Summary of Class 11 English Chapter 1 The Portrait of a Lady
The chapter ‘The Portrait of a Lady’ is the story of the author and his grandmother. The grandmother was an old woman with a wrinkled face. The author had always seen her like this, for the past twenty years. She appeared to be so old that he could not imagine her being ‘young and pretty, someone who had a husband. She was short, fat, and slightly bent. The author had seen his grandfather’s portrait- an old man with a turban and a long white beard covering his chest. To the author, his grandfather didn’t seem like a man who could have a wife and children, but someone who could have lots of grandchildren. His grandmother used to move around the house in ‘Spotless White’ with her one hand resting on her waist and her other hand counting the beads of her rosary.
In the initial days, the author and his grandmother had a good relationship. She used to wake him up and get him ready for school. She used to pack the things required by him for the day and walked him to school every day. She used to visit the temple that was attached to the school. She had a routine of reading the scriptures. The author along with other children sat on the verandah singing alphabets and morning prayers. They both used to come back home together with stray dogs roaming around them as his grandmother would carry the stale chapattis to feed them.
Soon, the parents of the author who went to the city to settle in and called them. As they reached the city, his relationship with his grandmother took a turn. Though they shared the room, their bond grew apart. He started going to an English medium school, she no longer accompanied him to his school, and there were no longer stray dogs who roamed around them while walking back home. She, however, used to ask him about his day and what he had learned. She didn’t understand anything as everything was in another language which she could not understand. She didn’t approve of the new syllabus that he was studying because she thought that they did not teach him about God and the scriptures. They saw less of each other.
As the days passed, he grew older and soon went to the university. He had his own room and this made their relationship sour. She stopped talking to everyone and spent her whole day sitting at her spinning wheel, reciting prayers and moving beads of the rosary with one hand. However, she loved feeding sparrows in the verandah at dawn. Breaking bread into pieces and feeding it to the birds was her daily routine. The birds would sit on her legs, her head, some even on her shoulders.
Soon, the author decided to go abroad for further studies. She came to the railway station to leave him off. She was not sentimental, she continuously recited her prayers, her mind lost in the prayers, and she kissed him on the forehead. After five years, as he returned home, she was there, came to pick him at the station, was still the same as she had been five years ago. She clasped him within her arms and didn’t say a word. She still used to feed her sparrows.
One day, she didn’t recite her prayers but instead collected the women of the neighbourhood, got a drum and started singing. The next morning, she was ill with a mild fever. The doctor said that there was nothing to worry about but she was sure that her end was near.
She didn’t want to waste her time talking to anyone in the family anymore but spent her last hours in reciting her prayers lying on the bed. She died and so her body lay on the bed, lifeless. As they prepared for her funeral, they saw all the sparrows sitting in the verandah around her, mourning her death.
Class 11 English Chapter 1 The Portrait of a Lady
Question Answer of Class 11 English Chapter 1 The Portrait of a Lady
Question 1:
Mention the three phases of the author’s relationship with his grandmother before he left the country to study abroad.
Answer
The three phases of the author’s relationship with his grandmother before he left the country to study abroad are given below.
The first phase was the period of the author’s early childhood. During this phase, he used to live with his grandmother in the village. The grandmother used to take care of him from waking him up and getting him ready to accompany him to school. Both shared a good friendship with each other.
The second phase was the time when the author and the grandmother moved to the city to live with the author’s parents. This was a turning point in their friendship because now they saw less of each other.
The third phase was the time the author joined the University. He was given a room of his own and the common link of their friendship was snapped. The grandmother turns to the wheel spinning and reciting prayers all day long. She accepts her seclusion with silence.
Class 11 English Chapter 1 The Portrait of a Lady
Question 2:
Mention three reasons why the author’s grandmother was disturbed when he started going to the city school.
Answer
The author’s grandmother was disturbed when he started going to the city school because:
- Grandmother could no longer accompany the author to his school as she used to in the village. Now the author went in a motor bus.
