and presence to linger quietly within the child. The poem has a gentle and melancholic tone, capturing both loss and a quiet emotional connection that transcends memory itself.
Prose - The World of Limitless Possibilities
This chapter discusses an interview with Dr. Deepa Malik, one of India's most celebrated Paralympic athletes, exploring her journey from personal tragedy to international sporting success. Students learn how Deepa Malik, diagnosed with a spinal tumour at the age of 29, was told after surgery that she would remain paralysed from the waist down and confined to a wheelchair for the rest of her life.
The chapter explains her determination to not let this devastating diagnosis define her future, choosing instead to channel her energy into becoming a celebrated para-athlete, eventually winning a silver medal in shot-put at the 2016 Rio Paralympics. It also discusses her broader achievements and honours, including the Khel Ratna, Arjuna Award and Padma Shri, as one of the most inspiring para-athletes in the world.
Poem - Nine Gold Medals
This chapter discusses David Roth's poem based on a real incident from the 1976 Special Olympics. Students learn how nine athletes, after months of dedicated training, line up at the starting blocks, full of determination to win medals in the race. The chapter explains the pivotal moment when the smallest runner stumbles and falls to the ground, crying out in frustration as his hopes of finishing the race seem shattered.
In response, the other eight athletes immediately stop racing, return to help him to his feet and then join hands to walk together to the finish line, ultimately receiving a standing ovation and nine gold medals for their act of kindness.
Prose - Twin Melodies
This chapter discusses Mitra Phukan's play about Shruti Sharma, a talented young violinist passionate about Indo-Western fusion music, who fears her father's disapproval of her modern musical direction. Students learn how Shruti's father, Guru Nabin Sharma is a strict, traditional Hindustani classical musician who firmly believes that ragas and aalaaps represent the only music truly worthy of a serious artist's attention.
The chapter explains the deep irony of this conflict, since Nabin himself once defied his own family's objections by choosing to play the violin, an instrument his father considered a betrayal of their family's vocal musical tradition at the time. It also explains how classical heritage and contemporary musical innovation can ultimately coexist.
Poem - A Friend Found in Music
This chapter discusses Bryanna T. Perkins's poem which celebrates music as a constant companion present through every stage and emotion of life. Students learn how the poet describes music as something that remains faithfully by her side, offering solace during sorrow and amplifying joy during happiness, much like a true and dependable friend.
The chapter explains the poem's portrayal of music's deeply personal and almost spiritual role. The poem’s central theme is that music transcends mere entertainment, becoming an emotional anchor in the poet's life.
Prose - Carrier of Words
This chapter discusses the real-life dedication of Khetaram, a Gramin Dak Sewak or village postman, who has spent around 15 years delivering letters and money orders across the harsh terrain of the Thar Desert near the Indo-Pakistan border. Students learn how Khetaram, working in a region without railways, paved roads or phone connections, walks long distances through sand dunes, often in summer temperatures nearing fifty degrees Celsius, to ensure isolated desert communities remain connected to the outside world.
The chapter explains how villagers trust him not only to deliver mail but often to read letters aloud and help compose replies, making him a deeply respected figure within these remote communities. It also discusses the broader role of Gramin Dak Sewaks across India, serving similarly isolated regions such as deserts, mountains and islands, sustaining communication and financial lifelines for families separated by distance.
Poem - Words
This chapter discusses Charles Swain's poem questioning whether words alone can ever truly satisfy the deeper longings of the human heart. Students learn how the poet compares empty, insincere words to summer birds that arrive briefly and then depart, leaving behind nothing of lasting substance.
The chapter explains the poem's central argument that the human heart, much like a pilgrim, searches for something more meaningful and enduring than mere speech, and that words without sincerity and emotional substance are essentially worthless, like weeds rather than fruit. It also includes the poet's broader critique of empty rhetoric, suggesting that only words backed by genuine feeling and real action hold any true value.
Prose - Follow That Dream
This chapter discusses Irene Chua's letter written by a mother to her teenage daughter, Ming, offering wisdom, guidance and life lessons to help prepare her for life's future challenges. Students learn how the mother reflects on her own experiences, sharing personal insights about passion, sacrifice and the importance of building a strong support network when pursuing one's dreams.
The chapter explains the mother's central message that meaningful achievement rarely comes by accident, but rather develops through years of dedicated effort and an unshakeable belief in oneself, even when a chosen path proves difficult or uncertain. It also includes her acknowledgement that dreams themselves may evolve and change over time, encouraging her daughter to remain flexible and open while still pursuing her goals with sincerity and determination.
Poem - Believe in Yourself
This chapter discusses Robert Langley's poem encouraging readers to face life's challenges with courage, confidence and self-belief. Students learn how the poet describes the personal nature of facing a challenge, noting that ultimately no one else can face it on your behalf, leaving each person alone with their own future and choices.
The chapter explains how the poem acknowledges the difficulty of decision-making as the future draws closer, recognising that fear can just as easily push a person backward as forward into meaningful change. The poem’s central message is that taking the first difficult step despite uncertainty is essential for growth.
