Hornbill
Chapter:1 The portrait of a lady
(by khushwant Singh)
Summary of The portrait of a lady
The portrait of a lady is an affectionate account of the form relationship that existed between Khushwant Singh and his grandmother spanning over 20 years.
His earliest memories are of his day in the village with his grandmother. To the child, she could never have being young , she was always old.
The grandmother was a religious woman always dressed in white turn the beads of her rosary. looked serene as a white winter landscape. She used to dress him take him to school all the time praying silently. On return she fat still chapatis to the village dogs.
Some times later, the grandmother and the grandson were called to the city. The grandmother’ s life changed. She could longer go to the school with him. She did not approve of what he studied—English , science and, most disliked of all, Music. She started feeding bread- crumbs to sparrows, as no dogs were around.
Khushwant Singh was given a room of his own when he joined his University. This increased the old woman’s loneliness but she did not complain. She spend her time praying spinning the wheel for feeding the sparrows. Khushwant went abroad for higher studies half afraid that he might not see her again but she was there at the station to receive him print all the time.
That evening she sang of the homecoming of warriors. Next day she had fever end knew that her and had come. She continued to pray till her last breath . Thousands of sparrows came and silently bad farewell to their gentle Pious friend.
Explanation from the Text of The portrait of a lady
The thought was almost revolting : the author has used pretty strong language to show a child’s dislike for imagining his grandmother to be any different from how he had always known her. He did not at all like the idea that his grandmother was young and pretty at one time, like other women.
An expanse of pure white serenity: an unbroken stretch of snow covered mountain side looks like a picture of peace and calmness. The grandmother’ s personality is calm and serene like a snow covered landscape.
A turning point: a turning point of change. The shift from the village to the city brought about a qualitative change in the relationship between the grandmother and the grandson.
Accepted her seclusion with resignation: The grandmother did not protest about her grandson shifting to another room. She became lonely but accepted her loneliness quality.
A vegetable bedlam of chirruping s: great noise and confusion created by the chirping and fluttering of sparrows around the grandmother.
Frivolous rebukes: the grandmother playfully scolded the sparrows as they flitted noisily about her.
The sagging skins of the dilapidated drum: the grandmother sang thumping a broken down drum ( dholak). Even the skin areas for thumping and giving the beat had become loose due to disuse and neglect.
Short answer questions of The portrait of a lady
1. Mention the way in which the sparrows expressed their sorrow when the author’s grandmother died.
2. How did the sparrows express their sorrow at the death of the grandmother?
3. Khushwant Singh said about his grandmother she could never have been pretty but she was always beautiful. Explain.
4. How did the grandmother receive the narrator when he returned from abroad and how did it affect her?
5. Describe the changing relationship between the author and his grandmother.
6. The author’s grandmother was a religious person. What are the different ways in which we come to know this?
7. What caused a turning point in the friendship of Khushwant Singh with his grandmother?
Additional questions of The portrait of a lady
1. What did the author think was the last physical contact with his grandmother? Was it really so?
2. Draw a comparison between village school education and city school education.
3. What was Khushwant Singh’s and his grandmother’s routine in the village?
4. What did khushwant Singh’s grandmother think of education in the city school?
5. Mention three reasons why the author’s mother was disturbed when he started going to the city school.
6. Mention three ways in which the author’s grandmother spent her days after he grew up.
7. Which activity did the grandmother find most relaxing when she lived in the City?
Some other questions of The portrait of a lady
1. When the people are Pious and good, even nature mourns their death.” Justify with reference to ‘ The portrait of a lady’.
2. Why was it hard for the author to believe that his grandmother was once young and pretty?
3. Mention the three phases of the author’s relationship with his grandmother before he left the country to study abroad.
4. What proofs of the relationship between the grandmother and the grandson do you find in the story?
5. “That was the turning point in our friendship.” What was the turning point?
Long answer questions of The portrait of a lady
1. Write a character sketch of the author’s grandmother by using the following words:
2. Would you agree that the author’s grandmother was a person strong in character? If yes give instances that show this.
3. Gradually, the author and the grandmother saw less of each other and their friendship was broken. Was the distancing in the relationship deliberate or due to demand of the situation?
4. Describe the changing relationship between the author and his grandmother. Did their feelings for each other change?
5. Draw a character sketch of Khushwant Singh’s grandmother as portrayed by him in the lesson ‘ The portrait of a lady.’
6. “Religion was the dominant feature of her life.” Comment on this statement in regard to Khushwant Singh’s grandmother as projected in “The portrait of a lady.”
7. Khushwant Singh’s grandmother express your views on the education the boy was receiving in the city school. Compare the situation with education in the village.
8. 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?
9. Which language do you think the author and his grandmother used while talking to each other?
10. Talk with your family members about elderly people who you have been intimately connected with and who are not there with you now. Write a short description of someone you like the lot.
Value based question of The portrait of a lady
1. Khushwant Singh’s grandmother was kind to animals. Over her best friends. Today sparrows have all but disappeared from a cities. Singh says , ” there were no dogs in the streets and she took to feeding sparrows in the Courtyard of a city house.”
Milan kundera, the Czech novelist , says, “Mankind’s true moral test……consists of its attitude towards those who are at its mercy animals. Write an essay in about hundred words on the prevention of cruelty to animals.
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The portrait of a lady summary with explanation and questions for class Xlth from Hornbill chapter:1 for class Xlth The portrait of a lady The portrait of a lady The portrait of a lady The portrait of a lady summary with full explanation