THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY

The Portrait of A Lady (Chapter Highlights)
• When the author, Khushwant Singh, was a little child, his parents left him in the village with his
grandmother and went to live in the city.
• The author’s grandmother was an old lady. She was very religious. The author shared a very close
bond with his grandmother. They became very good friends.
• The grandmother woke him up, dressed him and accompanied him to school. The school was
attached to the temple.
• While the author was at school, the grandmother used to read the scriptures in the temple.
• When the author’s parents were well-settled, he and his grandmother also went to the city. It
proved a turning point in their friendship.
• In the city, Khushwant Singh attended an English school and travelled in a motor bus. He learnt
English words and topics of Western Science.
• The grandmother could no longer accompany him to his school nor help him in his studies.
However, they shared the same room.
• When the author went to the University, he was given a separate room, Thus, the last link of their
friendship was broken.
• The grandmother kept herself busy in her prayers and spinning the wheel. Her favourite part of the
day was feeding the sparrows.
• When the author went abroad for higher studies, the grandmother came to see him off at the
station but she showed no emotions and was not even sentimental.
• The author came back after five years and was received by his grandmother at the station. She was
unchanged and did not look a day older.
• In the evening, the grandmother did not pray and instead collected the women of the
neighbourhood and celebrated her grandson’s homecoming,
• The grandmother fell ill the next day and she knew that her end was near.
• She stopped talking and closed her eyes. She was lost in her prayers and counting the beads of her
rosary. Suddenly, the rosary fell down and her lips stopped moving. She was dead.
• Thousands.of sparrows assembled in the room and sat quietly to mourn her death. They did not
even eat the crumbs given by the author’s mother.
• After the grandmother’s body was taken for cremation, the sparrows flew away silently.
SUMMARY
‘The Portrait of a Lady’ is a descriptive story describing Khushwant Singh’s grandmother. He describes his
relationship with his grandmother in the story – The Portrait of Lady.
He recalls his grandmother as a short, old, slightly bent lady. He sketches the lady as not very pretty but
constantly beautiful throughout her life and the twenty years that the author had stayed with her.She was
healthy and lived a very long life. In the story, the author describes the 3 phases of relationship in the story
which include the time of complete dependence, the sharing of room, and losing the common link of
friendship by getting his privacy.
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Grandmother had an orthodox kind of mentality and disapproved of Music lessons taught to the author in
the school. Animal lover, theist, and the formerly caring lady died out of very usual mild fever.
She spent her last chapter chanting the god’s name and praying. She ignored the protest done by the
author and the author’s parents. Finally, with a peaceful pallor spread on her face, she died.
During the customary ceremony, before the funeral, the corpse was lying in her room where 1000’s
sparrows sat scattered on the floor, very quiet. They showed their sorrow by taking no notice of the bread
crumbs kept by the author’s mother and flew away once the body was carried away and came back never
again.
QUESTION-ANSWER
Question 1. Why was it hard for the author to believe that the grandmother was once young and
pretty?
Answer:
It was difficult for the author to believe that his grandmother was once young and pretty. In fact, the
thought was almost revolting. He had seen her old for the last twenty years. He felt she could age no
further. The very thought of her playing games as a child seemed quite absurd and undignified.
Question 2. The grandmother has been portrayed as a very religious lady. What details in the
story create this impression?
Answer:
The author recalls his grandmother as a very religious woman. He remembers her hobbling about the
house, telling the beads of her rosary. He recalls her morning prayers and her reading scriptures
inside the temple. The author recounts how, during the last few days, she spent all her time praying.
Question 3. The grandmother had a divine beauty. How does the author bring it out?
Answer:
The grandmother was not pretty but had a divine beauty. She dressed in spotless white. Her silver
locks were scattered untidily over her pale, puckered face, and her lips constantly moved in an
inaudible prayer. The author describes her “like the winter landscape in the mountains”a
personification of “serenity, breathing peace and contentment.”
Question 4. “This was the turning point in our friendship.” What was the turning point?
Answer:
The turning point in the friendship arrived when they shifted to the city. They saw less of each other as she
could neither accompany him to school, nor understand English. She did not believe in science. She could not
keep pace with the author’s modem education that he received in the city school.
Question 5. Describe the author’s grandfather as he looked in his portrait.

Answer:
In the portrait, the grandfather was dressed in 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 looked grandfatherly to the
author; someone who could never have been young.
Notes by Rahul Roy (M.A. ENG, B.ED , CTET, ADCA), CHINMAYA VIDYALAYA, BOKARO
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The Portrait of A Lady (Chapter Highlights)

Question 5. Describe the author’s grandfather as he looked in his portrait.

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