THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY

-Khushwant Singh

About the Author Khushwant Singh:

1. Khushwant Singh's name is bound to go down in Indian literary history as one of the finest historians
and novelists, a forthright political commentator, and an outstanding observer and social critic.

2. Regarded as a "humourous writer and incorrigible believer in human goodness with a devil-may-care
attitude and a courageous mind", Khushwant Singh was one of the best -known Indian writers. He was
born in 1915 in Hadali (now in Pakistan). He was educated at the Government College, Lahore and at
King's College, Cambridge University, and the Inner Temple in London.

3. He practiced law at the Lahore High Court for several years before joining the Indian Ministry of
External Affairs in 1947. He began a distinguished career as a journalist with the All India Radio in 1951.
Since then he has been founder-editor of Yojana (1951-1953), editor of the Illustrated weekly of India
(1979-1980), chief editor of New Delhi (1979-1980), and editor of the Hindustan times (1980-1983). His
Saturday column "With Malice Towards One and All" in the Hindustan times is by far one of the most
popular columns of the day.

4. Among the several works he published are a classic two-volume history of the Sikhs, several novels
(the best known of which are Delhi, Train to Pakistan, and The company of women), and a number of
translations and non-fiction books on Delhi, nature and current affairs. The Library of Congress has
ninety-nine works on and by Khushwant Singh.

Realism in the Work of Khushwant Singh

1. Realism is a remarkable feature of Indian English novels in which Indian sensibility is expressed
through a foreign language.

2. Realism shows real life, facts in a true way. It omits nothing that is ugly and painful and idealizes
nothing. The term ‘realism’ means a theory of writing in which the familiar ordinary aspects of life are
depicted in a matter of fact, straight forward manner designed to reflect life as it is and the treatment
of subject – matter in a way that presents careful descriptions of every day life, often the lives of so-
called middle or lower-middle classes.

3. Indian novelists show a passionate awareness of life in India – the social awakening and protest, the
poverty and hunger of the peasants, various dimensions of the struggle for independence the tragedy of
partition, social and political changes along with inner life of the sensitive, suffering individuals.

4. Khushwant Singh, like other Indian novelists, explores social, political realities of contemporary Indian
life. His main concern is the man and the reality. He has established himself as a distinguished writer of
social realism with the publication of his first novel, Train to Pakistan. The term social realism means the
depiction in literature of social reality in its true colours.
5. Through his characters he enlivens the contemporary Indian life. He portrays man objectively in
relation to society without making him a mouthpiece of any preconceived ideology.

6. Khushwant Singh’s fictional world indicates the richness and depth of his apprehension of reality. He
deals with various aspects of social reality. He is much interested in human relation. His East-West
education and rural-urban life help his fictional world to record contemporary socio-political tensions.
He, thus, presents a panoramic view of Indian life.

Introduction:

1. This autobiographical account is a pen- portrait of Khushwant Singh's grandmother and an attempt
made by him to pay his reverence and tribute to her.

2. Like his other short-stories, this too portrays a sharp- pointed miniature of life. It is a warm sketch of
a grandmother who , in her strength and goodness took up the responsibility of taking care of her
grandson in the absence of his parents (who were settled in the city).

3. The first phase of their relationship was spent humbly in a village.Life in Hadali where he was born
and he lived with his grandmother, in the initial few years, had a soporific routine.

4. They led a very simple and rustic life there. The duo were inter- dependent on each other. The
grandson depended on his grandmother for the nurturing love and care she showered upon him. While
the grandmother could find solace and happiness in her grandson who filled that void that was created
in her heart with the passage of time.

5. He brought in a new purpose in her life as she devoted her time in bringing up the child by catering to
all his needs. She seemingly had an authority over the boy.

6. Through this story Khushwant Singh shows the importance of human relations and suggests how one
can live a meaningful life. It teaches us to live gracefully during overwhelming odds, be it the ones
existing in the Indian value system or life in general, as the grandmother does. It also reveals that Indian
values and Indian traditions had stood the test of time and are still alive in our society and culture.

