THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY

Class 11 CBSE
English Hornbill (Core Course)
(Main Course Book)
Chapter 1 - The Portrait Of A Lady
Writer - Khushwant Singh
Questions and Answers
The Portrait Of A Lady.pdf

1. HORNBILL









THEPORTRAITOF
……...ALADY

 Khushwant Singh

Chapter – 1

2. Understanding The Text

1. The three phases of the author’s relationship with his grandmother
before he left the country to study abroad.
Ans. The three phases of the relationship of the narrator with his
grandmother before leaving the country to study abroad are:
(i) Early Childhood – His grandmother helped him while getting ready
and went to the village school along with him.
(ii) Boyhood – He shared a room with his grandmother when he studied
at the city school. She was not able to help him in his studies.
(iii) Early Youth – The link of their friendship snapped when he was
provided a separate room to study for his higher studies.

2. Three reasons why the author’s grandmother was disturbed when he
started going to the city school.
Ans. The three reasons why the grandmother of the author was disturbed
when he went to the city school are:
(i) She did not like western learning and science, as she was no longer able
to help the author with his studies.
(ii) She was hurt when she came to know that there were no scriptures and
teachings of God at the school.
(iii) She did not like music and thought that it was not for gentlefolk and
decent people. In her opinion, Music was a lewd association of harlots and
beggars.
3. Three ways in which the author’s grandmother spent her days after he
grew up.

3. Ans. Three ways how the grandmother of the author spent her days after
he grew up are:
1. Grandmother accepted her seclusion with resignation and lived
unaccompanied in the room.
2. She would omit prayers while sitting at her spinning wheel from sunrise
to sunset.
3. In afternoon, she relaxed for a while to feed the sparrows. It used to be
the happiest half an hour of the day for her.

4. The odd way in which the author’s grandmother behaved just before she
died.
Ans. The author’s grandmother thought her of illness differently. She
assumed that her end was near. The night before she didn’t pray but
collected the neighbourhood women and sang with them the whole night.
She went again the protest of her family members and decided to pray. She
laid peacefully on her bed praying and telling the beads of her rosary.

5. The way in which the sparrows expressed their sorrow when the
author’s grandmother died.
Ans. The dead body of the author’s grandmother was surrounded by
thousands of sparrows but they did not chirrup. They did not even notice
the bread crumbs which were thrown by the narrator’s mother to feed
them. They quietly flew away once the corpse of the grandmother was
carried away. Hence, this way the sparrows conveyed their grief when the
author’s grandmother died.

4. Talking About The Text
1. The author’s grandmother was a religious person. What are the different
ways in which we come to know this?
Ans. When she lived in the village with the author, she used to sing morning
prayer, while getting him ready for school. Her effort was to make the author
spiritual. She was displeased when she came to know that there is no
teachings of God and the scriptures. When he went to the university, she
passed her time in wheel spinning and reciting prayers from dawn to dusk.
In the last years of her life, grandmother had stopped talking and used to
recite prayers throughout the day.

2. Describe the changing relationship between the author and his
grandmother. Did their feelings for each other change?
Ans. The author had a good relationship with his grandmother since
childhood because there was no one else at home except both, so he used to
spend good time with his grandmother. His grandmother prepared him for
school, feed him and accompanied him till school. After coming from the
school, she used to help the author with his homework. He grew up and
studies continued in city, he got lesser time to spend and their conversation
also reduced. The common link of friendship was snapped as they were
given separate rooms, when the author started going the university.
However, they both love each other very much despite of lesser
conversation.