The Portrait of a Lady-Qs-Ans -Khushwant Singh

 

The Portrait of a Lady by Khushwant Singh

Questions & Answers

A. Short Answer-type Questions (30-40 words each)

Q1. Why did the author say that it was hard to believe that his ‘grandmother had once been young and pretty and even had a husband’? How that thought was revolting?

Ans. The author always saw his grandmother’s wrinkled face. So it was very difficult for the author to believe that she had once been young and pretty and even had a husband. So the thought was revolting for him.

Q2. Describe the author’s (Khushwant Singh’s) grandfather.

Ans. The author described his grandfather as a man who was ‘at least a hundred years old. His portrait was placed at the mantelpiece in the drawing room. He wore a big turban and loose-fitting clothes. His long beard covered the most part of his chest.

Q3. Why did the author say that it seemed quite absurd (silly) and undignified on her part when she told the author about her childhood games?

Ans. Children usually make a dignified image about their elders. They always did serious activities. She told the author about the petty games she used to play with her friends. It was the reason that he thought so about her.

Q4. Describe the grandmother’s physical structure and facial expressions as described by Khushwant Singh.

Ans. The author’s grandmother had short, fat and slightly bent body. Her face had a criss-cross of wrinkles running from everywhere to everywhere. She had fair complexion, which had a tinge (touch) of some paleness.

Q5.Describe the manner in which the author’s grandmother made him ready for school when they were in a village.

Ans. She used to wake him up early in the morning. She would sing morning prayer while she bathed and dressed up the author.  

Q6. What things did the grandmother give to the author before going with him to the village school?

Ans. She would give him a wooden slate plastered with yellow chalk, a tiny (small) earthen inkpot and a red pen. She used to tie them in a bundle and give it to the author.

Q7. What did the author eat in breakfast before going to school in his village?

Ans.  He would eat a thick and stale chapati with a little butter and sugar spread on it.

Q8. “That was a turning point in their friendship’. What was the turning point and what changes id it bring in the grandmother’s life?  Did it affect their relationship?

Ans. The turning point came when they went to live in city. The author had to go to a city school. The grandmother had no chance to go along with him. There were no dogs in the city. She had to feed the sparrows there. She could not help him in his studies in any way.

Q9. What was the happiest time for the grandmother when she was in the village and then in the city?

Ans. When she was in the village, she used to feed the village dogs with ‘chaptis’. When she was in a city, she used to feed the sparrows by throwing to them little crumbs (pieces) of ‘chapatis’.

Q10. What did the author tell his grandmother after coming back from the school in city? How did she react?

Ans. The author would tell her about the English words learnt by him at school. He would also tell her about the things of western science and learning, the law of gravity, Archimedes’s Principle and the world being round. She did not believe in those things and felt distressed (pained) that no religious teaching was given in school.

Q11. What did the author’s grandmother think about music?

Ans. She was very much disturbed when the author one day declared that he was being taught music lessons. She thought music to be linked with the lower type of people. It was not meant for the gentlefolk to learn and practise music.

Q12. What fun and frolic did the grandmother do with the sparrows while feeding them?

Ans. When the grandmother fed the sparrows in the verandah, hundreds of them would gather round her. Some came and perched (sat) on her legs, while others on her head. She only smiled at them and  never shoved (made them to go away by creating a sound) them away.

Q13. How did the grandmother see off the author at the railway station?

Ans. The author was to go abroad for further studies. So the grandmother also accompanied him to the railway station. She was not at all sentimental. She did not talk to him and kept herself busy in saying prayers. Then she silently kissed the author’s forehead.

Q14. When the author came from abroad after five years, how did the grandmother receive him?

Ans. At that time also, she had no words to speak to the author. She clasped (gripped) him in her arms and he could listen to her prayers. She did not forget to feed the sparrows on that day also.

Q15. What change occurred in the grandmother towards the end of the day? What did she do?

Ans. She did not pray that evening. She collected the women from the nearby houses, got an old drum and started to sing about the home-coming of warriors and for several hours she kept thumping an old drum. She did not pray that evening.

Q16. How did the sparrows mourn the death of the grandmother?

Ans. Thousands of the sparrows gathered round the dead body of the grandmother. They were silent and sat scattered in the room and the verandah. They did not eat the breadcrumbs thrown to them. When the body was carried off for the cremation, they also flew away.

B. Long Answer-type Questions

Q1. The author’s grandmother was a religious woman. What are the different ways in which we come to know this? Or Give instances to prove that the author’s grandmother was a religious woman.

Ans. The author’s grandmother was really a religious woman. She always kept a rosary in her hand and kept reciting some prayer. She would sit in the temple and read the scriptures (religious books) there. She could be found telling upon her rosary and reciting prayersalmost all the time. Even when she prepared the author for school, she sang some morning prayer daily.

