PAAVAI VIDHYASHRAM SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL

(AFFILIATED TO CBSE)
CLASS : XI SUBJECT: ENGLISH
LITERATURE(HORNBILL)
LESSON 01
THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY- KUSHWANTH SINGH

CHAPTER SKETCH

Khushwant Singh is one of the prominent Indian writers and columnists. He has written on various
themes and issues. In this lesson he gives a detailed account of his grandmother who had a long
association with him. He had intimate relations with her since his childhood. Their friendship was
broken when they had to move to the city. The English school, science and music did not appeal to her.
The narrator went abroad for higher studies. His arrival after five years from abroad was an occasion
for celebration. The old lady tired herself and fell ill. Her death was mourned not only by the narrator’s
family but also by the sparrows she fed regularly in the afternoon.
THEME

In the Portrait of a Lady by Khushwant Singh we have the theme of innocence, friendship, love,
connection, kindness, selflessness, respect and acceptance.
I. SHORT ANSWERS

1.How long had the author known his grandmother as old and wrinkled? What did people say ?

The author had known her grandmother as old and wrinkled for the last twenty years. People said that she had
once been young and pretty and had even had a husband.

2.What was it hard for the author to believe that his grandmother was young and pretty ?

The author had always seen his grandfather as a very old woman. Her face was a criss-cross of wrinkles. She
used to stoop also. So, it was hard for the author to believe that she was once young and pretty.

3.Whose portrait was hung above the mantlepiece in the drawing room ?

The portrait of the author’s grandmother hung above the mantlepiece. He wore a big turban and loose-fitting
clothes. His long, white beard covered the most part of his chest. He looked to be hundred years old.

4.Why could the grandmother not walk straight and what was running from everywhere to everywhere ?

Grandmother could not walk straight because she was fat and slightly bent. A criss-cross of wrinkles on her
face was running from everywhere to everywhere.

5.The grandmother had a divine beauty. How does the author bring this out ?

Grandmother had a divine beauty. She looked like the winter landscape in the mountains in her spotless white
clothes. Her silver hair scattered over her pale face.

6.Do you think the grandmother has been portrayed as a very religious lady ?

Yes, grandmother was a very religious lady. She said prayers and counted the beads of the rosary. She read
holy books in the village temple. She wanted that some type of religious education should be given at school

7.What was the reaction of the author’s grandmother about his receiving education in English school ?
The author’s grandmother was pained to know that there was no teaching of God and scriptures. She did not
believe in the things they taught at the English school. She hated western science and learning.

8.How did the grandmother react when she learnt about music lessons being given to the author in the
English school?

The author’s grandmother silently disapproved of music lessons. To her music had lewd associations.
According to her it was the monopoly of harlots and beggars. It had nothing to do with gentlefolk.

9.Do you think the author and grandmother were good friends ? When is their friendship depicted at the
peak in the story ?

The author and his grandmother were good friends. Their friendship was at the peak when they were living
together in the village. She used to wake him up and get him ready for school. The author loved her voice
when she used to sing the morning prayers. She used to accompany him to the school.

10.Give two examples to prove that the author’s grandmother was a kind- hearted woman.

In village, the grandmother used to throw bread to the stray dogs. While in city, she used to feed sparrows
without break. That half hour used to be the best part of her day.

11.“That was a turning point in our friendship.” What was that turning point ?

The turning point in their friendship came when the author’s parents called the author and his grandmother to
the city. They shared one room but grandmother could not come with him to the school nor could she assist
him in his studies.

12.How did grandmother receive the author when he came back after his studies abroad ?

The grandmother received the author at the railway station. She hugged him and he could hear her reciting
her prayers. She beat the drums and sang song of the home coming of warriors in the evening.

13.What was the happiest moment of the day for the grandmother ?

In the afternoon, grandmother relaxed to feed the sparrows. She offered them bits of bread. Hundreds of
sparrows used to come and perched on her legs, shoulders, some even on her head. It was the happiest half
hour of her day.

