RYAN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL,GHAZIABAD

CLASS-XI CHAPTER THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY SUB: ENGLISH

HANDOUT

NOTE: Kindly attempt question 1-7 in your English notebook and rest to be pasted.

Questions and Answers

1. Mention the three phases of the author’s relationship with his grandmother
before he left the country to study abroad.

Ans: The three phases of the author’s relationship with his grandmother before
he left the country to study abroad are as follows:

1. First Phase: The period of his early childhood where he used to live with her in
the village. His grandmother used to wake him up and get him ready for school.
They both would walk to school together and come back home together. They
had a good friendship with each other.

2. Second Phase: In this phase, the author and his grandmother shifted to the city
as the author’s parents settled well in the city. Although they shared the same
room, this was the turning point of their friendship. Now, they saw less of each
other.

3. Third Phase: When the author went to the university, he was given a room of
his own. This made their friendship bond weaker as the common link between
them ‘the same room’ snapped. She became quieter and private and kept the
spinning wheel all day long. She would feed the sparrows once a day and this was
the only thing that made her happy now.

2. Mention three reasons why the author’s grandmother was disturbed when
he started going to the city school.

Ans: When the author used to live in the village with her, they both had a good
friendship. She used to wake him up, got him ready and would also accompany
him to school. All this changed when they moved to the city. The grandmother
was disturbed for the following reason:
1. She no longer could help him in his lessons. As he started going to the English
medium school, this became a barrier for her.

2. There were no teachings about God and the scriptures.

3. She didn’t like him taking the music lessons. According to her, music was only
for beggars and harlots.
Question. 3.Why was the author’s grandmother unhappy with city education?

Answer: The city school education made the grandmother’s help at lessons
redundant as the instructions were in English. She disapproved of science
education, balked at his learning music and was critical of the lack of religious
instructions at the school.

Question 4. The grandmother’s reception and send off of her grandson were
very touching. Comment.
Answer:When the writer went abroad, the grandmother saw him off at the
railway station, silently praying and telling her beads, and she kissed his forehead.
When he returned, she expressed her joy by collecting women from the
neighbourhood, beating the drum and singing for hours of the homecoming of
warriors. For the first time she missed her prayers.

Question 5. When the grandmother was taken ill, how were her views different
from the doctor’s?
Answer: When the grandmother was taken ill, the doctor felt it was mild fever
and would go. But the grandmother thought differently. She felt her end was
near. She refused to waste any more time talking instead of spending it in prayers
as she sensed that only a few hours remained before her life came to an end.

Question 6. When people are pious and good, even nature mourns their death.
Justify.
Answer: When the grandmother died, the sparrows, along with the writer’s
family, mourned her death. Thousands of sparrows came and sat quietly all
around her dead body. The writer’s mother threw breadcrumbs but the sparrows
took no notice of them. After her cremation they flew without touching the
crumbs.

Question 7. Khushwant Singh said about his grandmother: ‘She could never
have been pretty, but she was always beautiful.’ Explain.
Answer - Khushwant Singh’s grandmother was not pretty in the conventional
sense of having physical beauty, but she had great inner beauty. She had a calm
and serene personality.

Question 8. Why was it hard for the author to believe that his grandmother was
once young and pretty?

Answer: The author had seen his grandmother always as an old person. His
earliest memory was that of an old lady. Therefore, as a child, he found it difficult
to believe that she had been any different ever. He could not believe that once
she was young and pretty.

Question. 9.Why was the author’s grandmother unhappy with city education?

Answer: The city school education made the grandmother’s help at lessons
redundant as the instructions were in English. She disapproved of science
education, balked at his learning music and was critical of the lack of religious
instructions at the school.

Question 10. What was the happiest moment of the day for the grandmother?

Answer: The happiest moment of the day for the grandmother was when she fed
bread crumbs to the sparrows. In the afternoons, she used to feed the birds. They
became so free with her that they perched on her shoulders and made great
noises.

Question 11. Elaborate on the beautiful bond of love and friendship between
the author and his grandmother.
Answer: When the author was still young, his parents left for the city leaving him
to the care of his grandmother. They were good friends. She woke him up each
morning, bathed him, dressed him, plastered his wooden slate, gave him
breakfast and walked him to school. While he sat in the veranda learning, the
grandmother sat inside the temple reading scriptures.

When they settled in the city, they shared a common bedroom. When the writer
was going abroad, she went to the railway station to see him off but did not speak
a word, only kissed his forehead. The writer cherished this as their last physical
contact as he was going away for five years. But his grandmother was there to
receive him back. In the evening, she collected women from the neighbourhood
and beat the drum and sang for hours of the homecoming of the warriors. For the
first time she missed her prayers.

12. The author’s grandmother was a religious person. What are the different
ways in which we come to know this?

Ans: When she lived in the village with the author, she used to sing prayers in a
monotonous sound while getting him ready each morning. She used to walk the
author to his school and then visit the temple attached to the school everyday.
She would sit and read scriptures. Later when they moved to the city, she would
carry the beads of the rosary with her all the time. She would continuously chant
her prayers and her hand remained busy in telling the beads. When the author
went to study at the university, she went into seclusion and spent her whole day
in chanting prayers.

13. Describe the changing relationship between the author and his
grandmother. Did their feelings for each other change?

Ans: In the early days, they both shared a good bond. She would get him ready for
school, accompany him and would come back with him later in the day. She
would help him with his studies and would teach him prayers by singing in a
monotonous tone every morning. When they moved to the city, their relationship
was strained. He started going to an English medium school. She would no longer
accompany him to the school or could not help him with the lessons. She didn’t
like his new school as they never taught him about God or scriptures. Later, when
he started taking music lessons, she disapproved of it as she thought that music
was only for beggars or harlots. She stopped talking to him afterwards and would
spend her day alone while chanting prayers.

When the author went to university and then abroad, their bond weakened. She
would spin the wheel the whole day and chant her prayers. She accepted the
seclusion.

No, their feelings for each other didn’t change but during the time, a distance
developed between them.