SUBJECTIVE THEME:

The lesson depicts the familial relationship between a grandson and his grandmother and the
interdependency of that relationship.

UNIVERSAL THEME:

The lesson delineates the theme of love, compassion, selflessness, respect and acceptance. It propounds
resilient confrontation and judicious acceptance of change. It further corroborates the message that
generation gap is not unsurpassable, the morals , ethos and principles instilled in by the older
generation do not diminish with time.
Tradition and Modernity as Depicted by KS in The Portrait of a Lady

1. The two characters portrayed by Khushwant represents the two ethos of post colonial era in India
namely "Tradition and Modernity ".

2. There is a depiction of Indian values and firm faith in religion through the character of Khushwant
Singh's grandmother as she is a figure who is deeply rooted in tradition. She clings on to her beliefs and
is not affected by the wind of change that intended to sweep the people of India towards modernity and
away from the rich Indian culture and tradition.

3. Though she is primarily shown as a symbol of love, care, benevolence and affection yet towards the
end she demonstrated a cultural resistance to westernization (that had led to disparities in ideologies in
her own family and had distanced her grandson) and a follower of the Gandhian principles.

4. The grandson, on the other hand, quickly acclimatized himself to the modernity of the city life. Better
transportation facilities, modern schools and the wide exposure that he could get in the city snatched
his attention and kept him preoccupied.

5. Though the modern lifestyle did not distance him emotionally from his grandmother ( their bond was
that strong) yet physically he was detached as he could no longer enjoy her company while going to
school or he could share the same with her and later on, he moved away to pursue his higher education.
In short, he adjusted his sails according to the wind.

GENERATION GAP AS AN IMPORTANT THEME:

That generation gap is not an unsarpassable gulf is characterised by the fact that a gap between
generations can be overcome when we think of our childhood days spent with parents and
grandparents. We might grow up and move apart but the morals and principles instilled by the older
generations refuse to die. As we grow up, various tasks and interests attract our attention, leaving us
with little time to realize that we might be the only interest of someone in the family. We end up being
so busy that the silent steps the old ones take to retreat from our lives are hardly noticed.

The story of Khushwant Singh is an attempt to celebrate those childhood years spent with his
grandmother when simple pleasures of chanting the Gurubani and feeding the dogs kept the duo busy.
The way she took care of the smallest need of her grandson and worked for his education, shows the
depth of their relationship. The grandson filled in the void that was there in the heart of the
grandmother when she was devoid of any company. But as it is true of every good thing, the duo had to
face the test time, when the narrator's parents called them to the city. The transformation of the
transition took the attention of the child and grew the two a little apart everyday. The grandmother
slowly withdrew herself when she found that her grandson was participating in activites and hobbies
that she did not approve of. With time her philanthropic nature took over and she started devoting her
time in prayers and strengthening her spiritual bond with the sparrows.
Paraphrase

My grandmother... lots and lots of grandchildren.

1. The narrator finds it hard to imagine that his grandmother may have once been young and pretty.
Instead the narrator views his grandmother as being eternally old and wrinkled.

2. This may be important as it suggests that the narrator looked upon his grandmother with the eyes of
an innocent child which he was. He does not see it possible that his grandmother could have been a
different person as all he has known is for his grandmother to be old.

3. He thought that his grandmother had always been old without going through the natural process of
ageing. Similarly, his grandfather's photograph imbued the author with the impression that his
grandfather was not the sort of person who could ever have wife and children. Hence, the thought of his
grandmother being married to the man was unbelievable. The lines also tell us that the grandmother
was a widow as the narrator goes on to describe his grandfather 's portrait that hung above the
mantelpiece.

4. The author also throws some light on children's psychology. Unlike adults, children are able to keep
information from their senses separate and may therefore perceive the visual world differently. Hence,
the narrator vehemently expresses his disbelief, as a child, that either his grandmother could be young
or his grandfather could ever beget any children.

