The Portrait of A Lady Explanation Reference to Context Questions Answers Class 11

Class 11 The Portrait of A Lady Explanation Reference to Context Questions Answers

 

 

The Portrait of A Lady  - Up CBSE board Class 11 Chapter 1 The Portrait of A Lady  Explanation of the lesson with summary and meaning of difficult words. In addition, the explanation is followed by a summary of the text. All questions and answers given in the lesson are covered

The name of the Lesson - The Portrait of A Lady  ( )

Writer of this Chapter – Khushwant Singh 

Born – 2- February-1915

Dead -20 March - 2014  

About the Author  

The storyteller himself is Khushant Singh. He was born on 2 February 1915 in Hadali, Punjab. When he went to live in the city, his parents left him with his grandmother. He was a famous writer. He was a great journalist, politician and lawyer. He started his writing in 1956 when he wrote the novel 'Train to Pakistan'. He left this world for heaven on 20 March 2014.

About the Lesson

In 'The Portrait of Lady', Khushwant Singh describes a graphic pen-photo of his grandmother. When he was a young child, he and his grandmother lived in their village house. She was a religious woman. She always moved her lips in silent prayer. She died, with prayer on her lips and a rosary in her hand. Let us now read about love, devotion and feelings in the story.

Explain with reference to the context the following passage. 

 1- My grandmother and ……. by heart.

 Reference – This passage has been taken from chapter ‘The Portrait of a lady ‘ written by Khushwant Singh .

 Context- In this passage, the other Khushwant Singh tells about the intimacy of relationship between him and his grandmother  

Explanation – The writer and his great-grandmother were good friends as they lived together in the village. The writer's parents moved to the city to settle and they were together ever since. As per the routine, the routine used to start with the normal work of others from the morning itself. He used to get up in the morning and prepare for school. She was a religious woman. So he recited his morning prayer in a dull repetition while bathing him and at that time he also hoped that the author would listen to it and learn it by heart as he expected.

2- When I decided …………… between us. 

Reference- This passage has been taken from chapter ‘The Portrait of a lady ‘written by Khushwant Singh . 

Context- In this passage, the author describe the scene and situation when he was going abroad and at that time, the reaction of his grandmother and her religious attitude. 

Explanation- The author tells in the passage that when he decided to go abroad for further studios, according to his expectations, Grandma would be upset because he was leaving for five years and Grandma was already too old. But the writer had positivity towards his grandmother. Without getting emotional, his grandmother went to drop him off at the railway station but quietly. Still she was praying and counting the beads of the rosary with her finger. At last he kissed the writer's forehead and the writer remembered that there was the last physical contact between them.

3-The next morning……… us.

Reference- This passage has been taken from chapter ‘The Portrait of a lady ‘written by Khushwant Singh. 

Context- This passage tells about the forecasting of her death by the grandmother herself and her changed attitude. 

Explanation – This passage describes that when the author returned from abroad, the grandmother became ill and had a very mild fever and the doctor advised that she would recover. But Dadi was thinking differently and was in her mind that she would die soon. A few hours before his death he stopped praying. In the end he stopped talking to any member of his family. He stopped everything except prayer before his death.

4-We protested …….. was dead. 

Reference- This passage has been taken from chapter ‘The Portrait of a lady ‘ written by Khushwant Singh. 

Context- In this passage, the author tells how his grandmother died and what her condition at last time was. 

Explanation- The author, in this passage, tells about the protest made by Dadi to stop thinking negatively. At last, Grandma lay down on her bed calmly and said only prayers and vows, leaving nothing behind. In the same way his lips stopped and no one understood what had happened and his rosary fell down and his fingers were closed. At that moment, everything came to a halt and a lasting calmness, a pallor spread across her face and all the family members understood that she was not a mare.

