The Portrait Of A Lady by Khushwant Singh, Class 11 CBSE (HORNBILL) Summary, Detailed Explanation, Questions with their Answers, word meaning, Notes and Literary Devices
THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY
By Khushwant Singh
DETAILED SUMMARY, LITERARY DEVICES, DIFFICULT WORDS AND THEIR MEANING, AND QUESTION-ANSWER OF “THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY”
INTRODUCTION
The story "The Portrait of a Lady" by Khushwant Singh portrays his grandmother. There is no doubt that occasional exaggeration can be noticed when the author describes his grandmother. He tries to present her as a saintly figure. The story revolves around the bond between the narrator and his grandmother. Through the character of grandmother, the writer has explored the theme of tradition and spirituality
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Khushwant Singh (1915-2014) was a famous Indian writer and journalist. He got his education in India and the UK. He has written novels, short stories, and historical and political commentary. His most acclaimed work, "Train to Pakistan," highlights the horrors of the partition of India in 1947. He had also been the editor of “The Illustrated Weekly of India” and “Hindustan Times”. His columns, characterised by humour and insight, became very popular.
DIFFICULT WORDS AND THEIR MEANING
Wrinkled: small lines or folds
Portrait: picture
Mantelpiece: a shelf above and around a fireplace.
Revolting: extremely unpleasant/disgusting
Absurd: ridiculous/Illogical
Undignified: disrespectful
Fables: stories with a moral
Prophets: a person who is sent by God to spread His message
Criss-cross: many straight lines that cross over each other
Hobbled: walked unsteadily/walked with difficulty
spotless: clean
Stoop: bend one’s body forward
Rosary: a string of beads
Locks: hair
Scattered: spread over a large area
Untidily: not well arranged
Puckered: wrinkled/irregular folds
Inaudible: unable to be heard
Serenity: calmness
Monotonous: dull and boring
Bothered: worried
Fetch: bring
Stale: not fresh
Scriptures: the holy writings of a religion
Growling: making a low rough throaty sound
Courtyard: an open area surrounded by building/wall
Rolled by: passed
Distressed: sorrowful/sad
Lewd: Indecent
Harlots: Prostitutes
Snapped: break suddenly and completely
Seclusion: the state of being private and away from the people
Spinning-wheel: a household machine with a wheel attached to it for spinning yarn
Veritable: real
Bedlam: confusion
Chirrupings: the sound of a small bird
Perched: sit
Shooed: drive away
Cherished: hold dear
Moist: wet
Imprint: mark
Clasped: hold tightly
Frivolous: not serious
Rebuke: scold
Thumped: Hit with hand or fist
Sagging: hanging/loose
Dilapidated: in a bad condition
Persuade: to convince
Overstraining: overdoing something
Omitted: leave out
Pallor: paleness
Customary: traditional
Crude: roughly made
Cremated: burn a body death
Blaze: very bright
Shroud: a piece of cloth used to wrap the dead body
Corpse: dead body
DETAILED SUMMARY AND EXPLANATION
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My grandmother, like everybody’s grandmother, was an old woman. She had been old and wrinkled for the twenty years that I had known her. People said that she had once been young and pretty and had even had a husband, but that was hard to believe. My grandfather’s portrait hung above the mantelpiece in the drawing room. He wore 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 did not look the sort of person who would have a wife or children. He looked as if he could only have lots and lots of grandchildren. As for my grandmother being young and pretty, the thought was almost revolting. She often told us of the games she used to play as a child. That seemed quite absurd and undignified on her part and we treated it like the fables of the Prophets she used to tell us.
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She had always been short and fat and slightly bent. Her face was a criss-cross of wrinkles running from everywhere to everywhere. No, we were certain she had always been as we had known her. Old, so terribly old that she could not have grown older, and had stayed at the same age for twenty years. She could never have been pretty; but she was always beautiful. She hobbled about the house in spotless white with one hand resting on her waist to balance her stoop and the other telling the beads of her rosary. Her silver locks were scattered untidily over her pale, puckered face, and her lips constantly moved in inaudible prayer. Yes, she was beautiful. She was like the winter landscape in the mountains, an expanse of pure white serenity breathing peace and contentment.
