Std 11th The portrait of a lady

Std 11^th The portrait of a lady

1. Describe the changing relationship between the author and his grandmother. Did their feelings for each other change?

Ans: In the initial days, they both shared a very friendly bond. She would get him ready for school, accompany him and would come back with him later in the day. She would help him with his studies and would teach him prayers by singing in a monotonous tone every morning. When they moved to the city, their relationship was strained. He started going to an English medium school. She would no longer accompany him to the school or could not help him with the lessons. She didn’t like his new school as they never taught him about God or scriptures. Later, when he started taking music lessons, she disapproved of it as she thought that music was only for beggars or harlots. She stopped talking to him afterwards and would spend her day alone while chanting prayers. When the author went to university and then abroad, their bond weakened. She would spin the wheel the whole day and chant her prayers at that time. She accepted the seclusion. No, their feelings for each other didn’t change but during the time, a distance developed between them.

2. Mention the odd ways in which the author’s grandmother behaved just before she died.

Ans: She didn’t pray the evening before dying. She collected the women from the neighbourhood and started singing homecoming of the warriors with the help of the drum. The next morning when she fell ill, she said her end was near. She started praying peacefully while laying on her bed. She refused to talk to anyone during her last hours.

3. Mention the three phases of the author’s relationship with his grandmother before he left the country to study abroad.

The three phases of the author’s relationship with his grandmother before he left the country to study abroad are as follows:

The first Phase was the period of his early childhood where he used to live with her in the village. His grandmother used to wake him up and get him ready for school. They both would walk to school together and come back home together. They had a good friendship with each other.

In the second phase, the author and his grandmother shifted to the city as the author’s parents settled well in the city. Although they shared the same room, this was the turning point of their friendship. Now, they saw less of each other.

In the third phase the author went to the university, he was given a room of his own. This made their friendship bond weaker as the common link between them ‘the same room’ snapped. She became quieter and private and kept the spinning wheel all day long. She would feed the sparrows once a day and this was the only thing that made her happy now.

4. 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 prayers in a monotonous sound while getting him ready each morning. She used to walk the author to his school and then visit the temple attached to the school everyday. She would sit and read scriptures. Later when they moved to the city, she would carry the beads of the rosary with her all the time. She would continuously chant her prayers and her hand remained busy in telling the beads. When the author went to study at the university, she went into seclusion and spent her whole day in chanting prayers.

5. Elaborate the odd ways in which the author’s grandmother behaved just before she died.
Before her death, the author’s grandmother refused to talk to them. Since she
had omitted to pray the previous night while she was singing songs of homecoming and beating the drum, she was not going to waste any more time. She ignored their protests. She lay peacefully in bed praying and telling beads.

6. How the sparrows expressed their sorrow when the author’s grandmother died?
Thousands of sparrows sat silently surrounding the corpse of the author’s grandmother. There was no chirruping. The author’s mother threw some crumbs of bread to them. They took no notice of them. As soon as the grandmother’s corpse was carried off, they flew away quietly. Thus the sparrows expressed their sorrow.

7. Have you known someone like the author’s grandmother? Do you feel the same sense of loss with regard to someone whom you have loved and lost?(Personalized answers are welcome here)
Yes, I have known my grandmother/grandfather, who loved me deeply and looked after me…She served as the Principal of KV ,from where I passed out last year.She has been loving and caring but in the mean time tremendously strict when it came to discipline…...(you may continue…..)

My beloved grandfather was always loving. He had served in the army before he retired as a colonel 20 years ago. When I was a school going kid, he was still active and smart. He was fond of walking, jogging and playing outdoor games. He inspired us to get up early in the morning. He believed that a healthy mind lives in a healthy body. He used to give us good physical exercises followed by milk and nourishing food and then asked us to study for a while before going to school. In the afternoon, he would enquire what we had been taught at the school. He would help us in our home task and supervise our reading, writing and doing sums. He was gentle but firm. He laid stress on good habits and character building. He passed away when I had gone abroad for higher studies. I miss him a lot. A sense of loss fills me whenever I see his portrait on the wall. But his cheerful looks remind me to take heart and fight the struggle of life.

8. How did the narrator’s grandfather appear 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 have a wife or children. He looked at least a hundred years old. He looked as if he could have only lots and lots of grandchildren.

9. Which thought about the grandmother was often revolting and for whom?
The narrator’s grandmother was very old and wrinkled. She had stayed at this stage for the last twenty years. People said that once she was young and pretty. The narrator couldn’t even imagine her being young. So the thought was revolting to him.

10. Explain “As for my grandmother being young and pretty, the thought was almost revolting”.
The narrator’s grandmother was terribly old. She could never 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 fit or appeal to his mind.

11. The narrator’s grandmother ‘could never have been pretty, but she was always beautiful’. Explain the significance of the statement.
She was terribly old to appear pretty. Her face was a criss-cross of wrinkles. She was short, fat and slightly bent. She didn’t create any physical appeal or attraction. However, in her spotless white dress and grey hair she was a picture of beauty,serenity, sobriety and peace.

12. Describe the changing relationship between the author and his grandmother. Did their feelings for each other change?
The author was completely dependent on his grandmother during his childhood. She was a part of his life. The turning point in their friendship came when they went to city. She could no longer accompany him to school as he went there by bus. They shared the same room but she could not help him in his studies. She would ask him what the teachers had taught. She did not believe in the things that were taught at school. She was distressed that there was no teaching about God and the scriptures. She felt offended that music was also being taught. She expressed her disapproval silently. After this she rarely talked to him. When he went to university, he was given a room of his own. The common link of friendship was snapped.
However their feelings for each other did not change. They still loved each other deeply. She went to see the author off at the railway station when he was going abroad for higher studies. She showed no emotion but kissed his forehead silently. The author valued this as perhaps the last sign of physical contact between them. When the author returned after five years, she received him at the station. She clasped him in her arms. In the evening she celebrated his homecoming by singing songs and beating an old drum.

13. Mention the way in which the sparrows expressed their sorrow when the author’s grandmother died.

Ans: The grandmother used to feed the sparrows in her verandah each day. She developed a special relationship with them. When she died, thousands of sparrows expressed their sorrow by sitting in a scattered way around her in the verandah. They didn’t chirrup and there was complete silence. The author’s mother tried to feed them by breaking the bread and throwing it in front of them. But they didn’t eat anything. When the family carried grandmother’s corpse, they all flew away quietly. 

14. How long had the narrator known his grandmother old and wrinkled? What did people say? How did the narrator react?
The narrator had known his grandmother old and wrinkled for the past twenty years. She was terribly old. Perhaps she could not have looked older. People said that she had once been young and pretty. They said that she even had a husband. The narrator found it hard to believe.

15. Would you agree that the author’s grandmother was a person strong in character? If yes, give instances that show this.
Yes, I agree that the author’s grandmother was a person strong in character. She was a strong woman with strong beliefs. Although she was not formally educated, she was serious about the author’s education. She could not adjust herself to the western way of life, Science and English education. She hated music and disapproved of its teaching in school.
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 temple daily and read the scriptures. She was distressed to know that there was no teaching about God and holy books at Khushwant’s new English school. She was a kind and a generous lady. She used to feed dogs in the village. In the city she took to feeding sparrows. Although old in years and weak in body she had strength of mind. Just before her death, she refused to talk to the members of the family as she did not want to waste her time. She wanted to make up for the time last evening when she had not prayed to God. She lay peacefully in bed saying prayers and telling the beads of her rosary till she breathed her last.

16. How did the narrator’s grandfather appear 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 have a wife or children. He looked at least a hundred years old. He could have only lots and lots of grandchildren.