Difficult  word 

Portrait- चित्र -Picture description of a person in words 

Pretty-  मोहक -Charming

Sort of- इस प्रकार का -Kinds of

Terribly- अत्यधिक - -Too Much

Waist- कमर का निचला भाग -Lower Bcak

Inaudible-सुनने में कठिन- Hard to hear

Rosary- माला- string of beads 

Pale- पीला-Faded yellowish colour 

Monotonus - बिना बदलाव के-Without change

Fetch -लाओ - Bring 

Tiny - बहुत छोटा- Very small 

Stale -बासी- Not Fresh

Chorus- समूह में गाना-singing in a group

Growling - गुस्से में भौंकना-Barking angrly

Lewd- अश्लील-Vulgar

Monopoly- एकमात्र अधिकार-Sole right

Harlots-वेश्या- prostitutes

Rarely-बेहद कम- Seldom

Seclusion- एकांत-Loneliness

Reciting- गायन-Singing

Bits- छोटे टुकड़े-Small pieces 

Bedlam-पागल- घर- Mad- house

 Chirping- चहचहाना-Twittering

Perched- बैठे-Sat

Shooed- दूर--Drove- away-

Sentimental- भावुक -Emotion

Moist- नम-Damp

Frivolous-फुर्तीला- Light hearted

Thumped- थाप  दी Beat-

Mild- हल्का-light

Pallor- पीलापन-Fading of colour

Shroud- मृत शरीर को ढकने वाला कपड़ा-Cloth to cover dead body

Stoff- अकड़ा हुआ -Hard

Crumbs- टुकड़े-Pieces 

Took no notice- कोई ध्यान नहीं दिया-paid no heed

crude- भद्दा -course

Understanding the text

 Question- 1  The there phase of the author’s relationship with his grandmother before he left the country to study abroad.

Answer- The three phase of the author’s relationship with his grandmother before he left the country to study abroad.

1-Childhood-  When the author was a little boy and used to live in the village with his grandmother.

2-Adolescence- When the author grew up and settled in the city with his parents. 

3-Youth Age- When the Author left his parents’ home to go the university for higher  studies.

Question 2- Three reason why the author’s grandmother was disturbed when he started going to the city school.

Answer- The three reasons for the disturbance of the author‘s grandmother when he started going to the city school were.

(1)-The author had started to live separately in the room for his studies.

(2)-The author had started to go an English school.

(3)-She hated western science and music whereas the author was being taught those all in the school.

Question-3 Three ways in which the author’s grandmother spent her days after he grew up.

Answer- Three ways in which the author’s grandmother spent her day after he grew up.

1- She accepted her loneliness and lived alone in a separated room.

2- She passed most of her time in spinning wheel and reciting prayers 

3- She used to feed sparrows daily in the afternoon.

Question-4 The odd ways in which the author’s grandmother behaved just before she died.

Answer- Just before her death, the author’s grandmother stopped talking to anybody. Evan she stopped reciting the prayers too since the last night and sang the songs of home coming with the neighbourhood women. She stopped eating the food too and laid peacefully in her bed telling the beads of her rosary.

Question-5 The ways in which the sparrows expressed their sparrow when the author’s grandmother died?

Answer- When the author’s grandmother died, thousand of sparrows came there and sat silently around her corpse. They were not chirruping. When the author’s mother gave them the crumbs of bread, they did not pick those. After some time, they all flew away without accepting a single piece of bread.

 Talking About the Text       

 Talk to your partner about following

 Question – 1 The author’s grandmother was a religious person. What are the different ways in which we come to know this?

Answer- The writer's grandmother was undoubtedly a truly religious woman. Her day always started with prayer and continued till she fell asleep. She was a regular temple visitor and for her spiritual ambitions, she used to recite her rosary beads most of the time. Not a single day passed when he did not remember God and the scriptures. Even in his last phase he stopped talking to anyone but continued his prayer.

Question- 2- Describe the changing relationship between the author and his grandmother. Did their feeling for each other change?Answer- As a child, the writer lived with his grandmother in the city with the author's parents, the writer went to English school by bus and studied western science and music. There was education and music in the village. And when later, they settled in the city, but he did not change his mind. She was firm on her faith. Although she was in town, she did not give up her practice including giving pieces of bread to sparrows because there were no dogs. Thus the grandmother of the writer was a woman of strong will power and stable strong character.