She fed the village dogs in the village and the sparrows in the city with some pieces of bread (‘roti’). It showed her love for animals. It had some link with her religious nature, although indirectly. She sang prayers even before she died. In this way, we may say the author’s grandmother was really a religious woman.

Q2. Describe the changing relationship between the author and the grandmother. Did their feelings for each other change?

Ans. First phase of change in their relationship came when they shifted to a city and the author joined an English medium school. She was unable to teach him in her own way. She did not like that her grandson was being taught lessons in music. The second phase came when the author had to go join a university for his higher education. It was a phase of separation between them and she accepted it. Then he had to go abroad for further studies for five years. She did not feel sentimental and bade farewell to him at the railway station in her own unique way. When he came back, she welcomed him with full zeal. Thus we may say that the feelings for the grandmother did not change in her heart in spite of the ups and downs that came in their relationship.

Q3. Would you think that the author’s grandmother was strong in character? Give reasons.                                       Or

  Describe the grandmother’s character.

Ans. The grandmother was a very loving character. She loved her grandson. She wanted him to make him religious. She had a great faith in God. She was religious to the core. She did not feel sentimental when she was separated from her grandson. She was always busy in telling upon the beads of rosary and saying prayers. She read scriptures, fed the village dogs and the sparrows in city with bread. It added another quality to her character. She was very kind even to the birds and animals. She remained religious up to the end of her life. Then the rosary fell from her lifeless fingers and her lips stopped uttering prayer. A peaceful pallor (paleness) spread on her face.

 

C. Important Passages for Comprehension

1. Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow.

As for my grandmother being young and pretty, the thought was almost revolting. She often told us of the games she used to play as a child. That seemed quite absurd and undignified on her part and we treated it like the fables of the Prophets she used to tell us. She had always been short and fat and slightly bent. Her face was a criss-cross of wrinkles running from everywhere to everywhere. No, we were certain she had always been as we had known her.

Q1. How was he thought that the grandmother was once young and pretty revolting?

Ans. She had been extremely old. The author had seen her in the same position for the last twenty years. So the thought was revolting.

Q2. Why did the games she told to her grandson seemed quite absurd and undignified on her part?

Ans. The author could not believe that she used to play those petty games in her childhood. He had a very dignified image of his grandmother in his mind.

Q3. Describe the grandmother.

Ans. She had always been short and fat and slightly bent. Her face was a criss-cross of wrinkles running from everywhere to everywhere.

Q4. Give the meaning of the words:

1.criss-cross   2. Absurd   3.undignified  4. Fables

Ans. 1. Net-work, pattern  2. Silly,  illogical 3. Ungraceful, improper 4. Short story about general truth of life

Passage 2

My grandmother and I were good friends. My parents left me with her when they went to live in the city and we were constantly together. She used to wake me up in the morning and get me ready for school. She said her morning prayer in a monotonous sing-song while she bathed and dressed me in the hope that I would listen and get to know it by heart; I listened because I loved her voice but never bothered to learn it.

Then she would fetch my wooden slate which she had already washed and plastered with yellow chalk, a tiny earthen ink-pot and a red pen, tie them all in a bundle and hand it to me. After a breakfast of a thick, stale chapatti with a little butter and sugar spread on it, we went to school. She carried several stale chapattis with her for the village dogs.

Q1. What kind of relationship the author have with his grandmother?

Ans. He had friendship with his grandmother. They were good friends.

Q2. How did she prepare the author for school?

Ans. She bathed and dressed him. She gave him his necessary things tied in a bundle. She also made his wooden slate ready.

Q3. What else did she do while bathing and dressing the grandson?

Ans. She recited her morning prayer in monotonous way. She hoped that the author would learn it by heart.

Q4. Give the meanings of the words given below: 1. Monotonous 2. Fetch

Ans. 1. Dull, boring  2. Bring

Passage 3.

As the years rolled by we saw less of each other. For some time she continued to wake me up and get me ready for school. When I came back she would ask me what the teacher had taught me. I would tell her English words and little things of western science and learning, the law of gravity, Archimedes’ Principle, the world being round, etc. This made her unhappy. She could not help me with my lessons. She did not believe in the things they taught at the English school and was distressed that there was no teaching about God and the scriptures.

Q1. Why did the author say that both of them saw less each other as the years rolled by?

Asn. The author remained busy in his studies and she also made herself. She did not like the type of education that was given to him at the English medium school.

Q2. What did the author tell his grandmother about his studies at the city school?

Ans. He would tell her English words and little things of western science and learning, the law of gravity, Archimedes’ Principle, the world being round, etc.

Q3. Was she happy to know about the type of education the author was getting at the city school?

Ans. She was not at all happy. She did not believe in it. Moreover, there was no teaching about God and the scriptures.

Q4. Write the meanings of the following words.

Distressed 2. Scriptures

Ans. 1. Upset 2. Religious books