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The Portrait of A Lady: - Khushwant Singh
The Portrait of A Lady: - Khushwant Singh
- KHUSHWANT SINGH
Author’s homecoming
On his return after five years, the author did not find any change in his grandmother. She was
as old as ever and remained absorbed in her prayers. Even that day, the happiest moment for
her was feeding the sparrows. In the evening, for the first time ever, she did not pray. She
collected several ladies of the neighbourhood and sang songs related to the home coming of
the warriors. She had to be persuaded to stop singing in order to avoid overstraining. However,
the next day she was taken ill.
Grandmother's death
Though diagnosed with a mild fever by the doctor, grandmother knew that her end was near.
She decided to spend the last few hours of her life reciting prayers and telling her beads. Soon,
her lips stopped moving and she died.
A. On the basis of your understanding of the story, answer these questions by choosing the
most appropriate options:
1. “As for my grandmother being young and pretty, the thought was almost revolting.” The
author says so because
a. she did not look attractive in her photograph of her youth.
b. she was short and fat since her childhood.
c. she had never seen her young.
d. she walked with a bend after an accident.
3. How did the sparrows express their sorrow at the death of the grandmother?
a. They never came back to the author’s house after she died.
b. They silently ate the breadcrumbs offered to them by the author’s mother.
c. They came in thousands but flew away without eating the breadcrumbs.
d. They made a noisy chirruping expressing their sorrow.
4. Which one of the following words mean hanging down loosely or unevenly?
a. Dilapidated
b. Frivolous
c. Sagging
d. Wrinkled
5. “That was a turning-point in our friendship.” The turning-point here refers to the
time/moment when
a. the grandmother and the author shifted to the city.
b. the author was given a room of his own.
c. the author went abroad for higher education.
d. the author came back to India.
6. ‘She was like the winter landscape in the mountains, an expanse of pure white serenity.’
Identify the figure of speech used here.
a. Metaphor
b. Allegory
c. metonymy
d. Simile
2. Why does the author compare his grandmother to “the winter landscape in the
mountains”?
3. How can you say that the grandmother and the author were “good friends”?
4. How does the grandmother feel and react when she learned about the things the author
was being taught at his new school in the city?
5. Describe the grandmother’s association with the sparrows.