Question 4- Have you known someone like the author’s grandmother? Do you feel the same sense of loss with regard to someone whom you have love.

Answer- Yes, I remember my grandmother who was more than any other one, for me. She was a goodness for me and today when she is not in this world, I miss her the most. In my childhood days, school. She used also loved me more than any other. Whenever I felt depressed due to any reason, she encouraged me. She was a lady of firm determination and she never got ready for defeat. She always fought for me and kept caring of me in all conditions. Thus her important is above than all and I can never interpolate anybody at her level.

Thinking about Language

Question -1 which language do you think the author and his grandmother used while talking to reach other?

Answer- I think the author and his grandmother used their native language ‘Punjabi while taking to each other. They might be talking in ‘Hindi’ also sometime.  

Question 2- Which language do you use to talk to relatives in your family? 

Answer- To talk to elderly relative in our family, we generally use our native language ‘Hindi’ sometime English also.

Question 3 -How would you say’ a dilapidated drum’ in your language? 

Answer- In our language, The expression used for dilapidated drum is’ phata hua dhol’.

Question 4- Can you think     of a song or a poem in your language that talk of home? 

 Answer- yes, we can think of song or poem in our language that talks of home- coming like ‘Mera pardesi dekho lauta hai .

Working With Words 

1- Notice the following uses of the words tell on the text. 

(1)Her finger were busy telling the beads of rosary 

(2) I would tell her English words and little things of Western science and learning. 

(3) At her age one could never tells.

(4) She told us that her end was near.

Given below are four different sense of the words’ tell. Match the meaning to the uses listed above.

1-Make something known to someone in spoken or written words.

2- Count while reciting

3-Be sure

4-Give information to somebody

Answer- Matching of words ‘ tell’ with the given sense-1-Telling the beads      (b) count while reciting

2-Tell her                        (d) give information to somebody

3- One could never tell (c) be sure

4-Told us                        (a) Make something to known someone or written words.   

Question 2- Notice the different sense of the words ‘ take’

1-To take to something: to begin to do something as a habit.

2-To take ill : to suddenly become ill                                 

Locate these phrases in the text and notice the way they are used.

Answer- Phrases used in the text

1-To take to: She took to feeding sparrows in the courtyard of our city house.

2- To take ill: The next morning she was taken ill. 

Question 3- The Words hobble means to walk with difficulty because the legs and feet are in bad condition. 

Haggle                       Shuffle                        stride                     Ride                           waddle                        Wriggle                      paddle                        swagger                     trudge              slog

 

Ans. The worlds in the box below the also refer to manner of walking.

      Haggle                       stride                   waddle                                                                          Swagger                       trudge                slog                 

Noticing Form 

Notice the form of the verbs italicised in these sentences : 

1-My grandmother was an old woman. She had been old and wrinkled for the twenty years that I had known her. People said that she had once been young and pretty and had even had a husband. but that was hard to believe. 

 2-When we both had finished we would walk back together.

3-When I came back she would ask me what the teacher had taught me.

4- It was the first time since I had known her that she did not pray.

5-The sun was setting and had lit her room and  Verandah with a golden light these are examples of the past perfect forms of verbs. When we recount things in the distant past we use this form.

Answer- Form of the verbs highlighted in the given sentences :

1.     Had explained                    Past Perfect Tense

2.     Had  already reached         Past Perfect Tense

3.     Had worked                       Past Perfect Tense

4.     Had lived                            Past Perfect Tense

5.    Had scattered                     Past Perfect Tense

 Question.1 Talk with your family members about elderly people who you have been intimately Connected with and who are not there with you now. Write a short description of someone you liked a lot. 

