THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY QUESTION ANSWER

Q.1)  Give short answer of the following questions. 

a) Name the writer of the prose piece entitled " The Portrait of a Lady " ?

= Khushwant Singh is the writer of the prose piece entitled " The Portrait of a lady ".

b) Name the person with whom the narrator spent his childhood in the village.

=  In the village the author spent his childhood with his grandmother.

c) Where did the author study when he was in the village ?

= When the author was in the village, he studied in the village school which was attached to the temple.

d) Who accompanied the author to school in the village ?

= The author's grandmother accompanied him to school in the village.

e) Who taught the children in the village school ?

= The priest taught the children in  the village school.

f) What was taught in the village school ?

= In the village school the author was taught the alphabets and the morning prayers.

g) How did he go to school in the city ?

= In the city the author went to school in a motor bus.

h) Which creatures created 'a veritable bedlam of chirruping' ?

= Sparrows created 'a veritable bedlam of chirruping' .

i) Where did the narrator go for to pursue further studies ?

= The narrator went for abroad  to pursue his further studies.

j) Which creatures came to mourn the death of the grandmother?

= Sparrows came to mourn the death of the grandmother.

k) How did the author go to English school ?

= The author went to the English school in a motor bus.

l) When was the author given a room of his own ?

=When the author went up to university he was given a room of his own.

m) What did the grandmother take with her for the village dogs ?

= The grandmother took stale chapattis with her for the village dogs.

n) Who woke up the author in the village house ?

= In the village house the author was woke up by his grandmother.

QUESTION ANSWER FOR 3 MARKS

a) How did the sparrow react to the death of the author's grandmother ?

= The way the sparrows reacted to the death of the author's grandmother was very tragic. When they came to know the death of the author's grandmother, they were overcome with sadness. All of them came to see off the grandmother. There was no chirruping among them. They were just staring at the corpse of the grandmother. The author's mother offered them some bread but they took no notice of  the bread. When the corpse of the grandmother was carried off for the cremation, they flew away quietly.

b) Give three reasons why the authors grandmother was disturbed when he started going to  the city school?

= When the author started going to the city school his grandmother was disturbed for many reasons.

           The first and the foremost reason is that she could not accompany her grandson to his school. On the other hand in the village she could accompany him to his school.

             The second reason is that there in the city school the author was given lessons on western science and there was no teaching about God and scriptures.

             The third reason is that there in the city school the author was given music lessons which she did not like at all.

c) Why did the author's grandmother not like music ?

= To the author's grandmother music had a lewd association. She thought that music is not the business of gentlefolk. It was the monopoly of harlots and beggars. So, she did not like music at all. When she came to know that the author was given music lessons in the city school, she was very disturbed and rarely talked to him .

d) What were taught the author in the city school ?

= In the city school the author was taught some English words and little things of western science and learning, the law of gravity, Archimedes' principle, the world being round etc. Moreover, in the city school the author was given some lessons on music.

e) Mention three ways in which the author's grandmother spent her days after he grew up.

= When the author grew up and went to the university, the grandmother accepted her seclusion with resignation. She spent her days by sitting her spinning wheel from sunrise to sunset and reciting prayers. In the afternoon she took relax and fed the sparrows. In these ways the author's grandmother spent her days after the author grew up. 

f) Give a short description of the narrator's grandfather as he appeared in the portrait.

= The author's grandfather's portrait hung above the mantelpiece in the drawing room. In the portrait he looked terribly old. He did not look the sort of person who would have a wife or children. He looked as if he could only have lots of grandchildren. His long, white beard covered the best part of his chest and he looked at least a hundred years old.

g) What was the happiest hour of the day for the grandmother ?

= When the author started going to the university, the grandmother felt very lonely and accepted her seclusion with resignation. From sunrise to sunset she sat by her wheel spinning and reciting the prayers. In the afternoon she took relax for half an hour to feed the sparrows. While she sat in the verandah breaking the bread into little bits, hundred of little birds collected round her creating a veritable bedlam of chirruping. Some came and perched on her legs, others on her shoulders. Some even sat on her head. She smiled but never shooed them away. This half an hour was the happiest hour of the day for the grandmother.

h) What is the difference between village school education and urban school education as brought out in the lesson ' The Portrait of a Lady ' ?

= A vast difference has been brought up between the village school education and the urban school education in the prose piece " The Portrait of a Lady ". The village school has given priority in building moral character, and on the other hand the urban school has given priority on professional education. They focused more on western form of education. There was no teaching about God and scriptures in them.

i) Describe the changing relationship between the author and his grandmother .

= The relationship between the author and his grandmother started when the author's parent went to the city leaving him with his grandmother. In the village their relationship was very intimate. They were very close to each other. She played the role of his mother. She could spend the whole day with him. The grandmother was very happy to live with his grandchild.

                When the author's parent sent them for to the city house, a  turning point came to their relationship. In the city house though they shared the same room, the grandmother could not accompany the author to his school. She did not like the author going to the English school. She was very disturbed when she came to know that the author was given music lessons in the English school, and rarely talked to him after that.

               When the author went up to the university and was given a room of his own, the common link between the author and his grandmother was snapped and the grandmother accepted her seclusion with resignation. They began to see each other less and less and the grandmother rarely left her spinning wheel to talk to anyone. From sunrise to sunset  she sat by her wheel spinning and reciting prayers. When the author went abroad and stayed there for five years they did not see each other. Thus, the authors relationship went on changing with the passage of time.

j) Give a short description of the narrator's grandfather as appeared in the portrait ?

= The narrator's grandfather died before he was born. He came to know about him from the portrait hung above the mantelpiece in the drawing room. In the portrait he wore a big turban and loose fitting clothes. His long, white beard covered the best part of his chest and he looked at least a hundred years old. He did not look the short of person who would have a wife or children. He looked as if he could only have lots and lots of grandchildren.

k) How did the grandmother celebrate the home coming of the narrator from abroad ?

= The  grandmother celebrated the home coming of the narrator with great enthusiasm. She went to the station to welcome him. In the evening she collected some women of the neighbourhood, got an old drum and started to sing. For several hours she thumped the sagging skins of the dilapidated drum and sang of the home-coming of warriors.

l). How did the sparrow mourn the death of the grandmother ?

= The way the sparrows mourned to the death of the author's grandmother was very pathetic. When they came to know the death of the author's grandmother, they were overcome with sadness. All of them came to see  the grandmother for the last time. That day there were no chirruping among them. They were just staring at the corpse of the grandmother. The author's mother offered them some bread but they took no notice of  the bread. When the corpse of the grandmother was carried off for the cremation, they flew away quietly.