As for my grandmother... to tell us.

1. The thought was almost revolting means a thought that creates a conflict in your mind that it can be
or cannot be. In this chapter, the context of using this phrase was -- the thought in the writer's mind of
his grand mother being a pretty women created a conflict in the his mind as he was not sure of his
grandmother being pretty.

2. The above lines also make it evident that the narrator and his grandmother spent quality time
together where the latter shared her childhood stories with him. Though this practice went a long way
to ensure a deep emotional bonding between the two but the narrator found it preposterous and
unladylike on the part of his grandmother to play as a little girl.

3. He probably couldn't visualize her doing so and found it as unrealistic and imaginary as the fables she
used to narrate to them.

4. Fable: A short story, typically with animals as characters, conveying a moral.

She had always been... breathing peace and contentment

1. The narrator describes the physical attributes of his grandmother ascribing her the traits of being old,
fat, short and slightly bent. Donning her spotless white attire, she walked about the house, with a limp,
fulfilling her duties, ungrudgingly. Despite the physical constraints that she suffered due to her age, she
never shrugged off her responsibilities.

2. This tells us that the company of her grandchild gave her the impetus to break away from the
stereotypical notions that are associated with old age. Her disposition and the way she carried herself
left a long lasting impression on the narrator Khushwant Singh. This is evident from the vivid description
he gives of her. He even remembers her silver hair that would strewn her wrinkled and pallid
countenance. She kept on chanting inaudible verses in form prayers that highlighted her religious
inclinations.

3. Criss cross of wrinkles- a pattern of straight lines caused due to ageing.

4. "She could never have been pretty, but she was always beautiful."

The outlook of a child on beauty transcends the skin deep or superficial level. They believe that all
good people are beautiful. External attractiveness has no relation to goodness or essential
quality. Even the narrator as a child perceived his grandmother to be intrinsically beautifully owing to
the virtues she possessed and the selfless love she showered on him.

5. The poet makes an explicit comparison in the last line of the paragraph where he compares his
grandmother 's stability, self- containment, magnanimity and her peaceful disposition to the wintry
landscape in a mountainous region. The spotless white saree that she draped herself in and her silver
hair also resembled the snow.

My grandmother....village dogs

1. In this period the grandmother was the sole unchallenged guardian and mentor of child Khushwant
Singh .The grandmother had assumed the role of a nurturer, a care taker and a mentor as she took upon
herself the responsibility of bring up the child, in her own way, by infusing a spirit of piety and
righteousness and inculcating the finest of virtues in him through his interactions with nature . Chanting
of prayers, singing of hymns and her attempt to ensure that her grandson learns the morning prayers by
heart, also tell us that she believed in carrying out the traditional and age long practices.

2. To ascertain that her grandson learns the morning prayers by- heart, she used to render the prayers in
a sing- song manner. As she believed that the lyrical qualities would appeal more to his senses and he
would remember them easily. But the narrator admits that he never bothered to learn yet he never
refused to listen as he loved the melodious voice of his grandmother.

3. The grandmother was quite active and agile. She woke him up in the morning, got him ready for the
school, plastered his wooden slate by smearing it over with yellow 'gaachnee' (clay), packed his reed pen
and earthen soot-inkpot, prepared his breakfast and she carried a bundle of stale chapatis from the
previous evening’s meal and together they used to set out for the 'Dharamsal-cum-school'.

4. Pye-dogs awaited them at their threshold. They took turns tearing up pieces of chapati and throwing
them to the dogs. They kept a few in reserve for their return journey. She helped him in his lessons too .

5. The uncomplicated village life and their proximity to the natural surroundings gave them an
opportunity to enjoy the simple pleasures of life. The paragraph also underlines the altruistic tendencies
of the grandmother who becomes a perfect role model for her grandson.
Difference between Village School Education and Western Education in Colonial as well as Post
Colonial India:

1. Every aspect of life including education in ancient India was influenced by religion. However, it is
worth to mention that education aimed at many sided development of the personality of the student of
course with a religious orientation.