Detailed Explanation of the above Text and Question - Answer:
According to the author, his grandmother was a very old lady with wrinkles on her face. People used to say that once she had been young and pretty, but it was hard to believe because he had always found her the same.
According to the author, his grandfather's portrait was hanging above the mantelpiece. He appeared to be almost a hundred years old. He had a long white beard that had covered the maximum part of his chest. Moreover, he was wearing a big turban and loose-fitting clothes. The grandfather did not appear to be a person who could have children but only a lot and lots of grandchildren.
The thought of the grandmother being young and pretty was quite revolting. Often, the grandmother talked about the games she played as a girl. But once again it was unbelievable. The children thought it was one of the stories she used to tell about the prophets.
The author has given a complete description of the physical appearance of his grandmother. She was old, wrinkled, and had a fat and bent body. She used to put her hands on her waist to give support to her body.
Further, the author says that his grandmother had never been pretty. It means she had never been physically attractive but she was beautiful because of her inner qualities. His grandmother was a peace-loving, very friendly, and contented lady.
In the end, the author has compared his grandmother to the winter landscape in the mountains. The mountains are usually covered with ice in the winter season, and there is complete peace. In the same way, the author's grandmother was also dressed in white and even had white hair. At the same time, she was a peace-loving and contented lady.
The grandmother was a deeply religious woman. She used to tell you the beads of rosary almost all the time and her lips moved in inaudible prayer.
Q. How did the grandfather look in the portrait?
Ans. In the portrait, the grandfather appeared to be very old. He had a long white beard which covered the maximum part of his chest. He was wearing a big turban and loose-fitting clothes. The author says that his grandfather looked as if he could only have lots and lots of grandchildren, not any wife or children.
Q. What was revolting for the author?
Ans. That his grandmother had once been young and pretty.
Q. What was considered to be the fables of the prophets by the author and other children?
Ans. The grandmother used to tell the children about the games she played when she was a girl. This was considered to be one of the fables she used to tell the children about the prophets.
Q. What colour dress did the grandmother wear?
Ans. White dress
Q. Which literary device has been used in the expression, “like a winter landscape in the mountains”?
Ans. Simile
Q. Why does the author compare his grandmother to a winter landscape in the mountains?
Ans. As we know the mountains are usually covered with ice in the winter season, and there is complete peace. In the same way, the author's grandmother was also dressed in white and even had white hair. At the same time, she was a peace-loving and contented lady.
Q. Give an example to show that the grandmother was a deeply religious woman.
Ans. In fact, the grandmother was a deeply religious woman. She used to tell you the beads of rosary almost all the time and her lips moved in inaudible prayer.
Text:
My grandmother and I were good friends. My parents left me with her when they went to live in the city and we were constantly together. She used to wake me up in the morning and get me ready for school. She said her morning prayer in a monotonous sing-song while she bathed and dressed me in the hope that I would listen and get to know it by heart; I listened because I loved her voice but never bothered to learn it. Then she would fetch my wooden slate which she had already washed and plastered with yellow chalk, a tiny earthen ink-pot and a red pen, tie them all in a bundle and hand it to me. After a breakfast of a thick, stale chapatti with a little butter and sugar spread on it, we went to school. She carried several stale chapattis with her for the village dogs.
My grandmother always went to school with me
because the school was attached to the temple.
The priest taught us the alphabet and the
morning prayer. While the children sat
in rows on either side of
the verandah singing the alphabet or
the prayer in a chorus, my grandmother
sat inside reading the
scriptures. When we had both finished,
we would walk back together. This time
the village dogs would
meet us at the temple door. They followed
us to our home growling and fighting with
each other for
the chapattis we threw to them.
Detailed Explanation of the above Text and Question - Answer:
According to the author, he and his grandmother were good friends. When the author's parents shifted to the city they left him with his grandmother, and therefore, they had been living together. Every morning it was the grandmother who used to wake him up, give him a bath, and get him ready for school.
