1. Chapter Introduction: The Portrait of a Lady
“The Portrait of a Lady” by Khushwant Singh is a touching and deeply emotional autobiographical account of the author’s relationship with his grandmother. In The Portrait of a Lady, the writer beautifully captures the changing dynamics of their bond, the pain of growing apart, and the clash between traditional religious values and modern city education. It is a timeless tribute to the purity, unconditional love, and spiritual strength of a grandmother.
2. Characters Detail in The Portrait of a Lady
- The Grandmother: The central character of The Portrait of a Lady. She is an old, short, stout, and slightly bent woman with a wrinkled face. She always wears spotless white clothes and carries a rosary, representing a picture of peace, serenity, and deep religious devotion.
- Khushwant Singh (The Author/Narrator): The author recounts his childhood and youth. As he grows up and gets a modern education, he unintentionally drifts away from his grandmother, though their mutual love remains intact.
- The Sparrows: Though not human, they play a vital role at the end of the story, symbolizing the pure, unspoken bond of love between nature and the grandmother.
3. Full Summary of The Portrait of a Lady
Childhood in the Village
In the initial phase of The Portrait of a Lady, the author lived with his grandmother in the village while his parents were in the city. They shared a very close bond. She would wake him up, dress him, and walk him to the village school, which was attached to a temple. While the author learned the alphabet, the grandmother read scriptures. On their way back, they would feed stale chapatis to the village street dogs.
The Turning Point in the City
A major “turning point” in The Portrait of a Lady came when they moved to the city to live with the author’s parents. The author started attending an English school in a motorbus. The grandmother could no longer accompany him or help him with his lessons (English, Science, Gravity), which she did not believe in. She was highly disturbed that there was no teaching about God and scriptures. When she learned he was being taught music, she stopped talking to him almost completely, as she believed music was meant for beggars and harlots, not gentlefolk.
Going Abroad and The Final Journey
When the author went to the university, he was given a separate room, snapping the common link of their friendship. She accepted her seclusion silently, spending her days spinning the wheel, praying, and feeding hundreds of sparrows—her happiest half-hour. When he went abroad for five years, she saw him off at the station without showing any emotion, continuously praying. Upon his return, she celebrated by beating an old drum and singing songs of the homecoming of warriors. The next day, she fell ill. Knowing her end was near, she stopped talking and died peacefully while praying. In the beautiful conclusion of The Portrait of a Lady, thousands of sparrows gathered silently around her dead body to mourn her, refusing the breadcrumbs offered by the author’s mother.
4. Multiple Choice Questions (10 MCQs)
Q1. Who is the author of “The Portrait of a Lady”?
(a) Ruskin Bond | (b) Khushwant Singh | (c) Shirley Toulson | (d) R.K. Narayan
Answer: (b) Khushwant Singh
Q2. How did the grandfather look in his portrait?
(a) Young and handsome | (b) Old with a long white beard | (c) Like a middle-aged man | (d) Like a strict teacher
Answer: (b) Old with a long white beard
Q3. What did the grandmother feed the street dogs in the village?
(a) Biscuits | (b) Fresh bread | (c) Stale chapatis | (d) Meat
Answer: (c) Stale chapatis
Q4. What was considered a “turning point” in their relationship in The Portrait of a Lady?
(a) When the author went abroad | (b) When the author got married | (c) Moving to the city | (d) When the author got his own room
Answer: (c) Moving to the city
Q5. Why was the grandmother disturbed by the city school education?
(a) It was too expensive | (b) There was no teaching of God and scriptures | (c) It was far away | (d) The teachers were strict
Answer: (b) There was no teaching of God and scriptures
Q6. What was the grandmother’s opinion on music?
(a) She loved it | (b) She thought it was for gentlefolk | (c) She thought it had harlots and beggars’ monopoly | (d) She wanted to learn it
Answer: (c) She thought it had harlots and beggars’ monopoly
Q7. What was the grandmother’s happiest half-hour of the day in the city?
(a) Sleeping | (b) Praying in the temple | (c) Talking to the author | (d) Feeding the sparrows
Answer: (d) Feeding the sparrows
Q8. For how many years did the author go abroad for higher studies?
