THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY

QUIZ

I. Read the statements below and find the sutiable answer from the given options.

1. The portrait of a Lady is written by __________________

a. Raja Rao
b. Khushwant Singh.
c. Naipaul
d. Ruskin Bond
2. The chief character in the Portrait of a Lady is Khushwant Singh’s
_______________
a. Mother
b. Father
c. Brother
d. Grandmother
3. In the village the grandmother used to feed the ___________________
a. Sparrows
b. Dogs
c. Cows
d. All the above
4. How did the grandmother spend most of her time in the city______________
a. Feeding sparrows
b. Reading
c. Gossiping
d. Spinning the wheel.

II. Read the following extract and answer the following questions:

1. She was like the winter landscape of the mountains, an expanse of pure white
serenity breathing peace and contentment.
a. Who is referred to in the above lines?
b. Who is the speaker?
c. Explain the statement “an expanse of pure white serenity”?

Answers:

Begin the RTC with:

These lines have been taken from the chapter ‘The Portrait of a lady’ by Khushwant
Singh.
 a. Khushwant Singh’s grandmother is referred here.
b. The speaker is the narrator, Khushwant Singh.
c. The author implies that his grandmother’s spotless white dress and grey hair
was a picture of serenity, peace, and beauty.
2. I would tell her English words and little things of western science and learning,
the law of gravity, Archimedes principle, the world being round. This made her
unhappy.
a. Who tells about western science and learning to whom?
b. What difference did grandmother feel?
c. What is the reason for grandmother’s grief?

Answers:

a. The author Khushwant Singh shares with his grandmother things related to
western science and English.
b. The grandmother was in favour of the education system prevailing in the
village which was completely different from the education being imparted in
the city school.
c. The grandmother was quite disappointed to learn that her grandson was
learning science (which according to her was blasphemous) and music (which
had lewd associations). Teaching of scriptures was not taken up in the
English medium school in the city

3. Even on the first day of my arrival, her happiest moments were with her
sparrows whom she fed longer and with frivolous rebukes.
a. Which were the happiest moments for the old grandmother in the city?
b. What made her to fall in love with sparrows?
c. What is meant by ‘Frivolous rebukes’?

Answers:

a. The happiest moments for the old grandmother after reaching the city were
the time she spent feeding the sparrows.
b. The old lady accepted her loneliness in the city. She used to feed the stray dogs
in her village, as there were no stray dogs around she started to feed the
sparrows.
c. It means not serious but gentle criticism.

III. Answer the questions briefly.

1. How does Khushwant Singh describe his old grandmother?

Ans: Khushwant Singh says that his grandmother was so old that she could not get
any older. Her face was full of wrinkles. She was like the winter landscape of the
mountains, an expanse of pure white serenity breathing peace and contentment. She
was short, fat and somewhat bent. It was unbelievable to imagine that she had once
been young and pretty, and had a husband. The thought of her being a child once was
almost revolting to him.

2. How long had the narrator known his grandmother-old and wrinkled? What did
people say? How did the narrator react?
Ans. The narrator had known his grandmother-old and wrinkled for the last twenty
years. She was terribly old. Perhaps she could not have looked older. People said that
she had once been young and pretty. They said that she even had husband. The
narrator found it hard to believe.

3. How did the narrator's grandfather appear in the portrait?

Ans. The narrator’s grandfather looked very old. He had a long white beard. His
clothes were loose fitting. He wore a big turban. He looked too old to have a wife or
children. He looked at least a hundred years old. He looked like someone who could
have only lots and lots of grandchildren.

4. Describe the happiest half-hour of the day for the grandmother?

Ans: For Khushwant Singh’s grandmother there was no other activity that would give
her happiness than feeding the sparrows in the afternoon for half an hour. The
sparrows could be seen perched on her legs, shoulders and even on her head but were
never shooed away by her.

5. How did the grandmother spend her time when the narrator went up to the
University?
Ans: The grandmother now lived alone in her room. She accepted her loneliness
quietly. She was now always busy with her spinning wheel. She sat at her spinning
wheel reciting prayers. She hardly talked to anyone. In the afternoon, she would feed
the sparrows.

