The Portrait of a lady class 11 question answers

Ans. Khushwant Singh’s grandfather’s portrait was hung above the mantelpiece in the drawing-room. He wore a big turban and loose-fitting clothes. His long, white beard covered the best part of his chest and he looked at least a hundred years old.

Ans. Grandmother was short and fat and slightly bent. Her face was a criss-cross of wrinkles running from everywhere to everywhere. She could never have been pretty, but she was always beautiful. She hobbled about the house in spotless white with one hand resting on her waist to balance her stoop and the other telling the beads of the rosary. Her lips constantly moved in inaudible prayer. She was like the winter landscape in the mountains and breathing peace and contentment.

Ans. The first phase of their friendship: When they were in the village both of them were very good friends. The Grandmother used to take care of him, get him ready for school, prepare breakfast for him, and went to school with him and help him in his studies.

The second phase of their friendship: When they went to the city it was a turning point in their friendship because she could no longer go to school with him and help him in his studies.

The third phase of friendship: When the author went up to university he was given a room of his own. The common link of friendship was snapped. The Grandmother accepted the seclusion with resignation.

Ans. i) The grandmother was unhappy because she could not help him with his lessons.
ii) She was distressed because there was no teaching about God and the scriptures.
iii) She was very disturbed because he was given music lessons in his school and according to her music is the monopoly of harlots and beggars, it was not meant for gentlefolk.

Ans. The three ways in which the author’s grandmother spent her days were-
i. By reciting the prayer.
ii. Sitting by the wheel spinning.
iii. Feeding the sparrows.

Ans. The room shared by both of them was the common link of the friendship.
When the author went to university he was given a room of his own and the common link of the friendship was snapped.

Ans. When she feeds the sparrows, it was the happiest half-hour of the day for her because she felt relaxed by feeding them.

Ans. The grandmother did not pray, she collected the women of the neighbourhood got an old drum and started to sing. For several hours she thumped the sagging skins of the dilapidated drum and sang of the homecoming of warriors which overstrained her and the next morning she was taken ill.

Ans. Thousands of sparrows sat scattered all over the verandah and in her room right up to where she lay dead. There was no chirruping. The author’s mother threw some bread crumbs at them but they took no notice of the bread. When the grandmother’s corpse was carried off, they flew away quietly. In this way, the sparrows expressed their sorrow when the author’s grandmother died.

Ans. The author’s grandmother was an old, short and fat lady. She had full of wrinkles on her face. She always dressed in white, telling the beads of her rosary, seemed a picture of perfect serenity.

The grandmother was a religious lady. She visited the village temple daily and read scriptures. Even in the city, she passed her time worshipping. She was not only gentle and polite but also kind and generous. In the village she fed the dogs and in the city, she fed the sparrows.

The grandmother was a responsible and caring lady. She looked after the author when they lived in the village.

The grandmother was practical and realistic. She did not behave sentimentally when she went to see off the author at the station. But showed her happiness when the author came back by singing the song and thumping the drum.