The Portrait of A Lady - (Notes)

ENGLISH ASSIGNMENT
Class: XI
Topic: THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY (prose) by Khushwant Singh
1. Author’s Reminiscence of his Grandparents

a. Grandmother
i. Old, wrinkled, short, fat, slightly bent
ii. Walked with one hand on waist, other hand telling rosary beads, lips moving
in inaudible prayer
iii. Difficult for author to believe she was ever young
iv. Spotless white clothes, silver hair
v. Exuded serenity, peace and contentment
vi. An expanse of purity and peace as in snow covered winter landscape with
mountains
b. Grandfather
i. Portrait hanging above mantelpiece
ii. Looked hundred years old with white flowing beard, wore big turban and
loose fitting clothes
2. Early bonding with grandmother in village
a. Author’s parents moved to city – left him behind in the village with grandmother –
both became good friends
b. Daily routine:
i. Grandmother woke up author in the morning, bathed, dressed and got him
ready for school and plastered his slate. Also sang morning prayers all the
while to make author imbibe them.
ii. Fed him breakfast of stale chapattis with butter and sugar
iii. Accompanied author to the village school attached to the temple where
priest taught the children
iv. Grandmother read holy scriptures in the temple while author studied
alphabet and morning prayer in the school.
v. Both walked back home together feeding stale chapattis to the village dogs
3. Turning Point in friendship
a. Author and grandmother shifted to city from village to be with author’s parents
b. Both shared a room but grandmother got isolated because:
i. Author admitted to an English medium school, travelled to school in a motor
bus
ii. Grandmother unhappy at author being taught English, Science and Music
iii. Grandmother distressed at lack of religion-based education in city school
iv. Grandmother showed displeasure by ceasing to talk to the author
v. No street dogs to be fed in the city
4. Common link of friendship snapped
a. Author given separate room on joining University
b. Grandmother quietly accepts her seclusion – devotes herself to spinning the wheel,
reciting prayers from morning till evening
c. Happiest half hour of the day – when she fed bread crumbs to scores of sparrows
every afternoon
d. Author goes abroad for higher education – grandmother accepts this with quiet
stoicism
e. Grandmother sees off the author at the railway station and kisses his forehead,
author cherishes it as last physical contact between the two
f. Author returns after five years – grandmother there to receive him at the station
g. Next day grandmother gathers neighbourhood women and sings songs beating an
old drum – first time skips prayers
h. Taken ill the next day – aware of her approaching end – regretted her folly of giving
up prayer the previous day – insisted on praying - dies with prayer on lips and
rosary in hands
i. With setting sun, grandmother’s city friends, the birds arrive to pay their last respect
i. Sit silently without chirruping
ii. Refuse bread crumbs offered by author’s mother
iii. Fly away quietly when grandmother’s body is carried away
______________________________________________________________________________
SOLVED QUESTIONS
Q.1. Grandmother’s kindness and piety extended even to birds and animals. Discuss. (6)
A.1. Grandmother was a compassionate soul with great affection for all the creatures of God.
During her stay in the village, she remained busy looking after her grandson but never failed to
feed stale chapattis to the stray dogs. When she came to live in the city, she took to feeding
sparrows as there were no dogs in the streets. She broke the bread into little bits and fed it to
hundreds of little birds who collected round her. Some perched on her legs and others on her
shoulders, but she never shooed them away. So deep was their mutual love for each other that these
creatures were absolutely sorrow-stricken when she died. They thronged her room and paid their
tribute to her by observing silence and flew away only after the old lady’s corpse was carried away
for cremation.
Q.2. The grandmother herself was not formally educated but was serious about the author’s
education. How does the text support this? (6)
A.2. Although the grandmother herself was uneducated, she believed in the sanctity of education
and took keen interest in her grandson’s education. She got Khushwant Singh admitted to the
village school. Everyday she washed and plastered his wooden slate with yellow chalk and readied
his earthen ink-pot and red pen. She escorted him to and from school everyday and was happy
with education being imparted in the village school.
On shifting to the city, Khushwant Singh joined an English medium school. She still showed keen
interest in education and enquired everyday about what he was being taught in the city school.
Since she realized the value of education, she quietly accepted the author’s decision to go to
University and later abroad for higher studies. This clearly shows that though formally uneducated
herself, she was serious about the author’s education.
Q.1. Answer the following questions in 30-40 words: (3)

a. Why was the grandmother distressed at the teachings imparted to the author in the English
school?
b. Grandmother became a lonely figure in the city. How did she adjust and adapt to this
loneliness?
c. What could have been the cause of grandmother’s falling ill?
d. What was the sparrows’ reaction on the grandmother’s death? What was this indicative of?
e. Why was it hard for the author to believe that his grandmother was once young and pretty?
f. The grandmother had a divine beauty. How does the author bring this out?
g. “That was a turning-point in our friendship.” What was the turning-point?
h. What stories of the grandmother did the author treat as ‘Fables of the Prophets’? Why?
i. How did the grandmother prepare the author for going to school when they were staying
in the village?
j. The author’s grandmother celebrates his homecoming after five years and dies the next
day. What is it indicative of?
k. Why did the grandmother stop talking before her death?
Q.2. Answer the following questions in 120-150 words: (6)
a. Describe the three phases of the author’s relationship with his grandmother before he left
the country to study abroad.
b. The author’s grandmother was a very religious person. What instances of this noble value
do you find in the story?
c. Describe the changing relationship between the author and his grandmother. Did their
feelings for each other change?
d. Khushwant Singh’s grandmother was a person of strong values. Discuss.
e. Have you known someone who conducted his/her life with the values that form the core of
Khushwant Singh’s grandmother’s character? Do you feel the same sense of loss with
regard to someone whom you have loved and lost?
f. Draw a comparison between village school education and city school education.
g. How can you say that the grandmother and the author were good friends?
h. What was “the last sign” of physical contact between the author and the grandmother? Why
did the author think that to be the last physical contact?
i. Describe the grandmother’s association with the sparrows.
j. The grandmother was a kind-hearted woman. Give examples in support of your answer.
k. What was grandmother’s concept of proper education of children?

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ENGLISH ASSIGNMENT

1. Author’s Reminiscence of his Grandparents

Q.1. Answer the following questions in 30-40 words: (3)

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