While the grandmother gave the narrator a bath she used to sing prayers in a somewhat monotonous way because she wanted her grandson to learn it (prayer) by heart. The author listened because he loved her voice but he never bothered to learn it by heart.
The grandmother used to wash and plaster his wooden slate and made a bundle of his belongings. She also gave him breakfast which was stale chapati with butter and sugar spread on it.
The grandmother also carried a lot of chapatis for the village dogs. This highlights the universal love or religious nature of the grandmother.
Q. Why did the grandmother accompany the author to school?
Ans. The grandmother used to accompany the author to school because the school was attached to the temple. While the narrator learned his lesson sitting on the verandah with other children, the grandmother read scriptures.
Q What kind of education was provided to the children in the village school?
Ans. An informal and religious type of education.
Q. What were the children taught in the village school?
Ans. Alphabets and morning prayer.
Q. Who used to be the teacher in the village school?
Ans. The priest used to be the teacher in the village school.
When my parents were comfortably settled in the city, they sent for us. That was a turning point in our friendship. Although we shared the same room, my grandmother no longer came to school with me. I used to go to an English school on a motor bus. There were no dogs in the streets and she took to feeding sparrows in the courtyard of our city house.
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Detailed Explanation of the above Text and Question - Answer:
According to the author, when his parents settled in the city, they called him as well as the grandmother. This shift to the city was a turning point in their friendship. The grandmother could not accompany him to school as he began to go to an English school by bus. But still, they shared the room. In the city, there were no street dogs like those in the village and therefore, she started feeding the sparrows there which came in the courtyard of their house.
Q. When did the author and his grandmother shift to the city?
Ans. When the author's parents were settled in the city they called the author and his grandmother.
Q. What was the turning point in the friendship between grandmother and author?
Ans. When they shifted to the city.
Q. Why was it a turning point?
Ans. The grandmother could not accompany the author to school as he started going to an English school by bus.
Q. Whom did the grandmother feed in the city?
Ans. Sparrows
As the years rolled by we saw less of each other. For some time she continued to wake me up and get me ready for school. When I came back she would ask me what the teacher had taught me. I would tell her English words and little things of western science and learning, the law of gravity, Archimedes’ Principle, the world being round, etc. This made her unhappy. She could not help me with my lessons. She did not believe in the things they taught at the English school and was distressed that there was no teaching about God and the scriptures. One day I announced that we were being given music lessons. She was very disturbed. To her music had lewd associations. It was the monopoly of harlots and beggars and not meant for gentlefolk. She said nothing but her silence meant disapproval. She rarely talked to me after that.
Detailed Explanation of the above Text and Question - Answer:
According to the author, with the passage of time, the distance between him and his grandmother started widening. They saw less of each other.
The grandmother was really concerned about the author's education, and therefore, she continued to get him ready for school. When the author returned from school, she used to ask what the teacher had taught. The author, in reply, used to say that he was taught English words, Archimedes' principle, the law of gravity, the world being round, etc. This did not make the grandmother happy.
As the grandmother was a religious woman, she wanted the teaching about God and scriptures in the school.
One day the narrator informed the grandmother that he was learning music. It was shocking for her because she used to think that music was associated with people like harlots and beggars, and not meant for the gentlefolk.
After that, she rarely talked to the author. The grandmother remained silent because she did not want to get in the way of the author's education and career.
Q. Who used to wake the author up and get him ready for school in the city?
Ans. The grandmother.
Q. What did the grandmother ask the author when he returned from school?
Ans. What the author had learnt in school.
Q. What was taught in the city school?
Ans. English words, arithmetic, science, geography, etc.
Q. Why was the grandmother not happy with the city school education?
Ans. The grandmother was a deeply religious woman and she wanted her grandson to learn about God and scriptures. But there was no teaching of God and scriptures in the city school. That's why she was distressed.
Q. How did the grandmother react when the author told her that he was learning music?
Ans. She was shocked. She did not like it but remained silent. After that, she rarely talked to the author.
