📖 Non-Detailed Text 5 — The Portrait of a Lady (by Khushwant Singh): A tender, true word-portrait of the author's grandmother — a deeply religious, loving and dignified old lady. It traces their close friendship, how it changed with modern city life and English education, and her peaceful death, mourned even by the sparrows she loved. Everything you need — summary, theme, word-meanings and all textbook answers — is here.
The Portrait of a Lady
📝 About the Story
Written by the famous writer Khushwant Singh, ‘The Portrait of a Lady’ is a loving memoir of his grandmother. He paints a vivid ‘portrait’ of her appearance, her piety and her kind nature, and describes how their deep friendship slowly changed as he grew up and moved from the village to the city and then abroad. The story ends with her quiet, prayerful death, which is mourned even by the sparrows she used to feed.
👥 Characters
- The grandmother — an old, short, religious and loving lady; the ‘lady’ of the portrait.
- The author (grandson) — Khushwant Singh, who was her close companion and friend.
- The grandfather — seen only in a portrait above the mantelpiece.
- The village dogs & the sparrows — creatures the grandmother fed and loved.
📚 Summary
Section I: The author describes his grandmother — short, fat, slightly bent, with a face full of wrinkles, dressed in spotless white, always telling her rosary beads and praying. She was not pretty, but ‘always beautiful’. In the village they were close friends: she woke him, bathed, dressed and fed him, prepared his slate, and walked him to the temple-school, feeding the village dogs stale chapattis on the way.
Section II: When the family moved to the city, their friendship reached a ‘turning point’. She no longer went to school with him; he went to an English school by bus, learning western science and music, which she disliked (she was upset that there was no teaching of God and that music had ‘lewd’ associations). She could not help with his lessons and rarely talked to him. When he went to university, the ‘common link of friendship was snapped’; she spent her days at her spinning wheel, praying, and feeding the sparrows.
Section III: The author went abroad for five years. The grandmother, not sentimental, saw him off silently in prayer. On his return she was unchanged. That evening she did something unusual — she did not pray, but sang and drummed with the neighbourhood women to celebrate his homecoming. Next day she fell mildly ill but felt her end was near; she stopped talking and prayed to her last breath. She died peacefully. As her body was carried out, thousands of sparrows sat silently in mourning, ignoring the bread offered to them, and flew away quietly only when her corpse was taken away.
💡 Theme / Message
The story celebrates the deep bond between a grandchild and grandparent, and the piety, love and dignity of the grandmother. It also shows how modern education and city life can slowly loosen family bonds. Her love for creatures was so pure that even the sparrows mourned her — a moving tribute to a noble ‘lady’.
🏷️ Why ‘The Portrait of a Lady’?
The whole essay paints a vivid, loving word-‘portrait’ of the author's grandmother — her looks, her nature, her daily life and her death. Because it draws such a complete picture of this noble, religious ‘lady’, the title ‘The Portrait of a Lady’ is perfectly apt.
📖 Glossary (Word Meanings)
| Word | Meaning |
|---|
| mantelpiece | a shelf projecting from the wall above the fireplace |
| revolting | (here) expressing protest; distasteful |
| criss-cross | crossed lines forming a pattern |
| hobble | to walk as when lame |
| stoop | a bent-forward posture |
| rosary | a string of beads used for prayer |
| lewd | indecent |
| monotonous | unchanging, with no change of pitch |
| scriptures | sacred book (here, the Guru Granth Saheb) |
| shroud | a cloth/sheet wrapped round a dead body |
| dilapidated | old and in bad condition |
| frivolous | not serious; playful |
| resignation | calm acceptance of something unpleasant |
| pallor | paleness |
Section I — Answer the following questions
1How has the author described his grandmother?
He describes her as an old, short, fat and slightly bent woman whose face was a crisscross of wrinkles. She dressed in spotless white, hobbled about with one hand on her waist and the other telling the beads of her rosary, with silver hair scattered over her pale face and lips always moving in prayer. She was never pretty but ‘always beautiful’ — like the winter landscape in the mountains.
2What impression did the author get looking at his grandfather's photograph?
The grandfather's portrait (above the mantelpiece) showed him in a big turban and loose-fitting clothes, with a long white beard covering his chest, looking at least a hundred years old. He did not look the sort of person who would have a wife or children — he looked as if he could only have ‘lots and lots of grandchildren’.
3Do you think the author's grandmother was a religious person? Why do you think so?
Yes, she was deeply religious. She was always telling the beads of her rosary and her lips constantly moved in prayer; she said her morning prayer in a sing-song while bathing him, and read the scriptures at the temple-school. Her whole day was filled with prayer.
4The author says that he and his grandmother were good friends. Did they do anything together?
Yes. She woke him up, bathed and dressed him, said her prayer hoping he would learn it, prepared his wooden slate, ink-pot and reed pen, and gave him breakfast. She took him to school (which was attached to the temple) and back, and they fed the village dogs stale chapattis on the way.
5Why did his grandmother carry chapattis when they went to school? What does this tell you about her?
She carried several stale chapattis to feed the village dogs on the way to and from school. This shows that she was kind, compassionate and loving towards animals and all creatures.
