CH-1 The Portrait of a Lady

Question Answers

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

EXTRA QUESTIONS
6. 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.

7. 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 own thoughts 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.