Q. What did the grandmother think about music?
Ans. She thought that music was not meant for gentle people but for low-grade people like harlots and beggars.
Text:
When I went up to University, I was given a room of my own. The common link of friendship was snapped. My grandmother accepted her seclusion with resignation. She rarely left her spinning-wheel to talk to anyone. From sunrise to sunset she sat by her wheel spinning and reciting prayers. Only in the afternoon she relaxed for a while to feed the sparrows. While she sat in the verandah breaking the bread into little bits, hundreds of little birds collected round her creating a veritable bedlam of chirrupings. Some came and perched on her legs, others on her shoulders. Some even sat on her head. She smiled but never shooed them away. It used to be the happiest half hour of the day for her.
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Detailed Explanation of the above Text and Question - Answer:
The grandmother and the author continued to share a room in the city. But when the author joined the university, he was given a separate room. In this way, the common link of friendship was snapped.
The grandmother, thereafter, kept herself busy with the prayer and the spinning wheel from the morning till evening.
In the afternoon she used to take a little break to feed the sparrows. That was the happiest time of the day for her. The sparrows were so close to her that some of them sat on her legs, some on her shoulders, and some even on her head. She never shooed them away (drove them away)
Q. What was the common link of friendship between the grandmother and the author?
Ans. They shared the room.
Q. How did the common link of friendship between grandmother and the author snap?
Ans. When the author joined the university, he was given a room of his own. At this point, the common link of friendship between the grandmother and the author was snapped
Q. How did the grandmother keep herself busy in the city?
Ans. The grandmother kept herself busy with the spinning wheel and prayers from morning till evening. In the afternoon she used to take half an hour break to feed the sparrows.
Q. How did the grandmother react when the author was given a room of his own and she was separated from him?
Ans. The grandmother did not utter a word in protest. She accepted it unwillingly. After that, she kept herself busy with prayer and spinning wheels.
Text:
When I decided to go abroad for further studies, I was sure my grandmother would be upset. I would be away for five years, and at her age one could never tell. But my grandmother could. She was not even sentimental. She came to leave me at the railway station but did not talk or show any emotion. Her lips moved in prayer, her mind was lost in prayer. Her fingers were busy telling the beads of her rosary. Silently she kissed my forehead, and when I left I cherished the moist imprint as perhaps the last sign of physical contact between us.
Detailed Explanation of the above Text and Question - Answer:
The author decided to go abroad for higher studies. He thought that his grandmother would surely be upset as he was going for five years. But just contrary to his expectation, the grandmother was not even sentimental.
She went to the railway station to say goodbye to him. She kissed the author's forehead just a little before his departure. The author thought it (kiss on the forehead) to be the last physical contact between them.
Once again the author was wrong. When he returned after five years he found his grandmother at the railway station. She did not look even a day older.
Q. What did the narrator think about the grandmother when he decided to go abroad?
Ans. The author thought that the grandmother would be upset
Q. Why did the author think that his grandmother would be upset?
Ans. The author thought that his grandmother would be upset as he was going abroad for five years and he was not sure that he would meet his grandmother again.
Q. How did the grandmother react while the author was going abroad?
Ans. The grandmother went to the railway station to say goodbye to him. She did not seem to be even sentimental. Just a little before the author departed, the grandmother kissed his forehead.
Q. What has been called "the last physical contact” by the author?
Ans. When the grandmother kissed the author's forehead, the latter thought that it might be the last physical contact between them
Q. Why did the author think the kiss was the last physical contact?
Ans. The grandmother was very old and the author was going abroad for five years.
Text:
But that was not so. After five years I came back home and was met by her at the station. She did not look a day older. She still had no time for words, and while she clasped me in her arms I could hear her reciting her prayers. Even on the first day of my arrival, her happiest moments were with her sparrows whom she fed longer and with frivolous rebukes.
In the evening a change came over her. She did not pray. She collected the women of the neighbourhood, got an old drum and started to sing. For several hours she thumped the sagging skins of the dilapidated drum and sang of the home-coming of warriors. We had to persuade her to stop to avoid overstraining. That was the first time since I had known her that she did not pray.
