The Portrait of a Lady
Now answer the following questions:
1. How has the author described his grandmother?
Ans: Author’s grandmother was short and fat and slightly bent. Her face had wrinkles. She remained the same for last twenty years. She was 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 her rosary.
2. What impression did the author get looking at his grandfather’s photograph?
Ans: The author’s grandfather’s portrait was hung above the mantelpiece in the drawing room. He wore a big turbun and loose-fitting clothes. His long white beard covered the best part of his chest and he looked at least a hundred years old. For the author, he did not look the sort of person who would have a wife or children. It felt like he had lots of grandchildren.
3. Do you think the author’s mother was a religious person? Why do you think so?
Ans: Yes, the author’s grandmother was a religious person. Her lips constantly moved in inaudible prayer. She would say her morning prayer in a monotonous sing-song while she bathed and dressed the author hoping that he would listen and get to know it by heart.
4. The author says that he and his grandmother were good friends. Did they do anything together?
Ans: Author stayed with his grandmother when his parents left him to city. His grandmother used to wake him up and would bathe him. She would keep his school things ready. Both of them would go the school together.
5. Why did his grandmother carry chapattis when they went to school? What does this tell you about her?
Ans: His grandmother carried chapattis when they went to school because she would give those chapattis to the village dogs. This shows that his grandmother had affection towards the animals.
Life was comfortable for the author and his grandmother. Do you think it will continue to be so?
Yes, it will be continued.
[ II ]
Now answer the following questions :
1. The author and his grandmother were very close to one another. How do you know this?
Ans: When both the author and his grandmother were in the village, they used to go the school together. The author would study at the school while the grandmother would read scriptures in the temple which was close to the author’s school. They used to go back to home together. This shows that both had deep bonding with each other and spent time with each other.
2. When did their relationship change? Why?
Ans: When the author’s parents got settled down in the city, they called the author and grandmother to live there. In the city, the author went to an English school in a motor bus so there was no chance for the grandmother to go with him to the school. For some time, she would wake him up and get ready but not every day just like old times. In the passage of time, everything for both of them changed.
3. There were some things about the author’s school that his grandmother did not like? What were these?
Ans: In the city, the author went to an English school. In that school the author learnt about western science which made the grandmother unhappy. She didn’t like the things that were taught in the author’s school and was distressed that there was no teaching about God and the scriptures. Also when the author declared that he was going to take music class, she disliked it because for her music had lewd association and it was not meant for general people.
4. What happened to their relationship when the author went to the university?
Ans: When the author grew up and went to the university, he was given a separate room. It was then their relationship started to have a gap. But his grandmother accepted the fact. She started feeling isolated.
5. What did his grandmother do with her time?
Ans: His grandmother accepted the things. She felt lonely. She would spend her time with the spinning wheel and reciting prayers. Only in the afternoon she relaxed for a while to feed the sparrows. While she sat in the veranda breaking the bread into little bits, hundreds of little birds collected around her. Some came and perched on her legs, others on her shoulders. Some even sat on her head. She smiled but never shooed them away. It used to be the happiest half-hour of the day for her.
The distance between the author and his grandmother grew wider? What do you think will happen next?
Things will become as it were earlier.
[ III ]
Now answer the following questions :
1. The author decided to go abroad. Why did he think that his grandmother would be upset?
Ans: The author and his grandmother shared an affectionate bond. They were close to each other for many years. When the author decided to go abroad, he thought that his grandmother would be upset as they had been together for a long period of time.
2. How did his grandmother behave when she saw him on his return at the station?
Ans: His grandmother didn’t say a word to him when the author returned from abroad after five years. She clasped him in her arms and the author could hear her reciting prayer. She was the same on the arrival day the way she was at the time of his departure.
3. What changes came over her in the evening?
Ans: On one evening, the grandmother didn’t pray. She collected the women of the neighbourhood, got an old drum and started to sing. She sang song of the homecoming of warriors. It was for the time that she didn’t pray.
4. Was her illness of a serious nature?
Ans: No, her illness was not serious. She had a mild fever and the doctor assured them that it would go.
5. Why did she refuse to talk to her family members?
Ans: The grandmother had a mild fever but she thought that her end was near. She didn’t want to waste time talking to anyone so she refused to talk to her family members.
