Potrait of a Lady, డిగ్రీ మొదటి సంవత్సరం ప్రశ్నలూ, జవాబులు

Portrait of a Lady

Q1. Why the essay is called “Portrait of a Lady”?

In this story, Khushwant Singh describe s his grandmother. He tells us how he had spent his childhood with her in the village. He also describes the change that came in the relationship in the city. Ultimately, he describes the moving scene of her death. As he paints the picture of his grandmother vividly, the story is called as “Portrait of a Lady”.

Q2. What does Singh say about the beauty of his grandmother? What kind of beauty was hers?

Khushwant Singh says that his grandmother was tender, loving and deeply religious old lady.  She was so old that her face was wrinkled. It was difficult to believe she would ever been young and pretty. Her hair was white as snow. She had a little stoop in her back. She could be seeing reciting her rosary all the time.  The author says that “yet she was beautiful” and adds that "she was like the winter landscape in the mountains and expanse of pure white serenity breathing peace and contentment."

Q3. Why did the writer’s grandmother accompany him to school?

The writer’s grandmother accompanied his to school as Singh was the only child at that time, and his parents had gone to live in the city leaving him behind the village under the care of his grandmother. She would get him ready for school. She would also feed him with Chappathi. The School was attached with a temple. All the children sat in the verandah reciting alphabets while his grandmother is engaged reading holy scriptures. Finally in the evening, the author and the grandmother would walk back home feeding the dogs.

Q4. What was the turning point in the relationship of the grandmother and the grandson?

After a friendly relationship with his grandmother, the author went to city to join his parents. He had to adopt a new life. This was a turning point for the grandmother and the grandson. Both of them were made to settle down in the city. The author went to an English school but the grandmother never liked the way he was taught. Though Singh and his grandmother shared the same room, she was unable to help him. Apart from this, she was also disappointed that he was learning music, which she considered not suitable for gentlefolks.

Q5. Who were the grandmother’s friends in the absence of the writer?

In due course, Singh went up to a University. He was given a separate room in the house. This indeed snapped the common link of the relationship between the grandmother and the grandson.  The grandmother agreed the fact and adjusted her life accordingly. She used to spin the wheel from sunrise to sunset. Only during the afternoon she would relax by feeding the sparrows with little pieces of bread. They were her best friends and the sparrows also liked her company.

Q6. How did the grandmother react when the writer returned from studying abroad? What does this relation show of her character?

Singh went up abroad for higher studies for five years. He had a doubt in his mind that his grandmother may not survive or not until his return. His also taught that it might be the last physical contact between them when she came in the railway station to see him off. When he came back after five years, he was welcomed by his grandmother who was not grown a single day older. She celebrated the return of her grandson by collecting some women of neighbourhood and beating drum for several hours. The incident shows that she was tender, loving and deeply religious.

Q7. What kind of a relationship did the grandmother have with animals?

The grandmother had a special relationship animals like sparrows and dogs. When the author was going to school in his village, the grandmother would walk back home with him, feeding the dogs. When she came to city she would relax by feeding the sparrows with little pieces of bread in the afternoon. They were her best friends and the sparrows also liked her company. Singh says that his grandmother's happiest moments were with her sparrows.