Class XI – The Portrait of a Lady – Important Questions

Ans. Khushwant Singh describe his grandmother as a very sweet old woman who seems to be in the same stage forever. Since he had seen her old right from his childhood. He says it becomes hard to believe that when people say she had been once pretty and young.

The grandmother was very religious, she used to keep praying throughout the day, most of the silently within herself, her rosary also shows her to be a devotee of God. She was very kind, in the village, she used to feed the street dogs every day, even in the city she continued her kindness, every afternoon she fed the sparrows. She was an active and confident woman. She kept spinning the wheel when free. She was mentally very strong because she was capable of controlling her emotions.

Ans. (i) The grandmother spent most of her time spinning the wheel.

(ii) She recited prayers, read the scriptures and told the beads of a rosary.

(iii) In the afternoon she fed the sparrows in the verandah.

Ans. (i) The grandmother was disturbed because she could not do many things for her grandchild when he went to the new school. She could not accompany him to school and get him bathed or do other things for him.

(ii) The author began to study more and mention some difficult subjects. The grandmother felt unhappy not being able to help him in his studies anymore. Moreover, she was angry to know that there were no lessons of God and of the scriptures.

(iii) She was terribly hurt to know that there were music lessons in the city school, she did not like music at all.

Ans. When one day she learned from the author that there were music lessons in the new school in the city, the grandmother got frustrated and tense because her notions about music were not pleasant. She believed music to be the business of beggars and poor people.

Ans. In the village school the priest taught the alphabet and morning prayer. There were lessons on scriptures and prayers were recited in chorus near the temple. But in the urban school there were lessons in science and Maths. There were no lessons about God and scriptures. Moreover, music lessons were also imparted in an urban school.

Ans. The narrator spent his childhood with his grandmother in a village. At the village school, he was taught scriptures and prayer. The grandmother was the author’s constant friend. She used to wake him up and get ready for school. She accompanied him to his school and brought him back along with her. While coming back from school he used to feed the chapattis to the street dogs that the grandmother carried for them. Besides taking every care of her, she helped him with his studies.

Ans. Two examples of the author’s grandmother’s love of animals are

(i) She used to give stale chapattis to the street dogs.

(ii) She used to feed the sparrows and never drove them away.

Ans. The sparrows refused to eat the crumbs of the bread in order to express their grief over the death of the grandmother and to mourn over her death.

Ans. The author’s grandmother was a very sweet old woman. The grandmother was very religious, she used to keep praying throughout the day, most of the time silently within herself, her rosary also shows her to be a devotee of God. She was very kind, in the village, she used to feed the street dogs every day, even in the city she continued her kindness, every afternoon she fed the sparrows. She was an active and confident woman. She kept spinning the wheel when free. She was mentally very strong because she was capable of controlling her emotions.

Ans. When the author’s grandmother had a fever, she said that her death was approaching. Despite everyone’s protests, she kept that her illness was because she had missed her prayers the previous evening. She just waited to pray without wasting a moment. She lay peacefully in bed and started praying and telling her beads. Moments after, the rosary fell from her hand and her lips stopped moving. Peace rested on her face, she had died.

Ans. The grandmother’s corpse was being laid on the ground and covered with a red shroud. It turned to the evening when she was taken for cremation. At that time, the usual time for the birds, the sparrows came there but were extremely quiet and patient, they did not make any sound of chirping. When they were given pieces of bread, they did not even look at them. After their old friend was taken away, they too silently flew away. They were grieved immensely.

Ans. Yes the grandmother was a strong character. First, she was physically strong inspite of her old age, second, she never sat idle, she spans the wheel, recited prayers fed the birds, and maybe did other things of her own. In the village, she did everything for the author and took perfect care of him. Third, she was mentally strong, she never showed too much emotion of weakness; one reason for this was her faith in God. Again she was able to hold back her sadness when the author was going abroad and even received him at the railway station after five years. She was duty-bound and never missed her regular activities of life. She passed on this enthusiasm and zeal to others also. Finally, we got to know from the evening prior to her death, that she could enjoy so well.

Ans. From two phase of the story we can say that grandmother loved animals. First she used to take stale chapattis and used to give those chapattis to the village dogs. Second when grandmother shifted to city she used feed the sparrows. The sparrows used to sit on her leg and head but she never showed them away.