The Portrait of a lady

Author- Khushwant Singh

By: Krisha Chaudhari

GR No-12473
XI- C
About the Author Carrier Timeline

 He was an Indian author, lawyer, diplomat,

journalist and politician.
 His experience in the 1947 Partition of India
inspired him to write Train to pakistan in
1956 (made into film in 1998), which became
his most well-known novel.

1938 1939
LL.B. - University of Professional career -
Khushwant Singh London practicing lawyer
2 February 1915 – 20 March 2014
1951 1947
All India Radio as a Joined Indian
journalist Foreign Services

1954 -1956
From 1956
Department of Mass 1980 to 1986 Member
Turned to editorial
Communication –UNESCO of Rajya sabha
services
Paris
About the Author
Year Awards / Honours Details
1974 Padma Bhushan, The third
highest civilian award in India
2000 Honest Man of the Year
2006 Punjab Rattan Award
2007 Padma Vibhushan - The second
highest civilian award in India
2010 Sahitya academy fellowship
award
2012 All-India Minorities Forum
Annual Fellowship Award
2013 Lifetime achievement award
2014 Fellow of King’s College London
Honours & Awards
Awards / Honours by
Government of India
Sulabh International Social Service
Organization
The Government of Punjab
Government of India
Sahitya academy of India
Uttar Pradesh Government
Tata Literature Live
King’s College London
Lesson Discussion
“The Portrait of a Lady” is a heart-warming pen picture of Khushwant Singh’s
grandmother who brought him up.

The author describes his association with his grandmother and the changes that
came about in their relationship with the passage of time. Her simplicity and
beauty left an indelible imprint on the poet’s mind.

 Appearance/Reminiscence of the
grandmother
 very old lady with a wrinkled face,
short, fat, slightly bent
 Spotless white clothes, silver hair
 Difficult for author to believe she
ever young
 Walked with one hand on waist,
other hand telling rosary beads, lip
moving in inaudible prayer
Lesson Discussion
 Initial years of togetherness: Life in the
village
 Author’s parents moved to city- left him
behind in the village with grand mother.
 Grandmother woke up him in the morning
and get him ready for the school.
 Fed him breakfast of stale chapatties with
butter and sugar.
 The author's grandmother always
accompanied him to school as it was
attached to the temple.
 Turning point of their friendship
 They moved to the city to stay with the author’s parents.
 Both shared a room but grandmother got isolated because as years rolled
by, they “saw less of each other”.
 Author admitted to English medium school, and started going in bus.
 Author was not taught about God and the scriptures which troubled  his
grandmother.
 There were no dogs in the streets, she took to feeding the sparrows
Lesson Discussion
 The grandmother loneliness combat
 Author given separate room on joining
University.
 Grandmother accepted her loneliness and
rarely spoke to anyone.
 Majority time of day, She sat spinning the
wheel and reciting her prayers.
 She relaxed in the afternoon, to feed the
sparrows who came in large numbers.
 She used to be at her happiest-self while
feeding the sparrows.

 Author leaves for higher studies

 The author decided to go abroad for further studies. He was sure that his
grandmother would be upset at his departure.
 She sees off the author at the railway station but did not show any
emotion.
 Emotions was absorbed in prayers, telling the beads of her rosary.
 She silently kissed the author's forehead, which the author considered to
be (supposedly) the last sign of their physical contact.
Lesson Discussion
 Author’s homecoming
 Author returns after five years -did not find any change in his
grandmother.
 Even that day, the happiest moment for her was feeding the sparrows.
 First time ever, she did not pray.
 She collected several ladies of the neighbourhood and sang songs related
to the home-coming of the warriors.
 However, the next day she was taken ill.

 Grandmother's death
 Though diagnosed with a mild fever by the doctor, grandmother knew
that her end was near.
 She decided to spend the last few hours with reciting prayers
 Her lips stopped moving, died with prayer on lips and rosary in hand.

 A silent tribute by the sparrows

 Thousands of sparrows scattered around her dead body.
 The sparrows mourned the death of the grandmother in utter silence.
 Refused bread crumbs offered by authors mother
 Fly away quietly when grand mother’s body is carried away for cremation.
Long - Q & A Q-1

 Mention the three phases of the author’s relationship with his

grandmother before he left the country to study abroad.