6Life was comfortable for the author and his grandmother. Do you think it will continue to be so?
Their comfortable village life is likely to change when the family moves to the city, where modern education and a different way of life slowly loosen the close bond between the grandmother and the grandson.
Section II — Answer the following questions
1The author and his grandmother were very close to one another. How do you know this?
In the village she always went to school with him — waking him, dressing him, feeding him and walking him to and from the temple-school, feeding the dogs together on the way. They shared the same room, and she prayed hoping he would learn her prayers. They were constantly together, which shows how close they were.
2When did their relationship change? Why?
The turning point came when his parents, settled in the city, sent for them. In the city the grandmother no longer went to school with him; he attended an English school by motor bus, learning English, western science and music that she could not share or approve of. She could not help with his lessons and rarely talked to him, so they drifted apart.
3There were some things about the author's school that his grandmother did not like. What were these?
She did not believe in the things taught at the English school; she was distressed that there was no teaching about God and the scriptures; and she was disturbed by the music lessons, because to her music had ‘lewd’ (indecent) associations and was ‘not meant for gentle folk’.
4What happened to their relationship when the author went to the university?
At the university he was given a room of his own, so the ‘common link of friendship was snapped’. The grandmother accepted this with resignation. She rarely left her spinning wheel, spending the whole day spinning and reciting prayers.
5What did his grandmother do with her time?
From sunrise to sunset she sat at her spinning wheel, spinning and reciting prayers. Only in the afternoon she relaxed to feed the sparrows in the courtyard; hundreds of birds would perch on her legs, shoulders and even her head — it was the happiest half-hour of her day.
6The distance between the author and his grandmother grew wider. What do you think will happen next?
The growing distance suggests that, as the author moves further away (to university and then abroad), the grandmother will spend her last years quietly in prayer, and the story is moving towards her peaceful death.
Section III — Answer the following questions
1The author decided to go abroad. Why did he think that his grandmother would be upset?
He would be away for five years, and he thought that at her old age one could never tell (she might not live till his return). So he expected her to be upset and sad at such a long separation.
2How did his grandmother behave when she saw him on his return at the station?
She came to receive him and did not look a day older. She still had no time for words — while she clasped him in her arms he could hear her reciting her prayer. Even on that first day, her happiest moments were spent feeding her sparrows.
3What changes came over her in the evening (of his return)?
That evening a change came over her — she did not pray. Instead she collected the neighbourhood women, got an old drum and began to sing, thumping the drum for hours and singing of the ‘homecoming of warriors’. The family had to persuade her to stop, to avoid overstraining. It was the first time she did not pray.
4Was her illness of a serious nature?
No. It was only a mild fever, and the doctor said it would soon go. But the grandmother thought differently — she believed that her end was near.
5Why did she refuse to talk to her family members?
Because she felt her end was near and that, in the excitement of the previous evening, she had omitted to pray for a few hours before the close of her life. So she did not want to waste any more time talking; she wished to spend her last hours praying and telling her beads.
6What did the author and his family see when they went to take her for cremation?
When they went to her room in the evening, they saw thousands of sparrows sitting silently, scattered all over the veranda and her room, right up to where she lay dead, wrapped in the red shroud. There was no chirping.
7What was strange about the behaviour of the sparrows?
The sparrows sat silently, without chirping, as if in mourning. When the author's mother broke bread and threw it to them, they took no notice of it. And when the grandmother's corpse was carried off, they all flew away quietly. This showed their deep love and grief for the grandmother who used to feed them.
D. Let's Write — Answer in about 50 words each
1How does the author describe his grandmother?
He describes her as an old, short, fat and slightly bent woman with a wrinkled face and silver hair, dressed in spotless white, always telling her rosary beads and praying. Though never pretty, she was ‘always beautiful’, peaceful and serene — like the winter landscape in the mountains.
2The author and his grandmother were good friends. Give examples to support this statement.
In the village she woke him, bathed, dressed and fed him, prepared his slate and pen, and took him to and from the temple-school. They fed the village dogs together on the way, shared the same room, and were constantly together — clear proof of their close friendship.
3How did the author's grandmother behave when he was going abroad?
She was not sentimental. She came to see him off at the railway station but did not talk or show emotion; her lips moved in prayer and her fingers told the rosary beads. She silently kissed his forehead, which he cherished as perhaps the last sign of physical contact between them.
4The author's grandmother was a religious lady. Do you agree? Why?
Yes, I agree. She was constantly reciting prayers and telling her rosary beads, read the scriptures, said her morning prayer in a sing-song, spent her days spinning and praying, and in her last hours chose to pray rather than talk. Her whole life was centred on God and prayer.
5How did the sparrows behave when the grandmother died?
Thousands of sparrows sat silently, scattered all over her room and veranda, without chirping, as if mourning her. They ignored the bread crumbs the author's mother threw to them, and flew away quietly only when her corpse was carried off — showing their deep love and grief.
6The author and his grandmother shared a very close relationship. This changed when they moved to the city. Why did this happen?
In the city the grandmother no longer accompanied him to school; he went to an English school by bus, learnt western science she did not believe in, and had music lessons she disliked. She could not help with his lessons, and the lack of shared time slowly caused them to drift apart.