- She did not like the things the author was taught at school. She thought that children should be taught about God and scriptures.
- The biggest shock came to her when she learnt that the author was learning music at school. For her, music was not meant for gentle people.
Class 11 English Chapter 1 The Portrait of a Lady
Question 3:
Mention three ways in which the author’s grandmother spent her days after he grew up.
Answer
The three ways in which the author’s grandmother spent her days after he grew up are
- by spinning wheel,
- reciting prayers and
- feeding the sparrows.
Class 11 English Chapter 1 The Portrait of a Lady
Question 4:
Mention the odd way in which the author’s grandmother behaved just before she died.
Answer
Grandmother said her end was near. She said she did not want to waste her time. She lay peacefully in bed. She started praying and telling her beads. Soon her lips stopped moving. The rosary fell from her fingers. There was peace on her face. She was dead.
Class 11 English Chapter 1 The Portrait of a Lady
Question 5:
Mention the way in which the sparrows expressed their sorrow when the author’s grandmother died.
Answer
Thousands of sparrows sat silently surrounding the dead body of the author’s grandmother. There was no chirpping. The author’s mother threw some crumbs of bread to them. They took no notice of them. As soon as the grandmother’s corpse was carried off, they flew away quietly. Thus the sparrows expressed their sorrow.
Class 11 English Chapter 1 The Portrait of a Lady
Question 6:
The author’s grandmother was a religious person. What are the different ways in which we come to know this?
Answer
The author’s grandmother was a religious lady with a kind heart. Her one hand was always busy in telling the beads of her rosary. Her lips constantly moved in an inaudible prayer. She used to get up early in the morning. She did her morning prayer in “a monotonous sing-song”. Everyday, she went along with the author to his school and while the narrator studied she sat in a temple and read scriptures Later, in the city she was unhappy that there was no religious teaching at school. Before dying, she stopped talking to her family members and turned to prayers, and counting the beads.
Class 11 English Chapter 1 The Portrait of a Lady
Question 7:
Describe the changing relationship between the author and his grandmother. Did their feelings for each other change?
Answer
The author spent his childhood in the village with his grandmother. She was his constant companion. She woke him up in the morning. She got him ready for school. She spent her day at the temple till the school closed. Then she would walk back home with him. But this relationship changed suddenly when the author joined an English school in the city. Grandmother didn’t like the things taught at the school. Now she rarely talked to him. But this change in no way lessened their love for each other. She kissed the author lovingly when he left for abroad. And when he came back after five years, she took him in her arms. She kept singing and beating the drum for hours.
Class 11 English Chapter 1 The Portrait of a Lady
Question 8:
Would you agree that the author’s grandmother was a person strong in character? If yes, give instances that show this.
Answer
Yes, I agree that the author’s grandmother was a person strong in character. She was a strong woman with strong beliefs. Although she was not formally educated, she was serious about the author’s education. She could not adjust herself to the western way of life, Science and English education. She hated music and disapproved of its teaching in school.
She was a deeply religious lady. Her lips were always moving in a silent prayer. She was always telling the beads of her rosary. She went to temple daily and read the scriptures. She was distressed to know that there was no teaching about God and holy books at Khushwant’s new English school.
Class 11 English Chapter 1 The Portrait of a Lady
Question 9:
Have you known someone like the author’s grandmother? Do you feel the same sense of loss with regard to someone whom you have loved and lost?
Answer
My own grandmother is very much like the author’s grandmother. She loves me very much. She is deeply religious. She has no attachment for worldly things. She keeps praying all the time. When she is telling her beads, she looks very sweet. Her face is full of peace. She is fond of feeding the dogs in our street. Whenever she goes into the street, dogs wag their tails and gather around her. Then she buys some bread for them. All children in the street call her Dadi Ma. Sometimes, she goes to stay with my uncle at Delhi. Then I miss her badly.
Class 11 English Chapter 1 The Portrait of a Lady
