PORTRAIT OF A LADY, ENGLISH LITERATURE, CBSE, Q ANS

 PORTRAIT OF A LADY

How long had the narrator known his grandmother? What was the opinion of others? What was the impression of the narrator ?

Since the days of writing this biography, the narrator had known his old and wrinkled grandmother for the last twenty years. She looked very old indeed. It seemed to her that she could not have looked older. People said that she had once been young and pretty (but, he would hardly believe it !!!). They said that she once had a husband. The narrator found it hard to believe as he could not somehow compare the extremely older look of his grandfather in his photograph with the wrinkled look of his grandmother. Little Khuswant’s assessment of beauty is evident from his childhood observation.

How did the narrator’s grandfather appear to him in the portrait?

His grandfather looked very old. He had a long white beard. His clothes were loose fitting. He wore a big turban. He looked too old to be married to have a wife and children. He looked at least a hundred years old. Little Khuswant thought that he was fit to  have only many grandchildren.

Which thought about the grandmother was often revolting and for whom?

The narrator’s grandmother was very old and wrinkled. In the eyes of Little Khuswant, she had stayed at that stage for the last twenty years. He remembers others saying that once she was young and pretty. The narrator couldn’t even imagine her being young. So the thought was revolting to him. The narrator’s grandmother was terribly old. She could not appear young and beautiful. Her face was a criss-cross of wrinkles. She was short, fat and slightly bent. The very idea of her being young and pretty did not appeal to the mind.

The narrator’s grandmother ‘could never have been pretty, but she was always beautiful’. Explain the the statement.

To littel Kuswant, her grandmother looked too old to appear pretty. Her face was a criss-cross of wrinkles. She was short, fat and had a stoop. She was not at all beautiful. However, in her spotless white dress and gray hair she was a picture of serenity, peace, sobriety and beauty.

The narrator’s grandmother looked like the ‘winter landscape in the mountains’. Explain.

The narrator’s grandmother was always dressed in spotless white. She had silvery hair. Her white locks would spread across her shoulder untidily and also over her pale and wrinkled face. She looked like an expanse of pure white serenity. The stretch of snow over the mountains looks equally white and peaceful on top. So her silvery locks and white dress made her look like the winter landscape of the range of the mountains.

How did the narrator and his grandmother come close to each other?

During Khuswant’s childhood, he stayed with his grandmother in the village in their ancestral house while his parents were settled in the city. She was his constant companion. She looked after him. She used to wake him up. She got him ready for school in the morning. She would give him breakfast. She went to school with him. She told him bed time stories from Ramayana, Mahabharat etc.

Why couldn’t the grandmother walk straight? How would she hobble about the house?

The grandmother was short and fat. She was also slightly bent. She put one hand on her waist to support the stoop. She could not walk straight. She walked like a lame person. She limped or hobbled about while moving.

How would the grandmother spend her time while the narrator would attend his class at the village school.?

The grandmother went to the school with the narrator. The school was attached to the temple. The school was a make-shift one at and was at the backyard of the temple. The priest’s part time occupation was teaching the village’s kids. The narrator would learn the alphabet and morning prayer at school. The grandmother would sit inside the temple. There she would read holy scriptures. Thus she spent her time before they would return home together.

How can you conclude that the Grandmother was a religious lady?

Khuswant’s grandmother visited the temple every morning and read scriptures. At home she always mumbled inaudible prayer and kept telling the beads of rosary. Her lips would murmur in silent prayers always. She would sing God’s name in a sing-song manner while getting the narrator ready for school. All these details create the impression that she was deeply a religious lady.

The grandmother had a divine beauty. How does the author describe in his writing?

The grandmother’s silvery locks scattered untidily over her pale and wrinkled face. This made her look like an expanse of pure white serenity. She had a divine aura around her. She looked like the winter landscape in the mountains. Her lips would mutter in God’s name constantly while the rosary beads would be counted in her hand always.

How would his grandmother look after her grandson in this story?

The grandmother woke him up in the morning, got him ready and took him to school. She prepared his wooden slate. She waited in the temple while he studied in school. She told little Khuswant the epic stories from The Ramayana and Mahabharata. She would take him to school and they returned home together.

The grandmother was a kind-hearted animal loving woman. Give examples in support of your answer.

Grandmother had a very kind heart. She loved her grandson. She loved birds and animals. In the village, she fed the street dogs. In the city, she would feed the sparrows.

“That was a turning point in our friendship.” Explain this remark?

The turning point in their friendship came when Khuswant and his grandmother shifted to the city. Now the narrator went to an English school in a bus. Grandmother could no longer accompany him to school. Although they shared the same room, they saw less of each other. Back home, he would be busy in his studies. The grandmother did not quite approve of the convent style of studies. She would not interfere in his studies either. They shared the same room, but their speech interactions came to a halt.

Which difference do you find between village school education and city school education?

