THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY

Question Answers

Q.1 Mention the three phases of the author’s relationship with his grandmother before he left the
country to study abroad.

Ans: The three phases of the author’s relationship with his grandmother before he left the country to
study abroad are as follows:

1. First Phase: The period of his early childhood where he used to live with her in the village. His
grandmother used to wake him up and get him ready for school. They both would walk to
school together and come back home together. They had a good friendship with each other.
2. Second Phase: In this phase, the author and his grandmother shifted to the city as the author’s
parents settled well in the city. Although they shared the same room, this was the turning point
of their friendship. Now, they saw less of each other
3. Third Phase: When the author went to the university, he was given a room of his own. This
made their friendship bond weaker as the common link between them ‘the same room’
snapped. She became quieter and private and kept the spinning wheel all day long. She would
feed the sparrows once a day and this was the only thing that made her happy now.

Q.2. Mention three reasons why the author’s grandmother was disturbed when he started going to
the city school.

Ans: When the author used to live in the village with her, they both had a good friendship. She used to
wake him up, got him ready and would also accompany him to school. All this changed when they
moved to the city. The grandmother was disturbed for the following reason:

1. She no longer could help him in his lessons. As he started going to the English medium school,
this became a barrier for her.
2. There were no teachings about God and the scriptures.
3. She didn’t like him taking the music lessons. According to her, music was only for beggars and
harlots.

Q.3 Mention three ways in which the author’s grandmother spent her days after he grew up.

Ans: His grandmother changed a lot since he grew up. She would spend her day at the spinning wheel,
chanting prayers and feeding sparrows.

Q.4. Mention the odd way in which the author’s grandmother behaved just before she died.
Ans: She didn’t pray the evening before dying. She collected the women from the neighbourhood and
started singing homecoming of the warriors with the help of the drum. The next morning when she fell
ill, she said her end was near. She started praying peacefully while laying on her bed. She refused to talk
to anyone during her last hours.

Q.5 Mention the way in which the sparrows expressed their sorrow when the author’s grandmother
died.

Ans: The grandmother used to feed the sparrows in her verandah each day. She developed a special
relationship with them. When she died, thousands of sparrows expressed their sorrow by sitting in a
scattered way around her in the verandah. They didn’t chirrup and there was complete silence. The
author’s mother tried to feed them by breaking the bread and throwing it in front of them. But they
didn’t eat anything. When the family carried grandmother’s corpse, they all flew away quietly.

Q.6. The author’s grandmother was a religious person. What are the different ways in which we come
to know this?

Ans: When she lived in the village with the author, she used to sing prayers in a monotonous sound
while getting him ready each morning. She used to walk the author to his school and then visit the
temple attached to the school everyday. She would sit and read scriptures. Later when they moved to
the city, she would carry the beads of the rosary with her all the time. She would continuously chant her
prayers and her hand remained busy in telling the beads. When the author went to study at the
university, she went into seclusion and spent her whole day in chanting prayers.

Q.7. Describe the changing relationship between the author and his grandmother. Did their feelings
for each other change?

Ans: In the early days, they both shared a good bond. She would get him ready for school, accompany
him and would come back with him later in the day. She would help him with his studies and would
teach him prayers by singing in a monotonous tone every morning. When they moved to the city, their
relationship was strained. He started going to an English medium school. She would no longer
accompany him to the school or could not help him with the lessons. She didn’t like his new school as
they never taught him about God or scriptures. Later, when he started taking music lessons, she
disapproved of it as she thought that music was only for beggars or harlots. She stopped talking to him
afterwards and would spend her day alone while chanting prayers.

When the author went to university and then abroad, their bond weakened. She would spin the wheel
the whole day and chant her prayers. She accepted the seclusion.

No, their feelings for each other didn’t change but during the time, a distance developed between them.
Q.8 Would you agree that the author’s grandmother was a person strong in character? If yes, give
instances that show this.

Ans: Yes, the grandmother was a strong person in character. The instances to show this are as follows:

1. She had her ownthoughts about schools and their teachings. She considered learning scriptures
a better thing than studying science or English.
2. She didn’t like music as according to her, music was for low-level people.
3. When the author went to the university, in seclusion, she would spin the wheel, chant prayers,
tell beads and feed bread crumbs to the sparrows.
4. When she sang the homecoming of the warriors for hours and didn’t stop even when her family
tried a million times.
5. During her last time, she didn’t want to waste any time talking to anyone so she lay silently on
her bed and chanted her prayers till she died.

Q9. Which language do you think the author and his grandmother used while talking to each other?

Ans: The author and his grandmother used to talk to each other in their mother tongue. As the author
belongs to Punjab state, they would talk in Punjabi language.