14.What was ‘the last sign’ of physical contact between the author and the grandmother ? Why did the
author think that to be that last physical contact ?

When the author was going abroad for five years for higher studies, the grandmother kissed his forehead. The
moist imprint seemed to the author as ‘the last sign’ of physical contact. He thought that grandmother being
so old might not survive for five years.

15.What was the first time since the author had known her that she did not pray ?

The grandmother seemed to be overjoyed at the author’s return from abroad. She spent the evening with the
neighbouring women beating drum. She sang songs of the home coming of warriors. That was the first
evening, ever since the author had known had that she did not pray.

16.‘We protested. But she ignored our protests’. Who protested and why ?

The parents of the author, the author and other family members protested when the grandmother told them
that her last hour had come. She stopped talking to anybody in order to pray and tell the beads of her rosary.
17.How did grandmother breathe her last ?

She had started praying and telling her beads. Even before the author and others could suspect, her lips
stopped moving and the rosary fell from her lifeless fingers. A peaceful paleness spread on her lifeless face.

18.How did sparrows express their grief at the death of Khushwant Singh’s grandmother ?

The sparrows expressed their grief at the death of Khushwant Singh’s grandmother. Author’s mother throw
little crumbs of bread to the sparrows but they did not take any notice of them. As soon as the grandmother’s
dead body was taken off, the sparrows silently flew away.

II.LONG QUESTIONS/ANSWERS

Q1. Give a brief pen- Portrait of grandmother.

Ans. In this chapter “The portrait of Grandmother” the author Khuswant Singh describe the real picture of his
grand mother. He says that his grandmother was terribly old. Her face was criss-cross of wrinkles. She was fat
and had a little Stoop. She was so old that she couldn't have looked older. The author had lived with her for
twenty years. She had always looked the same. It was difficult to imagine that she had ever been young and
pretty but inspite of being so old, she looked very attractive she was dignified in her looks and habits. She was
fond of reading the scriptures also. In the morning she would wake him up to get ready for school. All the time
she would keep saying her morning prayer so that the author would listen it and get to learn it by heart, she
would spend whole day in the gurudwara of the village when the author was sent to an english school, she was
unhappy because children were not given any religious education, there. It was because of her religious nature
that she fed birds and animals. Her inner peace was also the same of this she remained calm and showed no
emotions when the author left for abroad for five years.Like all great persons of religion, she knew when her
end was near .she did not want to waste her little time in talking to anyone she kept saying prayers and telling
the beads till her last breath. All this shows that, the authors grandmother was really a kind hearted and
religious lady.

Q2. Write a brief note on Grandmother’s relationship with the sparrow?

Ans. In the city, Grandmother used to feed sparrows daily with breadcrumbs. She took great delight in it she
would feed the sparrows very lovingly. Hundreds of sparrows collected round her The Sparrows would come
and sit on her legs, shoulders and head also. But the old woman never shooed them away. The little birds too
loved her. They seemed to enjoy her company. When Grandmother died the sparrows were full of grief.
Thousands of sparrows came to the place where Grandmother lay dead. They were all very quiet. They did not
chirp at all. The author’s mother threw some crumbs to them but they did not touch them even. They flew
away quietly when Grandmother's dead body was carried off for cremation.

Q3. How would Grandmother prepare the author for school?

Ans. The author’s grandmother would wake him up in the morning to get him ready for school. She would bath
him and dress him up for school. All the time she would keep saying her morning prayer. She would say her
prayer in a monotonous sing-song. She did so with the hope that author would listen and get to learn it by
heart. She would wash his wooden slate and plaster it with yellow chalk. She would tie a tiny earthen ink-pot
and a red pen in a bundle. Then she would give the author a thick stale chapatti to eat. She would spread on it
some butter and sugar. Then after breakfast, she would hand the bundle to the author and walk him to school.