Question1 .

How did the author’s grandmother’s routine

change in the city?

Answer : The author’s grandmother’s routine changed after

she came to live in the city with the author’s family. She had
the same room as the author, but he was admitted to a city
school. So, she could not take him to school. She couldn’t
help the author in his studies because he studied science and
other modern subjects in school. She got confined at home
and engaged herself with spinning wheels and praying. She
started to feed the sparrows like she used to feed the dogs in
her village. Only half an hour, when she was with the
sparrows, was her best time of the day.

Question 2: What would the author’s grandmother do after

he grew up and started studying at the university?

Answer : His grandmother has changed dramatically since he

was a child. She grew increasingly private. She’d spend her
days at the spinning wheel, praying and feeding sparrows.

Question 3: Mention three reasons why the author’s grandma

was upset when he began attending a city school.

Answer : The grandmother was bothered by the fact that she

was no longer able to assist him in his studies. He began
attending an English medium school, where he was taught
topics such as English, Physics, and Maths. This became a
stumbling block for her. She also disliked that there were no
lessons on God. She was disturbed by the fact that he was
taking music lessons. Music, according to her, was a
monopoly of beggars and harlots.
 Question 4 . Describe how the author’s grandmother
reacted when he went to study abroad.

Answer : The author stated that he left for a foreign country

for five years to study there. He was aware that it irritated
his grandmother.But she came to leave him at the railway
station. She showed no emotion or sadness and engaged in
prayer. Her mind was lost in prayer, and she kept counting
the beads and silently kissing his forehead. In this way, she
bid the author goodbye when he left the country.

Question 5. Mention how the sparrows expressed their

sorrow when the author’s grandmother died.

Answer : The author’s grandmother built a close relationship

with the sparrows after she moved to the city. She used to
feed the sparrows every day. After her death, she was laid on
the floor and covered with a red shroud. When the author
and family members came to carry her body, they witnessed
thousands of sparrows on the veranda and in her room. They
sat quietly on the floor. The author’s mother went inside to
bring some bread for the birds. But they didn’t eat the bread
crumbs and started to fly away after her body was carried
out of the room.

Question 6 . Mention the odd way the author’s

grandmother behaved just before she died.

Answer : The author’s grandmother behaved differently one

evening. She did not pray and gathered some women from
the neighbourhood. She collected a drum and sang
homecoming warriors’ songs for several hours. Lastly, the
author and his family had to request that she stop. The next
morning, she got a fever. Though the doctor said this was a
mild fever, she said that her time was near. She kept
counting the beads and chanting prayers until she breathed
her last.

Question 7. How did the author describe his grandmother?

Answer : The author, Khushwant Singh, had a deep

relationship with his grandmother. He spent his childhood
with her. He described her grandmother as an older woman
like everyone else’s his grandmother. He spent his
childhood with her. He described her grandmother as an
older woman like everyone else’s. He stated that he had
known her for as long as he could remember and couldn’t
believe she was once so beautiful and young.But he
described her as a beautiful woman. He mentioned she was
fat, short, and slightly bent. She used to wear white clothes
and roam in the house. She used to support her stoop with
one hand and count the beads of the rosary with the other.
Besides counting, she used to chant a prayer. The author
described numerous wrinkles crossing her face and her hair
being grey. The silver locks were scattered on her pale face.
He compared her to the peaceful, white landscape of a
winter mountain. Thus, he described his grandmother and
her peaceful beauty.

Question 8. Describe the days when the author lived with

his grandmother in the village.

Answer : The author described his childhood friendship with

his grandmother. He stated that in his childhood, his parents
lived in the city, leaving him with his grandmother. So, he
spent his early childhood days with his grandmother and
attended the village school run by the priest of the village
temple. He remembered his grandmother would wake him
up, give him breakfast and get him dressed while singing
religious songs. Then he would have his breakfast, which was
leftover chapati with sugar and butter. After having
breakfast, he would go to school with his grandmother. He
would chant the alphabet with other students in chorus, and
his grandmother would stay inside the temple reading the
scriptures. They would leave home after school when the
village dogs met them at the temple door.His grandmother
used to carry several chapatis with her, and she would tear
the bread to feed the dogs. Thus, the author remembered his
colourful childhood days with her grandmother in their
village.

Question 9. Describe the changing relationship between the

author and his grandmother. Did their feelings for each
other change?

Answer : The author had a good friendship with his

grandmother. He used to live with her during his childhood.
She used to bathe him, dress him, and take him to school.
While he was studying, she used to stay inside a temple,
reading transcripts. After school, they used to return home
while feeding the village dogs. Thus, they had a close
relationship. But with time, it changed. They moved to the
city to live with the author’s parents. The author was
admitted to a city school, where he used to travel by bus. As
a result, his grandmother was unable to accompany him
and remained at home. She was frustrated because she
couldn’t assist him in his lessons and because the author
was receiving western education. They shared the same
room, but their conversation got quiet. When the author
entered university, she got another room and accepted her
seclusion. Following that, he went abroad for studies,
causing a schism in their relationship. Though they got
farther apart over time, their feelings for each other did not
change. He still loved her the same way he did before. His
grandmother believed she appeared herself in prayer and
reduced conversation with him, and that she had the same
love and blessings for him.