First Phase – childhood

 Took place in the village

 Both stayed together and shared a good friendship with each other
 Grandmother woke up him in the morning and get him ready for the
school.
 Fed him breakfast of stale chapatties with butter and sugar.
 grandmother always accompanied him to school as it was attached to the
temple.
Long - Q & A Q-1
Second Phase- boyhood

 They moved to the city to stay with the author’s parents.

 Both shared a room but grandmother got isolated because as years rolled
by, they “saw less of each other”.
 Author admitted to English medium school, and started going in bus.
 Author was not taught about God and the scriptures which troubled  his
grandmother.

Third Phase- early youth

 Author joined the university.

 He was given a room of his own and the common link of their friendship
was snapped.
 Last common link between them broken.
 Grandmother totally secluded and isolated.
 grandmother turns to wheel-spinning and reciting prayers all day long.
Long - Q & A Q-2

 Grandmother’s kindness and piety extended even to birds and

animals. Discuss.

 grandmother led a very simple life full of piety & noble values.
 very kind and generous in nature.
 Great affection for all the creatures of God.
 kind to animals and birds too.
 used to feed the street dogs in the village.
 In the city, she used to feed the birds with bread chumps.
 She broke the breads into little bits and fed to little birds
 bird perched on her legs and shoulder, but she never shooed them away
 birds would chirp and eat those giving's by the grandmother with a very
happy mood.
 day when the grandmother died, the birds didn't eat any bread chumps.
 Birds made no noise or chirp that day as a tribute to the great lady..
Long - Q & A Q-3

 Would you agree that the author’s grandmother was a person strong
in character ? If yes, give instances that show this.

 Yes, the author’s grandmother was a strong person in character.

 was a picture of contentment.
 had her own thoughts about the learning at school.
 considered the teaching of scriptures to be more fruitful than science and
music.
 In her phase of loneliness and seclusion, she took to wheel-spinning and
feeding sparrows.
 appeared composed, didn’t display any emotion when the author decided
to go abroad for studies.
 Ignoring everyone who tried to stop her, she sang for several hours
celebrating the home-coming of her grandson.
 last few hours of her life, ignoring the protests of family members,
stopped talking to everyone and took to reciting prayers and telling her
beads.
Long - Q & A Q-4

 The author’s grandmother was a religious person. What are the

different ways in which we come to know this?

 She moved about in the house “telling the beads of her rosary”.
 Her lips constantly moved in “inaudible prayer”.
 her morning prayers in monotonous sing-song hoping that the author
would learn it by heart.
 Everyday, she went along with the author to his school and sat in the
temple that was attached to it,
 In temple, reading the holy books for hours.
 believed in the teachings about God and scriptures
 did not like that her grandson was not taught about scriptures in the city
school.
 Gradually, she turned to reciting prayers throughout the day.
 Before dying, she stopped talking to her family members and turned to
prayers, and counting the beads.
Short - Q & A Q-1 & 2

 Why was it hard for author to believe that his grandmother was
young & pretty?

 She was very old, face was covered with wrinkles, hair was white, back
was bent
 He always seen her in the same physical condition for last twenty years

 Draw comparison between village school and city school education.

 In the village, students where taught alphabet, prayer and religious texts.
 In the city, students where taught English language, Western Science and
Music.
 Children where not given any lesson on religion and scriptures
 In the village, the temple priest as teacher while in the city specialist
teachers to teach different subjects
Short - Q & A Q-3 & 4

 Why did the grandmother stop talking before her death?

 She was deeply intuitive & knew that her end was near
 She regretted not praying on the day her grandson arrived from abroad
 She wanted to make amends for her omission and devotes rest of the time
in praying to god.

 Write about grandmother daily routine in the village.

 She bathed and dressed the author and got him ready for school
 She tied a wooden slate, an earthen inkpot and pn, in bundle and handed
it to him
 Gave him stale chapattis with little butter and sugar spread on it in
breakfast
 Set out for temple for prayers and reading scriptures
MCQ- Kahoot

Click here for MCQ- “Hornbill- The Portrait of Lady"

https://create.kahoot.it/share/hornbill-the-portrait-of-la
dy/d217dca4-eb81-405e-b123-f3d421385f18
Thank You !!!