Elementary education was given in village school. The pupils were taught the alphabet, basic numericals and multiplication tables. It was quite simple—confined to reading, writing and arithmetic. In the city school, English, Science and Music were taught. Unlike village school there was no teaching about God and scriptures.

Why was grandmother offended to the narrator receiving education in English school?

She did not believe in the things they taught at the English school. She hated the Western Science and learning. She was pained to know that there was no teaching of God and the scriptures there.

What led to the gradual distancing of the narrator from his grandmother in the city? Give three reasons.

As the years rolled by, the narrator grew older. His dependence on grandmother became lesser. He started going to an English school in a motor bus. She did not need to accompany him any longer. Moreover she couldn’t help him in teaching English and Science. She hated English school. In the convent syllabus, there was no teaching about God and scriptures there. 

Why didn't the narrator's grandmother like music? Why was the grandmother disturbed when she came to know that music lessons were being given at school?

She considered music having lewd associations. It was not meant for decent people and gentlefolk. She considered it to be the monopoly of prostitutes and beggars.

How did the common link of friendship between the narrator and his grandmother finally snap?

The narrator went to the university. Now he was given a room of his own for his personal use and studies. This separated the narrator from his grandmother. The common link of their friendship was thus finally broken.

How would the grandmother spend her time when the narrator went up to university?

The grandmother of Khuswant now lived alone in her room. She accepted her solitude quietly. She was now always busy with her spinning of the rosary bead. She always spent time reciting prayers. She hardly talked to anyone. In the afternoon, she would feed the sparrows. This was her only pastime.

Why/How did the grandmother start feeding sparrows in the courtyard of the city house?

In the village, she used to throw ‘chapattis’ to the street dogs. But there were no dogs in the streets of the city. So, she took to feeding the sparrows in the courtyard of their city house.

Describe how grandmother spent half-an-hour with the sparrows.

The grandmother usually fed the sparrows in the afternoon sitting in the verandah. She broke bread into little crumbs. Hundreds of sparrows would gather around her. They would chirrup noisily. Some would perch on her legs and shoulders. Some even sat on her head. She enjoyed feeding them. She never shooed them away. It was her happiest half an hour.

How did the grandmother see the narrator off at the railway station?

The grandmother loved Khuswant immensely. She became a recluse after arriving in the city. She would not venture outside. But, she broke this rule. When Khuswant went abroad for higher studies for quite some time, she broke her rule and accompanied him to the railway platform. She kissed the narrator’s forehead as her parting blessings. He cherished the moist imprint as perhaps the last sign-of physical contact between them.

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?

On the railway platform, the grandmother kissed Khushwant Singh on his forehead. The author thought that this was perhaps the last sign of physical contact between them. He was going away for five years. She was extremely old and at her age one could never tell whether she would be alive to see him back.

How did the grandmother respond to the narrator’s homecoming from abroad?

There was a strange change in her behaviour. She was over-excited. She celebrated the arrival of her grandson. She collected all the women of the neighbourhood. For hours she continued singing and beating the drum. She had to be persuaded to stop to avoid overstraining. Perhaps it was the first time that she didn’t chant the mantra silently.

Narrate the death of the grandmother?

The grandmother realised that her death was near. She continued praying. Her fingers were busy telling the beads of her rosary. She lay peacefully in bed. She did not talk to anyone. After some time, her lips stopped moving. The rosary fell down from her fingers. She died peacefully.

How did the sparrows show their gratitude?

The grandmother lay dead in the room inside. Thousands of sparrows flocked to the verandah in the afternoon. They did not chirrup. Some of them sat as far as where she lay dead. They paid their last homage to the old lady silently. She used to feed them regularly. The narrator’s mother threw some crumbs of bread at them. They took no notice of them. As soon as the grandmother’s corpse was carried off, they flew away quietly.

Write a character sketch of the author’s grandmother,.

Khushwant Singh’s grandmother was a very old lady. She was short, fat with wrinkled face and a stoop. She would hold her waist to balance her stoop. Other hand would constantly count the rosary beads in silent prayers.She had white hair. She was very affectionate. She was closely involved in bringing up the author. The two lived in the village. She was a caring grandmother. She would wake him early in the morning and get him ready for school. She served him breakfast and took him to school. She waited for him in the temple. She prayed while he studied. She returned with him. On their way, she would give the stray village dogs stale chapaties.

She was kind and benevolent. She used to feed dogs in the village. In the city she took to feeding the sparrows. She was a deeply religious lady. Her lips were always moving in a silent prayer. She was always telling the beads of her rosary. She went to the temple and read the scriptures.

She was a strong woman with strong beliefs. Although she was not formally educated, she was serious about the author’s education. She did not approve of the western way of life, Science and English education. She hated music. She was distressed to know that there was no teaching about God and holy books at Khushwant’s new English school. Though, apparent and daily interaction with Khuswant stopped, she broke hers ecluse and came to the railway platform to see Khuswant off planting her blessing kiss on her forehead when the latter was going abroad for five years’ education. She celebrated his homecoming with excitement and merrymaking.