(a) 2 years | (b) 3 years | (c) 5 years | (d) 7 years
Answer: (c) 5 years
Q9. What did the grandmother do on the evening before her death?
(a) She prayed silently | (b) She collected neighborhood women, beat a drum, and sang | (c) She read the scriptures | (d) She fed the sparrows
Answer: (b) She collected neighborhood women, beat a drum, and sang
Q10. How did the sparrows react when the grandmother died?
(a) They chirped loudly | (b) They ate the breadcrumbs greedily | (c) They did not come that day | (d) They sat silently and flew away quietly without eating
Answer: (d) They sat silently and flew away quietly without eating
5. Short Answer Type Questions (35 Words)
Q1. How does Khushwant Singh describe his grandmother in The Portrait of a Lady?
Ans. He describes her as an old, short, stout, and slightly bent woman with a wrinkled face. She wore spotless white clothes, held a rosary, and always murmured silent prayers, looking like a serene winter landscape.
Q2. Why did the grandmother hate the author’s English school?
Ans. She hated it because the school taught English, Western science, and gravity, but gave no teachings about God and the scriptures. Furthermore, she was deeply distressed that they were being taught music.
Q3. What was the ‘turning point’ in their friendship?
Ans. Moving to the city was the turning point. The author started going to an English school in a motorbus. The grandmother could no longer accompany him or help him with his modern studies, creating a distance between them.
Q4. How did the grandmother spend her days after the author went to the university?
Ans. When the author went to the university, their common link of friendship snapped. She accepted her loneliness and spent her time spinning the wheel, reciting prayers, and feeding the sparrows in the afternoon.
Q5. How did the grandmother celebrate the author’s return from abroad?
Ans. To celebrate his return after five years, she collected the neighborhood women, got an old dilapidated drum, and sang for hours about the homecoming of warriors. She overstrained herself and didn’t pray that evening.
Q6. How did the sparrows pay their last tribute to the grandmother?
Ans. Thousands of sparrows gathered silently around her dead body. They did not chirp at all. When the author’s mother threw breadcrumbs to them, they took no notice and flew away quietly after the body was carried off.
Q7. Describe the grandmother’s final moments.
Ans. Knowing her end was near, she refused to talk to anyone to not waste her time. She lay peacefully in bed, continuously praying and telling her beads until her lips stopped moving and the rosary fell.
6. Long Answer Type Questions (60-70 Words)
Q1. Trace the changing relationship between the author and his grandmother in “The Portrait of a Lady”.
Ans. Their relationship went through three phases. In the village, they shared a deep bond; she woke him, got him ready, and went to school with him. The second phase, the turning point, came in the city. Modern education created a gap, and she could no longer help him. The final phase was when he went to the university and got a separate room, snapping the last thread of their daily interaction. Despite the physical distance, their mutual love remained strong until her end.
Q2. The grandmother was a deeply religious and kind-hearted woman. Justify based on “The Portrait of a Lady”.
Ans. The grandmother’s religious nature is evident throughout The Portrait of a Lady. Her lips constantly moved in inaudible prayer, and she always carried a rosary. She read scriptures in the village temple and was upset when the city school didn’t teach about God. Her kindness is shown through her daily routine of feeding stale chapatis to village street dogs and later, happily feeding breadcrumbs to hundreds of sparrows in the city courtyard. She died peacefully with prayers on lips.
Q3. Contrast the village school education with the city school education in the story.
Ans. In the village, the school was attached to a temple. The priest taught the alphabet and the morning prayer, aligning perfectly with the grandmother’s spiritual values, allowing her to help the author. In contrast, the city school taught modern subjects like English, Western Science, the law of gravity, and music. The grandmother disapproved of this curriculum as it lacked religious teachings and she considered music undignified. This modern education ultimately created an ideological divide between the two.
Class 11 English: The Portrait of a Lady (NCERT)
Doston, “The Portrait of a Lady” Class 11 English Hornbill textbook ka pehla aur mahatvapurn chapter hai. Is kahani ke lekhak Khushwant Singh hain, jinhone apni dadi (Grandmother) ke saath apne rishte ke badalte padavo ka bahut hi sundar chitran kiya hai.
Yahan se aap is chapter ka official NCERT PDF download kar sakte hain, jo aapki exam preparation me madad karega.
Medium: English | Format: PDF