The Portrait of a Lady
By Khushwant Singh • A Tribute to Childhood & Traditions
The story is a biographical account of Khushwant Singh's grandmother. It traces the changing relationship between the author and his grandmother through three distinct phases: Village Life, City Life, and University/Abroad years.
- Phase 1 (Village): A period of thick friendship. Grandmother waked him up, prepared him for school, and they shared the spiritual atmosphere of the temple school. They were inseparable.
- Phase 2 (City): The turning point. Despite sharing a room, the "common link" began to snap. The author went to an English school by bus, studied science (which she didn't approve of as it lacked talk of God), and took music lessons (which she considered lewd).
- Phase 3 (University): The final snap. The author was given a separate room. Grandmother accepted her seclusion with resignation, spending her time at the spinning wheel and reciting prayers.
She was short, fat, and slightly bent. Her face was a "criss-cross of wrinkles." She was spiritually beautiful—likened to a "winter landscape in the mountains." She was deeply religious, always carrying a rosary and reciting inaudible prayers. She was also kind-hearted, feeding dogs in the village and sparrows in the city.
A sensitive and observant person who holds profound respect and affection for his grandmother. His narrative is a blend of nostalgia and objective observation of the generational gap.
Before her death, for the first time, she stopped praying to celebrate her grandson's return with a drum and old songs. She died peacefully, with her rosary in her hands. In a miraculous end, thousands of sparrows gathered in silence around her body, refusing to eat crumbs, mourning the loss of their friend.
Extract Based & Analytical Qs
[ DEEP ANALYSIS & LITERATURE MASTERY ]
For twenty years, the author saw her in the same aged condition—wrinkled, short, and slightly bent. To him, she was and seemed to have stopped aging at a certain point. The idea of her being young and 'pretty' contradicted his entire life's experience of her being spiritually 'beautiful' but physically decrepit.
The "common link" was , which allowed for some interaction despite the city life. Its snapping meant total physical separation. The grandmother reacted with silent resignation. She didn't complain but withdrew into her own world of prayer and spinning wheels.
On the evening before she died, she broke her lifelong routine. She omitted her prayers for the first time. Instead, she collected the women of the neighborhood, got an old drum, and sang for several hours to celebrate her grandson's return. She overstrained herself, leading to a fever that She knew was her end.
The sparrows represent the grandmother's bond with nature and her selfless compassion. While she felt isolated from the human city world, she found joy in the "veritable bedlam of chirrupings." Their silent mourning at her death showed that even animals recognized her spiritual purity and shared in the grief.
1. It was in English (language barrier).
2. It taught Science and Gravitation (no mention of God).
3. It included Music, which she associated with ,
not respectable folk.
It emphasizes her pure white serenity and calm, spiritual beauty despite her old age.
A rosary, which she used to tell her beads continually.
Stale chapatis from the previous night.
Glossary & Literary Facts
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