6. Why didn’t the grandmother pray in the evening on the day the narrator come
back home?
Ans: There was a strange change in her behaviour. She was over-excited. She
celebrated the arrival of her grandson. She collected all the women of the
neighbourhood. For hours she continued singing and beating the drum. She had to be
persuaded to stop to avoid overstraining. Perhaps it was the first time that she didn’t
pray.

7. Describe in brief how the old lady died peacefully.

Ans: Because of overstraining at such an old age, the grandmother was taken ill. She
knew for certain that her end was near. So, she declined to talk to anybody. She
wanted to spend the last moments of her life praying and telling the beads of her
rosary. Then slowly her lips stopped moving and the rosary fell from her lifeless
fingers. Thus, she died peacefully.

8. Why did the grandmother feed dogs and birds in the village and then in the city?
What did the habit tell about her nature?
Ans: The old lay was a caring person. She had a love for birds and animals. In the
village, she threw chappatis to the street dogs. In the city, there were no dogs around,
so she began to feed little birds. This showed her affection for all living creatures and
her noble nature.

9. How did the grandmother see the narrator off at the railway station?
Ans: The grandmother was not at all sentimental. She kept quiet and didn’t show her
emotions. Her lips moved in prayers and her fingers were busy telling the beads of her
rosary. She only kissed the narrator’s forehead. He cherished the moist imprint as
perhaps the last sign of physical contact between them.

IV. Answer the questions in detail.

1. Trace the interest of the old grandmother in the education of the author.

Ans: The old grandmother had no formal education. But she was seriously concerned
about the education of her grandson. She used to wash and plaster his wooden slate,
get the school bag ready and go with him to the school. She even helped him with his
lessons in the village. Even in the city, she would ask the boy what he had been taught
at school.

But she could not understand the English words and scientific concepts. She felt
unhappy to know that there was no teaching about God and scriptures. She was
shocked to know about music lessons being taught there. So, she withdrew herself
completely. The grandmother belonged to the old-world order. So, her concept of
good education was different. Her mindset could not accept any change.
 2. What image of the grandmother emerges from ‘The Portrait of a Lady’?

Ans: Khushwant Singh’s grandmother has been portrayed as a very old lady. She was
short, fat and slightly bent. Her face was wrinkled and she was always dressed in
spotless white clothes. She was a deeply religious lady. Her lips were always moving
in a silent prayer. She was always telling the beads of her rosary.

She went to the temple and read the scriptures. The grandmother was a kind lady. She
used to feed dogs in the village. In the city she took to feeding the sparrows. She had
great affection for her grandson. She looked after him in the village. She could not
adjust herself to the Western way of life, Science and English education.

She hated music and was distressed to know that there was no teaching about God
and holy books in Khushwant’s new English school. On the whole, she was a nice,
kind-hearted and religious lady.

3. Describe how the bond of friendship between the author and his grandmother
grew strong and then weak with the passage of time.

Ans: The little boy and his old grandmother had a very close bond in the village. The
grandmother gave him his morning bath and breakfast. She went with him to the
school in the village and they came back home together in the afternoon. But when the
two moved to the city, their friendship suffered a crack. It was a turning point in their
relationship.

The author went to an English school in the city. He went by the school bus. So, the
grandmother could not accompany him anymore. Now he was being taught Science,
Math, and English; so she could not help him with his lessons. Moreover, when she
heard that music lessons were also being given at school, she felt very disturbed as
music had cheap associations for her. Now she saw less of him and withdrew herself.

When he went to University, he got a room of his own. The common link of sharing
the same room was also broken. She felt isolated. She took to spinning the charkha and
feeding the sparrows.

ASSIGNMENT TO BE DISCUSSED:

1. Why was the author’s grandmother unhappy with the city education?
2. Draw a comparison between village school education and city school education.
3. What was the last sign of physical contact between the author and the
grandmother?
4. The grandmother has been portrayed as a very religious lady. What details in the
story create that impression?
5. Explain how the author and his grandmother shared good friendship in their
village?
6. How did the grandmother make herself comfortable in the city life?