English Project

Work
Made by: Anshul Yadav
Roll No.: 11206
Class: XI-B
Th Portr of a
e ait
Lad
Khushwant
y Singhs
 About
Author
Khushwant Singh (Born in Hadali Punjab, to a Sikh family) is a prominent
Indian novelist and journalist. Singh's weekly column, With Malice towards
One and All", carried by several Indian newspapers, is among the most
widely-read columns in the country.
An important Indo-Anglian novelist, Singh is best known for his trenchant
secularism, his humor, and an abiding love of poetry. His comparisons of
social and behavioral characteristics of Westerners and Indians are laced
with acid wit. He served as editor of several well-known literary and news
magazines, as well as two major broadsheet newspapers, through the 1970s
and 1980s. Khushwant Singh was a member of the Rajya Sabha (upper house
of the Indian Parliament) from 1980 to 1986. Among other honors, he was
awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1974 by the President of India
 Vocabular
y
Mantelpiece : shelf above a fire place
Terribly : too much
Lewd : incident
Absurd : ridiculous
Seclusion : loneliness
Frivolous : threats made madly
Crumbs : small piece of bread
 THEME
The chapter The Portrait of a Lady written by Khushwant
Singh revolves around the emotional attachments between
him and his grandmother. The chapter is divided into three
phases. The first phase when the author and the grandmother
lives in a village; had a close contact with each other. The
second phase when they came to the city & the last phase
when the author left the city & grandmother to study. And
when he came back, found grandmother alive but after few
days the religious and sentimental lady died. When she died,
the sparrows sat scattered on the floor without any chirruping
whom she used to feed earlier. The author wants to convey
that birds, animals and living creatures other than human
beings also have emotion.
 Friendship Back bent
nature slightly
young and pretty

CHARACTERSTICS OF
GRANDMOTHER
 HA
C
HE
T
OF
RY
A
 As Close Friends
The narrator and his grandmother were good friends.
His parents had left him her in the village. They were
always together. She used to wake him up in the
morning. She got him ready for school. She said her
morning prayer in an unchanging sing-song. She
would wash his wooden slate and plaster it with
yellow chalk. She would take an earthen inkpot and a
red pen. She would tie them in a bundle and hand it
to him. She would give him a thick stale chapatti with
a little butter and sugar spread on it. She carried
several stale chapattis with her for the village dogs.
ent to School with the Narra
Both the writer and his grandmother were good
friends. His parents had left him with his
grandmother at village. His parents were in city.
Every day, she used to wake up the writer to be
ready to go to school. She was uttering the
monotonous song while she was bathing. The
writer liked her very much. His grandmother was
going to school with him because there was the
temple nearer the school. She would sit among
the children and listen to the priests prayer.
A Turning Point in Relationship
When writers parents were settled in the city, they sent for them. That was a
turning point in their friendship. Both the writer and his grandmother started
spending days separately and the writer became separated from the close relation
with his grandmother. The narrator went to an English school in a motor bus.
There were no dogs in the streets. The grandmother took to feeding the sparrows.
Years rolled by. The grandmother and her grandson saw less of each other now.
She hated English and science. She felt sad that there was no teaching about God
and the scriptures at the new school. When he reported her about the music lesson
he was being taught his grandma felt sorrow, because she knew that music had
been associated with hariots. She said nothing but her silence meant disapproval.
OND OF FRIENDSHIP BROKE
When the writer went to University, he was allotted a
room for his staying. The common link of their friendship
was broken. The grandmother accepted her loneliness
quietly. His grandmother spent time with her spinning
wheel. From sunrise to sunset she sat by her wheel
spinning and reciting prayers. In the afternoon, she relaxed
for a while to feed the sparrows. She broke the bread into
little bits and threw them to the sparrows . She was always
getting surrounded by sparrows that were perching on her
legs and shoulders. Some even sat on her head She never
drove them away. Feeding the sparrows was the happiest
half hour of the day for her.
arrator Goes Abroa
When the writer decided to
go abroad for further
studies and his grandmother
would be upset. But she
came to leave him at the
railway station but did not
talk or show any emotion.
She kissed his forehead
rated the Homecoming o
Grandson
The narrator returned home after five years. The grandmother
did not look a day older. In the evening a change came over her
The author could feel her pulse as usual and her sparrows were
with her. She didnt pray. That evening she was seen very
happy spending time with the older women folk. She collected
all the women of the neighborhood. She took an old drum and
started singing. She continued thumping the old drum for
several hours. She sang of the homecoming of warriors. They
had to persuade her to stop. Singing and beating of the drum
could make her tried. For the first time she forget to pray.
GRANDMOTHERS DEATH
The next morning she fell ill. Doctor was called
for and he told that the fever was mild and she
would be well within a short time. She declared
that her end was near. She didnt want to waste
any more time talking top them. She lay
peacefully in bed. She continued praying and
telling her beads. Then her lips stopped moving
Next time she breathed her last. The rosary fell
down from her lifeless fingers. She was dead.
She was laid on the ground. Her dead body was
covered with a red shroud.
 Mourning of sparrows
It was evening. The sun was setting Then the funeral
arrangements and proceedings went on. The dead body
of the grandmother was covered with a red shroud. A
crude stretcher was brought to take her to be cremated.
By that time, thousands of sparrows sat scattered on
the floor. There was no chirruping. Everyone felt sorry
for the birds. The narrators mother brought bread and
broke it into little crumbs. She threw those crumbs to
them. The birds took no notice of them. When her
corpse was taken, the sparrows flew away quietly. Here
ends the portrait of a pious lady
 N S
STI O
U E
Q
How many phases are there in the chapter?
How many phases are there in the chapter?
Ans.
Ans.There
Thereare
arethree
threephase
phaseininthe
thechapter
chapter
How did the grandmother celebrated the returning of the
writer?
Ans. The grandmother celebrated the returning of the
writer by singing song as some warrior has came back his
once again

Who is the best friend of writer in his childhood?

Ans Grandmother is the best of writer in his
childhood
Where did the writers school built ?
Ans. Writers school was built near the temple
where grandmother went with him daily.

Whos
Whoseephoto
photoi sishung
hunginint the
he draw
drawing
ingroom?
room?
Ans
AnsPoet
Poetssggrandfat her photo
randfather photoisishhung
ung i ninthe
t he
draw in g room.
drawing room.

By which thing the dead body of the grandmother was

covered?
Ans. The body of grandmother was covered by a red
shroud
Thanks