2. The concept, aims and ideals of education were correlated with the ideals of life. Religion played an
imperative part in life in ancient India. The whole social structure of those days was religious and the
whole system of education surged with religious atmosphere.

3. Teachers were usually priests, so they provided Liberal, Spiritual and Religious education. In ancient
India the whole system of education ran on the specific system of institution called ‘GURUKUL SYSTEM
OF EDUCATION'.

4. The main sources of teaching in the ancient education were Vedic literature which represent the most
important and intrinsic part of life of the Indian people.The teacher was the facilitator of learning,
exemplar and inspirer, confident, friend and philosopher, evaluator, imparter of knowledge and wisdom
and above all a guru, religious and spiritual guide.

5. In Vedic period forest was treated as a centre of education, which was far from the madding crowd’s
ignoble strife. In ancient time people used to live a simple and a pious life. They used to perform their
duties and responsibilities with utmost care and devotion. ( Traces of the same could be found in the
character delineation of the grandmother).

6. Some of the Chief aims and ideals of ancient Indian education were:

a) Infusion of a spirit of piety and righteousness,

b) Formation of high character,

c) Development of personality,

d) Inculcation of civic and social values,

e) Promotion of social efficiency and

f) Preservation and spread of national culture.

7. In the colonial era, under the British Government, emphasis was laid on changing the entire content
of education. They brought in Western Philosophy, Western Science and Western Language on the
pretext of making Indians cultured. The British eligious missions were instrumental in introducing
European-style education that stressed upon the necessity of western education to make ties with the
rest of the world.

8. People living in the cities were gradually influenced by it. However, the simple rustic and
straightforward villagers clung on to the old values and ancient methods of education, just like the
grandmother in the story.
9. She, like several others, believed that religious teachings and understanding of scriptures would be
enough to educate a child and build his personality.

10. She also taught the narrator the value of generosity, selflessness and the like. She kept on chanting
religious verses expecting that her grandson would learn them by heart but situation took a u turn and
they were exposed to Western culture and education that resulted in disparity in ideologies.

A turning-point – It refers to the point where the author’s relationship with his grandmother changes
drastically after they move to the city-house.

There were no dogs... the sparrows

1. The grandmother was reproachful towards westernization that had taken over the cultural beliefs of
her own people. She shows resistance to the change as it had distanced her from her grandson.

2. It is pretty much clear that in a family where everyone believed in progression and modernity,
grandmother being the only one sticking to her traditional value system would be left behind or will be
marginalized and that she would face criticism but she remains constant and rigid (just as the mountain
range she was compared to).

3. Amidst the hubbub of the city life and the disintegration in her own family, the sparrows, that are also
regarded as spiritual messengers, gave her peace and solace. The sparrows brought in harmony and
established a peaceful co- existence between man and nature.

When my... motor bus.

1. The first major climacteric that brought a profound transformation in the lives of Khushwant Singh
and his grandmother was when they were called from the village to live in the city, by the narrator's
parents.

2. This phase brought in a cultural shock for the grandmother when she moved to a cultural
environment that was different from the one she had been accustomed to. A major part of her life was
spent in the village amidst simplicity and religious austerity. Hence she felt disoriented while undergoing
the transition and experiencing this unfamiliar way of life.

3. The transition ushered in a radical departure from the traditional way of life. Though the narrator and
his grandmother shared the same room yet their togetherness was the not the same as the initial phase.
The grandmother could no longer accompany young Khushwant Singh to school as he commuted by a
motor bus. He was admitted to an 'English' school.