6. What did the author and his family see when they went to take her for cremation?
Ans: When the author and his family took the body of the grandmother for cremation, they saw thousands of sparrows sat scattered on the floor. There was no chirping. They felt sorry for the birds.
7. What was strange about the behaviour of the sparrows?
Ans: When the family members were taking the body of the grandmother for cremation, number of sparrows sat scattered on the floor. They didn’t chirp. They felt sad for the birds and the author’s mother fetched some bread for them. She broke it into little crumbs the same way as the author’s grandmother would do and threw it to them. But to their surprise, the sparrows didn’t even take the notice of the bread let alone eating it. It felt like the sparrows were also mourning over the demise of the woman who fed them affectionately.
Let’s write
Write the answers to the following questions in about 50 words each :
1. How does the author describe his grandmother?
Ans: The author’s grandmother was short, fat and slightly bent. She had wrinkles on her face. She had remained unchanged for last twenty years. She was 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 her rosary. Her silver locks were scattered untidily over her pale face, and her lips constantly moved in inaudible prayer.
2. The author and his grandmother were good friends. Give examples to support this statement.
Ans: The author and his grandmother shared a good bond. She would wake him up and bathe him. She would get his school things ready for him. When they both were in the village, they would go together to school. She would sit in a temple near the author’s school. They would come back to home together. Even when they got shifted to the city, they shared room. This is their close bond which made them very close friends.
3. How did the author’s grandmother behave when he was going abroad?
Ans: Given the fact that the author and his grandmother were close, he thought that his grandmother would be upset when he was going to abroad. But on the contrary, his grandmother was not even sentimental at the time of his departure. She didn’t say a single word at the station. She was lost in her prayers. She just kissed the author’s forehead.
4. The author’s grandmother was a religious lady. Do you agree? Why?
Ans: Yes, the author’s grandmother was a religious lady. She used to chant prayers most of her time. When she was in the village, she would chant prayers while bathing her grandson. She would sit in a temple near her grandson’s school and read the scriptures. When she went to city, there also she continued with her religious routine. She would also spend time by beading the rosary.
5. How did the sparrows behave when grandmother died?
Ans: When the grandmother passed away, the sparrows behaved in a strange way. They scattered on the floor as if showing their sadness over the loss of the old lady. They didn’t chirp that day. The author’s family felt sad and author’s mother threw crumbs of the bread for them. But the sparrows didn’t even notice the bread. It felt like they were mourning over the loss of the lady who loved birds and feed them affectionately. When the corpse of the grandmother was taken off, the sparrows flew away quietly.
6. The author and his grandmother shares a very close relationship. This changed when they moved to the city. Why did this happen?
Ans: In the village both grandmother and the author led a happy life and they had strong bonding. They would go to school together and came back together. It was a beautiful bond. But when they went to the city, everything changed between them. The daily routine of the grandmother to wake his grandson became less. The author went to an English school in a motor bus. The grandmother disliked the western ways of learning of her grandson. When he got room for himself, the tie between the two became weak day by day. She became lonely and spent time with birds.
Activity
I. There was a change in the relationship between the author and his grandmother. Some of the following are the reasons for this change.
Tick all the correct answers.
Ans:
(a) The author went to an English school. √
(b) He went to school by bus. √
(c) There were sparrows in the city.
(d) His grandmother could not help him with his lessons. √
(e) The school did not teach anything about God. √
(f) She didn’t like western science. √
(g) She liked music.
(h) When he went to the university they had separate rooms. √
II. Grand mothers are the pillars of the family. They create bonds thathold the family together. Discuss.
Ans: Grandmothers are the strongest pillar of the family. They inculcate moral values in the family. They not only teach in affectionate ways but also they have unconditional love towards their families. It is because of grandmother that a family stays connected and have bond of pure love. Warmth of grandmother’s love is beyond words. She gives advice on various things. She helps in making one wise. She is someone whom we can always count on and she would never turn back. She is the strongest base of the building called family who hold the building and never let it fall. With her years of experience, she makes others understand the importance of many good things in life. A grandmother is truly a blessing for those who have it .