Question 10 . The author’s grandmother was a religious

person. What are the different ways in which we come to
know this?

Answer : The author, Khushwant Singh, described his

grandmother and their relationship in his writing ‘The
Portrait of a Lady. In the writing, we can see that his
grandmother was a religious person. In the beginning, he
described how his grandmother used to count the rosary
beads in one hand and always chant the mantra. In his
childhood, she used to sing religious songs while dressing him
up for school so that he could understand the meaning of the
songs. While the author was studying at the village school,
she used to stay inside a temple and read religious scripts.
She engaged in religious activities when she moved to the
city with the author’s family. She used to chant prayers.
While she used to feed the dogs in the village, she used to
feed the sparrows in the city. When the author started to go
to a city school, she did not accept the education he was
getting there gladly. She was offended that the school taught
science and other modern-day knowledge instead of God and
the scriptures.She was acting strangely even before her last
day.She gathered her neighbours and sang the songs of
homecoming warriors. On her last day, she said that her time
was near, and she kept chanting prayers before her last
breath. Thus, the author described his grandmother as a
religious person.

Question 11 . Would you agree that the author’s

grandmother was a person strong in character? If yes, give
instances that show this.

Answer : Author Khushwant Singh wrote ‘The Portrait of a

Lady’ to remember his grandmother. The writing showed
that the author’s grandmother was religious and had a very
strong character. She was kind and devoted to the idea of
God. Throughout the passage, some instances prove that his
grandmother had a very strong personality. Her religious
beliefs strongly suggest that she had great faith in God, as do
her views towards life. She used to count the beads of her
rosary and chant prayers all day. She took care of the author
when his parents settled in a city. She used to bathe him,
dress him, feed him, and accompany him to the village
school. When he was studying in school, she used to stay in a
temple and read transcripts. While returning, she used to
feed the dogs. Later, she moved to the city with the author’s
parents and didn’t change her thoughts and beliefs. She
clearly showed that she didn’t like modern education, which
created a distance between her and the author. Even when
the author went to university, she got a separate room and
accepted her seclusion. On the last day of her life, she kept
chanting prayers before she breathed her last. Her courage
and patience to accept death truly show how strong a person
she was.

EXTRA QUESTIONS-NOT TO BE DNE IN THE REGISTER

Question 1. What impression did the author give of his

grandfather?

Answer : The author described his grandfather with the help

of a portrait that hung in the drawing room. His grandfather
wore a turban and loose-fitting clothes in the portrait. He had
a beard that covered most of his chest, and according to the
author, he looked at least a hundred years old. The author
also stated that he looked like someone who could never
have a wife or children. His grandfather’s portrait also
confused the author about whether his grandmother had
ever been young and pretty.

Question 2. Why did the author think his grandmother was

never young and pretty?

Answer : The author stated that he always had difficulty

believing that his grandmother had been young and pretty. It
is mainly because he always saw his grandmother as old. He
also saw the portrait of his grandfather. He didn’t believe his
grandfather could be a person who had a wife and kids. So,
he thought his grandmother had always been old and never
had a husband or children.

Question 3. Mention how the author’s grandmother used to

feed the birds every day.

Answer : The author’s grandmother had the habit of feeding

the dogs while living in the village. When she moved to the
city, she could not feed the dogs and started to feed the
sparrows. In the afternoon, she used to break the bread into
little crumbs and spread it for the birds on the veranda. There
used to be hundreds of birds, some sitting on her feet,
shoulders and even on her head. That half an hour used to be
her best time of the day.

Question 4 . What has not changed over the years? Does

this suggest something to you?

Answer : According to the poem, the sea has not changed

over the years. It suggests the flow of time and how people’s
lives change. The sea in the photograph remains unchanged
to this day.But the people in it are not the same. They have
grown with time and even died because man is not immortal.
Thus, it describes how humans are put on earth for a very
short period of time, while the seas, forests, rivers, and other
features remain almost the same.

Question . Explain how the title ‘The Portrait of a Lady’ suits

the writing.

Answer : ‘The Portrait of a Lady’ by Khushwant Singh is a

remembrance of his grandmother. Here a portrait is
mentioned, but it was the portrait of the author’s
grandfather. In writing, we find no mention of a picture or
photograph of the author’s grandmother. But the writing
itself has become a portrait of her. The author didn’t describe
her grandmother as a specific person; rather, he stated that
she was like everyone else’s grandmother. His relationship
with her was also a common one between grandparents and
grandchildren. But, the simplicity of it touches the reader’s
heart. The details of his memories with his grandmother and
her personality vividly depict a caring grandparent. We can
know about her personality from the writing. Thus, her
picture gets embodied before our eyes due to the author’s
description. He didn’t mention her name but represented a
woman who strongly adhered to her faith and views. Thus,
the lady we study in the story becomes more than a relative
of the author. Instead, we learn about a strong older woman
who was kind, religious and loved her family. So, the title
‘The Portrait of a Lady’ perfectly suits the writing.