4. The language English was welcomed by some educated class of Elite Indians and also the middle class
who saw the language as ' Window on the World' and therefore advocated the teaching of English while
others strongly opposed it. Some perceived the utility of the language for upward mobility. They would
take pride in emulating not just the language but also the European lifestyle quite faithfully.
5. The narrator being admitted in an English school validates the fact that his family too was influenced
by this foreign culture and was quickly adapting itself to the change.

6. The British in Colonial India, wanted to attune Indians to partial modernisation so that they support
colonial modernisation. Initially, British East India Company was not concerned with the development of
education system because their prime motive was trading and profit-making. To rule in India, they
planned to educate a small section of upper and middle classes to create a class “Indian in blood and
colour but English in taste” who would act as interpreters between the Government and the masses.

7. The missionaries set up by the British for the purpose, started preaching the superiority of western
thoughts. They tried to show that Indian texts lacked in reason and scientific attitude. After creating
hostility among Indian about their text and culture, they injected western education by replacing the
traditional education in India.

8. The Christian missionaries also impacted the faith of fellow Indian. These missionaries wanted to
imbibe western thoughts so that Indians would support the imperialist law and order. They believed
that they would get business and the capitalist support as Christian converts would be better customers
of their goods.

As years....after that

1. Though the narrator became preoccupied with his new engagements in the city yet the grandmother
tried to put up with the drifting relationship. She got him ready for school and on his return would
inquire what he was taught there. She was somewhat appalled to know that her grandson was being fed
upon Western ideas, Western language and Western Science. She was further unhappy because she was
unable to help him with his lessons and hence she understood her diminishing significance in her
grandson 's life.

2. The Western Education System challenged the policy of patronizing Oriental learning and advocated
the need for spreading Western knowledge through the medium of English. The British evolved a
general educational system, based on English as the common language of higher education, for the
entire country. Students were taught various disciplines in these schools.

3. English based education had negative consequences. It created a wide gulf between the educated and
the masses. The emphasis on English prevented the fuller development of Indian languages as also the
spread of education to the masses.

4. The colonial educational system, otherwise, also suffered from many weaknesses which still pervade
India’s schools and colleges. It encouraged learning by rote, memorization of texts, and proof by
authority. The rational, logical, analytical and critical faculties of the students remained
underdeveloped; in most cases the students could reproduce others’ opinions but had difficulty in
formulating their own.

5. A major weakness of the colonial educational system was the neglect of mass education as also of
scientific and technical education.

6. The grandmother expressed her resentment and was distraught when she came to know that there
were no teaching about God and the scriptures. Spiritual learning, according her, played a pivotal role in
the character- moulding of a child. She felt the deterioration of Indian value system and culture in its
intense gravity.

7. She also did not approve of the music lessons that were imparted to her grandson in school. In the
olden days, music was not meant for gentle folks. Only harlots and beggars used to sing which made it
undignified for the gentle folks to practice.

8. She was never vocal about what she felt but her silence expressed her disapprobation. She gradually
withdrew herself when she found that her grandson was participating in activities and hobbies that she
didn't approve of. She could feel the marginalization of her importance in Khushwant Singh's life.

9. lewd: crude or offensive

When I went up to....day for her.

1. There was a further chasm in their relationship when the narrator went to the University. He was
given a room of his own and he did not share the the same room as his grandmother ( the Western
notion of privacy had set in the family). This meant that they would see each other even less.

2. She secluded herself from all the entanglements with stoicism and forbearance. She did not intervene
or imposed her thoughts and beliefs on her grandson, knowing very well that it would hardly have any
impact on him.

3. Her seclusion was self- imposed. She occupied herself in praying, spinning the wheel and feeding the
sparrows. All these reflected her strong aversion to the new culture that had overtaken her family
members. This shows that amidst the disharmony and fragmentation of the Western culture she gave
out the message that despite all odds, one can still remain self- reliant and stick to the roots. Her
spiritual inclination and her philanthropic disposition gave her yet another reason to live.