The next morning she was taken ill. It was a mild fever and the doctor told us that it would go. But my grandmother thought differently. She told us that her end was near. She said that, since only a few hours before the close of the last chapter of her life she had omitted to pray, she was not going to waste any more time talking to us.
We protested. But she ignored our protests. She lay peacefully in bed praying and telling her beads. Even before we could suspect, her lips stopped moving and the rosary fell from her lifeless fingers. A peaceful pallor spread on her face and we knew that she was dead.
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Detailed Explanation of the above Text and Question - Answer:
According to the author, he did not find any major change in the routine of the grandmother when he returned from abroad after 5 years.
The grandmother was present at the railway station to receive him. He noticed that she remained busy with the spinning wheel and prayer. In the afternoon she took a break to feed the sparrows. But the duration of the feeding had increased.
In the afternoon, a change came over her. The grandmother did not pray that evening. She collected a few women, arranged an old drum and continued to sing the homecoming of the warriors and beat the drum for many hours.
The members of the family feared that the grandmother might fall ill due to over-straining. Therefore, they had to convince the grandmother to stop.
The next day, the grandmother fell ill. The doctor came to examine it and told that there was nothing serious about it. He said that it was a mild fever and soon she would be alright.
But the grandmother thought differently. She thought that her end was near. She said that she would not talk to anyone as she had not prayed. She regretted that she stopped praying just a little before the last part of her life.
The members of the family protested grandmother's decision not to talk but she did not listen to anyone. She remained busy in telling the beads of rosary and offering prayer. Suddenly they noticed that the rosary had fallen on the ground and her lips stopped moving. It meant she was dead.
Q. What does the expression "That was not so" mean?
Ans. It meant that the narrator was wrong. Earlier, while going abroad, he thought that he would not be able to see his grandmother anymore. But when he returned after five years, he found that there was no any change in his grandmother. Earlier when the grandmother had kissed him on his forehead, he thought it to be the last physical contact.
Q. What was the slight change in the routine of the grandmother that the author noticed after returning from abroad after five years?
Ans. The time of the feeding of sparrows had increased.
Q. How did the grandmother celebrate the homecoming of the author?
Ans. The grandmother collected some women from the neighbourhood, got an old drum, and began to sing the song of the homecoming of the warriors and beat the drum for many hours.
Q. What was the result of overstraining?
Ans. The grandmother fell ill.
Q. What did the doctor say after examining the grandmother?
Ans. The doctor said that it was a mild fever and thus, she would recover soon.
Q. What did the grandmother think when she fell ill?
Ans. The grandmother thought that her end was near. In other words, she apprehended her death.
Q. How did the grandmother behave just before his death?
Ans. She avoided everyone. She refused to talk and remained busy with the prayer.
Text:
We lifted her off the bed and, as is customary, laid her on the ground and covered her with a red shroud. After a few hours of mourning we left her alone to make arrangements for her funeral. In the evening we went to her room with a crude stretcher to take her to be cremated. The sun was setting and had lit her room and verandah with a blaze of golden light. We stopped half-way in the courtyard. All over the verandah and in her room right up to where she lay dead and stiff wrapped in the red shroud, thousands of sparrows sat scattered on the floor. There was no chirruping. We felt sorry for the birds and my mother fetched some bread for them. She broke it into little crumbs, the way my grandmother used to, and threw it to them. The sparrows took no notice of the bread. When we carried my grandmother’s corpse off, they flew away quietly. Next morning the sweeper swept the bread crumbs into the dustbin.
Detailed Explanation of the above Text and Question - Answer:
After everybody realised that the grandmother was dead, her dead body was put on the surface of the earth as is the custom. For some time they mourned her death. Then the male members of the family went out to make arrangements for the funeral of the grandmother. When they returned in the evening they were surprised to notice that thousands of sparrows were sitting. But they were not chirruping.
Everybody felt sorry for them, and the author's mother made the pieces of bread the way the grandmother did and threw them in front of the sparrows. But they did not touch.