 Ans.I remember my grandmother, who took care of me after my mother's death. Since I was only two years old, she was there to cherish me. She played the role of a mother in my life or definitely more than that. She always met my childish demands. He lovingly gave me a name, 'Sonu' which became my most known name in my life. She loved me more than anyone else. Right from my childhood, I found him helping me in every difficulty as he guided me in every way. She never let me miss my mother as she always did more than a mother. She was the one who was always worried about my future so she sent me to a reputed school in the city and whatever I am today is just because of her. I miss him the most and will never forget him till the end of my life, I will be indebted to him. No one can take his place in my life. I worship him today when he is not alive, only love him the most.

 
 Short Answer Type Question  

Question 1- How did the narrator’s grandmother appear in the portrait? 

Answer- In the  portrait which was hung above the mantelpiece in the drawing room,  the grandfather of the author seemed wearing a 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.

Question 2-Describe ‘the happiest half-hour of the days’ for the grandmother?

Answer- For the grandmother,’ the happiest half-hour of the days’ was the time when she used to feed sparrows in the courtyard of their city house. Thousands of sparrows used to come there and with chirruping picked the bread crumbs given by the grandmother  and sat over her shoulder and head.

Question 3- How did the narrator and grandmother become good friends?

Answer-The narrator and the grandmother lived together in their village house. Since childhood, author’s parents settled in the city so it was  his grandmother who took care of him in all means. She loved the author most so the author was also deeply attached to his grandmother. In this way the author and the grandmother became good friends, with perfect bonding.

 Question 4- Why could the grandmother not walk straight?

Answer- The grandmother in the chapter ‘the Portrait of a Lady’ was obviously an old lady. She had been a very hard working and planned routine for her days. Due to long time hard work, she got some trouble in her back and then due to less recovery in old age, her back started to bend and to balance her daily activities, she had to move like that keeping one hand over her bent waist.Question 5-How did the grandmother spend her time when the narrator went to the university? 

Answer –When the narrator went to the university, the grandmother accepted her seclusion with resignation. After it, she rarely left her spinning- wheel to talk to anyone. Since morning to night, she recited her prayers all time. Only in the afternoon for half an hour, she relaxed but even at that time she fed the sparrows. In this way. She spent her time.

Long  Answer Type Questions

Question -1 Describe the friendship between Khushwant Singh and his grandmother.

Answer-  Khushwant Singh and his grandmother lived together in the village while Khushwant Singh's patent lived in the city. When the writer Khushwant Singh was young in the village, his grandmother used to look after him. From morning till night, all the responsibilities of the writer were taken by his grandmother. He woke her, bathed her, dressed her, cooked her and took her to school. Then, he brought it from her. School and Toll Night fulfilled all their duties towards the author like parents. Thus, it was the grandmother who took all the care of the author so naturally, the author was deeply attached to her and a special dedication bond came to light. They became very close friends as the writer could ask and talk to her grandmother about anything and grandmother loved her more than anyone. Thus, it was a true friendship between them without any selfishness.

Question -2 Write a character sketch of Khushwant singh’s grandmother?

Answer- Khushwant Singh's grandmother was an old lady like her everyday grandmother. For the past twenty years, the author found her in the same old and wrinkled form. She was always short and fat and a little twisted. His face was a crisscross of wrinkles everywhere. She walked around the house in immaculate white with one hand on her waist to balance her stomach and the author pointed out the beads of her rosary. Her pale, pale face was covered with silvery contours, and her lips were constantly moving at the inaudible prayer. She was as beautiful as the winter landscape in the mountains. She was a religious woman and from morning till night, she would always pray and recite her garland of rosaries. She used to go to the temple regularly. He never gave up his daily routine of worship and spirituality. He also spent his time spinning the wheel. Inaudible prayer was always on his lips. In the village, she would throw pieces of bread to the stray dogs and when they settled like this she would spend her time and did not stop doing it at any cost. Thus she was a woman of strong will power and stable character. She was always dedicated towards her duties. Till the last time of his life, he followed his planned schedule. Overall, Dadi was an exemplary woman for the society.