The portrait of a lady. class 11 english

CHAPTER 1 OF ENGLISH HORNBILL
THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY
AUTHOR- KHUSHWANT SINGH

1. THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY Author: Khushwant Singh

2. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Khushwant Singh (born Khushal Singh, 2 nd February 1915 – 20 th March 2014 ) was an Indian novelist, lawyer, journalist and politician. Born and raised in Hadali , Punjab ( now in Pakistan), he studied law at St. Stephen’s College, Delhi and King’s College London . After working as a lawyer in Lahore Court for eight years, he joined the Indian Foreign Service upon the Independence of India from British Empire in 1947 . He was appointed journalist in the All India Radio in 1951 and then moved to the Department of Mars Communications of UNESCO at Paris in 1956. Khushwant Singh was decorated with the Padma Bhushan in 1974 . But he returned the award in 1984 in priest against Operation Blue Star in which the Indian Army raided Amritsar. In 2007 he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan , the second-highest civilian award in India.

3. SUMMARY OF THE CHAPTER In this story, the author draws a pen portrait of his grandmother. He beautifully unfolds his relationship with her, while describing her appearance and daily activities. Appearance of the grandmother: The author recalls his grandmother as a very old lady with a wrinkled face. She appeared so old that it was hard for him to believe that she had once been “young and pretty”. She was short, fat and a little stopped in appearance. The author remembers her moving about the house in “spotless white”, counting the beads of her rosary whileher lips moved constantly in silent prayers. She was not “pretty” I’m the traditional sense, yet her serenity made her “beautiful”.

4. Initial years of togetherness: Life in the village . In the initial years of his life, the author lived with his grandmother in the village, sharing a good friendship. His grandmother used to work for him up in the morning and get him ready for school. After having thick stale chapatti’s with butter and sugar for the breakfast, they used to leave for school. His grandmother was very old lady with a wrinkled face. She was short, fat and a little stopped in appearance. The author remembers her moving about the house in “spotless white”, counting the beads of her rosary while her lips moved constantly in silent prayers. She would give him up in the morning and get him ready for the school. She gave all the required things for the school. After having thick and stale chapatti’s with butter and sugar for breakfast they used to leave for school.

5. Author’s grandmother always accompanied him to the school as it was attached to the temple. It was her habit to carry several stale chapatti’s for the village dogs’ while they return from the school. The grandmother used to sit inside the temple reading holy books while the narrator learnt alphabets and prayers in the school. The turning of their relationship came when they moved to the city to stay with the author’s parents. Though they shared the same room, his grandmother no longer accompanied him to the school as he started going by the school bus. Meanwhile as there were no dogs in the streets< she took to feed the sparrows.

6. Unlike the village school the author was not taught about god and the scriptures which troubled his grad mother . She did not believe in what was being taught at his school was unhappy as she could not help him with his lessons. When the author started the going to the university, He was given a room of his own. It resulted in further gap between them. She accepted her loneliness and rarely spoke to anyone. All the day she set spinning wheel and reciting her prayers. She relaxed in the afternoon, to feed the sparrows who came in large numbers. She used to at her happiest self while feeding the sparrow.

7. The author decided to go abroad for further studies. He was sure that his grand mother would be upset at him departure. She was absorbed in her prayers, telling the beads of her rosary. She silently kissed the author’s forehead, which the author considered to be the last sign of their physical contact. On his return after five years, the author did not find any change in his grandmother. She relaxed in the afternoon and feed the sparrows. She was as old as ever and remained absorbed in her prayers, even that day the happiest moment for her was feeding the sparrows.

8. She didn’t want to waste her time talking to anyone in the family anymore but spend her last hours in reciting her prayers laying on the bed. She died and so her body lay on the bed, lifeless. As they prepared for her funeral, they saw all the sparrows sitting in the verandah around her, mourning her death. One day, she didn’t recite her prayers but instead collected the women of the neighborhood, got a drum and started singing. The next morning, she was ill with mild fever. The doctor said that there was nothing to worry about but she was sure that her end was near.

9. In the evening for the first time ever, she did not pray. She collected several ladies of the neighbourhood to sang song related to the home coming of the warriors. She had to be persuaded to stop singing in order to avoide over staining. The next day she was taken ill. Though diagnosed with a mild fever by the doctor grandmother knew that her end was near. She decided to spend the last few hours off her life reciting prayer and telling her beads. Soon her lips stopped moving and she died.

10. AT THE LAST… The family went to make arrangements for the grandmothers funeral. As they came with a stretcher, they stopped mid way to find thousands of sparrows scattered around her dead body. The sparrows mourned the death of grandmother in utter silence. They ignored the bread crumbs thrown by authors mother and flew away silently after the body was carried away for cremation. The bread crumbs were come swept away the sweeper next morning.

11. THANK YOU MADE BY: AAKASH KUMAR CLASS: 11 TH A SCHOOL: ARMY PUBLIC SCHOOL DELHI CANTT