THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY

KUSHWANT SINGH

Question 1.
Why was it hard for the author to believe that the grandmother was once young and
pretty?
Answer:
It was difficult for the author to believe that his grandmother was once young and pretty.
In fact, the thought was almost revolting. He had seen her old for the last twenty years.
He felt she could age no further. The very thought of her playing games as a child
seemed quite absurd and undignified.

Question 2.
The grandmother has been portrayed as a very religious lady. What details in the story
create this impression?
Answer:
The author recalls his grandmother as a very religious woman. He remembers her
hobbling about the house, telling the beads of her rosary. He recalls her morning
prayers and her reading scriptures inside the temple. The author recounts how, during
the last few days, she spent all her time praying.

Question 3.
The grandmother had a divine beauty. How does the author bring it out?
Answer:
The grandmother was not pretty but had a divine beauty. She dressed in spotless white.
Her silver locks were scattered untidily over her pale, puckered face, and her lips
constantly moved in an inaudible prayer. The author describes her “like the winter
landscape in the mountains”a personification of “serenity, breathing peace and
contentment.”

Question 4.
What proofs do you find of friendship between the grandmother and grandson in the
story?
Answer:
The grandmother and grandson were good friends. She got him ready and walked him
to and back from school. In the city, they shared a common bedroom. The author’s
grandmother saw him off, silently, but kissing him on his forehead, when he went
abroad and celebrated his return five years later.

Question 5.
The grandmother was a kind-hearted woman. Give examples in support of your answer.
Answer:
The grandmother was a kind-hearted woman. On her way back from school, she would
feed the village dogs with stale chapattis. In the city, when she could not move out, she
took to feeding sparrows that came and perched on her legs, shoulders, and head.

Question 6.
“This was the turning point in our friendship.” What was the turning point?
Answer:
The turning point in the friendship arrived when they shifted to the city. They saw less of
each other as she could neither accompany him to school, nor understand English. She
did not believe in science. She could not keep pace with the author’s modem education
that he received in the city school.

Question 7.
Draw a comparison between the author’s village school education and city school
education.
Answer:
The village school was attached to a temple and the students were taught the alphabet
and morning prayers. The author and his grandmother walked to the school in the
village. However, in the city he went by the school bus. He was taught science and
English but not taught about god. He was also taught music.

Question 8.
What was the happiest moment of the day for the grandmother?
Answer:
The happiest moment of the day for the grandmother in the city was when she was
feeding the sparrows. They perched on her legs, shoulders, and head but she never
shooed them away.

Question 9.
What was ‘the last sign’ of physical contact between the author and the grandmother?
Why did the author think that to be the last physical contact?
Answer:
The author was going abroad for five years. His grandmother kissed his forehead. He
presumed this as the last sign of physical contact between them. He feared that she
would not survive till he returned since he was going away for five years.

Question 10.
Everybody including the sparrows mourned the grandmother’s death. Elaborate.
Answer:
When the grandmother died, thousands of sparrows collected and sat in the courtyard.
There was no chirruping. When the author’s mother threw some breadcrumbs for them,
they took no notice of the breadcrumbs. They were full of grief at her death and flew
away quietly after the cremation.
Question 11.
Describe the author’s grandfather as he looked in his portrait.
Answer:
In the portrait, the grandfather was dressed in a big turban and loose-fitting clothes. His
long white beard covered the best part of his chest and he looked at least a hundred
years old. He looked grandfatherly to the author; someone who could never have been
young.

Question 12.
When the grandmother was taken ill, how were her views different from the doctor’s?
Answer:
When the grandmother was taken ill, the doctor felt it was mild fever and would go. But
the grandmother thought differently. She felt her end was near. She refused to waste
any more time talking instead of spending it in prayers as she sensed that only a few
hours remained before her life came to an end.

Question 13.
When people are pious and good, even nature mourns their death. Justify.
Answer:
When the grandmother died, the sparrows, along with the writer’s family, mourned her
death. Thousands of sparrows came and sat quietly all around her dead body. The
writer’s mother threw breadcrumbs but the sparrows took no notice of them. After her
cremation they flew without touching the crumbs.

LONG ANSWERS

Q1. Discuss the relevance of the title ‘The Portrait of a Lady’.

Answer:
In the lesson, ‘The Portrait of a Lady’, Khushwant Singh draws a heart-warming pen-
portrait of his grandmother whom he loved and admired. Though not pretty, she was
beautiful to the author’s perception. Telling the beads of her rosary while her lips
constantly moved in an inaudible prayer, she was like the winter landscape in the
mountains serene and content. She shared a special relationship with the author.

She got him ready and walked him to and from school. White he sat in the veranda
learning, his grandmother sat inside the temple reading scriptures. The writer recounts
his memories of his grandmother when he went abroad and how on his return she
collected women from the neighbourhood and beat the drum and sang for hours of the
homecoming of the warriors.

For the first time, she missed her prayers. She was a pious soul, who cared for the
family, and even dogs and sparrows; her death was mourned by all including the
sparrows. The writer, through his portrayal, makes the old lady endearing and
unforgettable.
Q2. Write a character sketch of the author’s grandmother using the following words:
affectionate, caring, kind and benevolent, religious, a strong woman.
Answer:
In the lesson ‘The Portrait of a Lady’, Khushwant Singh draws a heart-warming pen-
portrait of his grandmother whom he loved and admired. The author’s grandmother was
not pretty but to the author she was a beautiful woman an embodiment of serenity and
contentment. She was a pious and a religious lady who was always telling beads of her
rosary and her lips constantly moved in inaudible prayer. She was an affectionate and a
caring woman. She shared a special relationship with the author.

She woke him up each morning, bathed him, dressed him, plastered his wooden slate,
gave him breakfast and walked him to school. Her kindness and benevolence extended
to the dogs and sparrows as well, whom she fed dutifully.

She was a strong woman, who did not show any emotion when the author was going
abroad but when he returned, she collected women from the neighbourhood and beat
the drum and sang for hours of the homecoming of warriors.