All the sparrows flew away after the dead body of the grandmother was taken out for cremation.
Q. Why had the sparrows come when the grandmother died?
Ans. To mourn grandmother's death.
Q. How can you say that the sparrows came to mourn grandmother's death?
Ans. They did not chirrup that they. Moreover, they did not touch the pieces of bread given by the author's mother. When the dead body was carried, all the sparrows flew away
UNDERSTANDING THE TEXT
Q. The three phases of the author's relationship with his grandmother before he left the country to study abroad.
Ans. The first phase refers to the phase when the author was living with his grandmother in the village. They used to spend a lot of time together.
The second phase came when they shifted to the city and the author started going to an English school by bus. Therefore, the grandmother could not accompany him. She could also not help him in his studies.
The third phase was when the author was given a separate room and so the common link of friendship was snapped. Finally, for five years, they remained separated when the author went abroad.
Q. Three reasons why the author's grandmother was disturbed when he started going to the city school.
Ans. First of all the grandmother could not accompany the author to school because he was going by bus. There was no teaching about God and scriptures in the city school. When she got to know that her grandson was learning music she was disturbed. It was because she associated music with low-profile people like harlots and beggars. She thought that it was not meant for gentle people.
Q. Three ways in which the author's grandmother spent her days after he grew up.
And. The grandmother used to spend time with the spinning wheel. She continued to tell the beads of rosary. In the afternoon she used to take half an hour break to feed the sparrows.
Q.4. The odd way in which the author's grandmother behaved just before she died.
Ans. After the arrival of the author, his grandmother was very excited. Therefore, she sang the homecoming of the warriors as well as beat the drum for many hours to celebrate the occasion. As a result, she fell ill. She thought that her end was certain and therefore, she stopped talking to members of the family and remained busy with her prayer.
Q. 5. The way in which the sparrows expressed their sorrow when the author's grandmother died.
Ans. The sparrows came in large numbers but they did not chirp. They stayed there till her dead body was kept. They did not touch the breadcrumbs given by the author's mother. Finally, they flew away silently when the dead body of the grandmother was taken out for cremation.
TALKING ABOUT THE TEXT
Q. 1. The author's grandmother was a religious person. What are the different ways in which we come to know this?
Ans. The grandmother was a deeply religious woman. Early in the morning, she used to recite the prayer in a monotonous sing-song while giving him bath to the author. Moreover, she accompanied the author to the village school because it was attached to the temple and there she used to read scriptures. Throughout the day the grandmother used to tell the beads of the rosary and her lips moved in an inaudible prayer. In the city also she spent maximum time in prayer and telling the beads of rosary. She was very much disturbed after knowing that there was no teaching about God and the scriptures in the city school.
Q.2. Describe the changing relationship between the author and his grandmother did their feelings for each other change?
Ans. The relationship between the grandmother and the author remained changing. In the village, both grandmother and the author spent maximum time together. It was the grandmother who used to wake him up, bathe him and even make him ready for school. She also went to school with him.
But when they shifted to the city, they saw less of each other as the author was going to an English school by bus. Still, she used to ask the author what the teacher had taught in the school. Another change came when the author joined the university and he was given a separate room. This way the common link of friendship was snapped. Thereafter, she kept herself busy with prayer and spinning wheel. In the afternoon, she would feed the sparrows. There was a complete gap of five years when the author went abroad for higher studies. Therefore, when he returned from abroad, she was so excited that she celebrated his homecoming by singing and beating the drum.
Q.3. Would you agree that the author's grandmother was a person strong in character? If yes, give instances that show this.
Ans. Of course, the grandmother was a person strong in character. She continued to face the situation bravely. It is obvious that the grandmother loved the author so much but still she was able to control her emotions when he was going to an English school by bus. She remained silent even when she knew that her grandson was not taught anything about God and scriptures. She did not make any hue and cry when the author was given a separate room after he had joined the university. She just got herself busy with the spinning wheel as well as prayer. Finally, when the author was going abroad she was not even sentimental. It does not mean that she did not have emotions. She had emotions but she had full control over them.
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