4. The sight of the sparrows jostling to eat the breadcrumbs filled her with joy and they became her
companions. Despite the noise, confusion and chaos caused by the chirruping of the sparrows that
scattered around her, she never shooed them away. It filled her with happiness to feed those creatures
who reminded her of her village.

5. The grandmother resisted the change and the cultural conversion that her family members had
undergone in many ways, hence she felt alienated. She led a life of resistance instead of voicing it. She
resorted to spinning the wheel the entire day. Spinning the wheel that is symbolic of our lost identity
and is also associated with being self- reliant, made her not only conform to the age old customs and
traditions but also a follower of Gandhian principles.

A veritable bedlam of chirrupings: The utter confusion/commotion created by the chattering and
twittering of the sparrows

Grandmother as the follower of Gandhian Philosophy:

1. The silent protests that the grandmother makes is based on one of the four fundamental principles
that Gandhiji taught- Satyagraha. Satyagraha is protest based on satya (path of truthfulness) and non
violence and includes peaceful demonstrations, prolonged fasts etc. i.e. a non violence-based civil
resistance.He said that if you are firm in the truth in the long run you are going to win.

2. The Gandhian ideology had the spiritual or religious element and belief in God at its core. The
grandmother from the very beginning is shown as a religious and a pious woman. When she comes to
the city, she spends most her time praying and chanting the verses.

3. His third principle is sarvodaya or welfare for all. The grandmother showed her love and compassion
even towards the mute beings and bonded with them quickly.

4. Gandhi's philosophy of 'Swadeshi' has ultimately led to the concept of self-reliance. The Khadi
movement had the objectives of boycotting imported foreign cloth and promoting the spinning of khadi
for self-employment. It taught the common masses to be self- reliant and independent. Grandmother 's
spinning of her own clothes made her self- reliant and a follower of Gandhian Philosophy.

When I decided... between us.

1. The third phase in the relationship between the grandmother and the narrator was when the latter
was being sent abroad for higher education.

2. Privileged- class Indians would deem it essential and a matter of pride to send their children abroad
for higher education. They were proud to imbibe the British culture and see a reflection of the British in
the mannerisms and lifestyle of their children.

3. They believed that if they get educated in the Universities of Britain, they would be entitled to better
job opportunities and respect in the society. London which is still considered to be educational empire
of the world, owing to its prestigious institutions, attracted the attention of the youth belonging to the
elite class of India. Khushwant Singh's family embraced the Western culture and the narrator was sent
abroad for five long years.

4. His parting moment from his grandmother was poignant and he was uncertain whether he would be
able to see his grandmother again. Given the age of his grandmother such insecurities were obvious to
bother the narrator. The grandmother demonstrated great restrain and composure. She did not express
her grief or showed any sign of sadness. It seemed as though she had anticipated this moment and was
mentally prepared for it. She came to the station to see him off and kissed his forehead.

5. She was absorbed in praying and counting the beads of her rosary which is a manifestation of her
complete submission to the Almighty and His Providence.

But that was not so...frivolous rebukes.

clasped- grasped tightly

frivolous rebukes- friendly scoldings

1. Contrary to all the misgivings and insecurities that the narrator had when he left for London, he was
greeted by his grandmother at the station when he returned after five years.

2. It is noteworthy that their love for each other had withstood the test of time. Even when they were
physically detached, their bonding had never fade its lustre. (The grandmother 's gesture of embracing
and clasping her grandson in her arms speaks more than words could have ever expressed for her). The
grandmother's reception of her grandson at the railway station also confirms how invaluable her love
for him was and that he held a precious place in her heart.

3. Grandmother 's complete submission to religiosity and spirituality contributed to her ageing gracefully
during those five years. They became a focal symbol of her old age. Religion served as an important
thread of integration in her old age which she had sustained for so many years of her life. Owing to the
cultural disparity in the city, she had completely devoted herself to the Almighty.

4. Even though she was elated to receive her grandson at the railway station, yet her attainment of the
spiritual bliss was beyond all earthly pleasures of the world. For this reason, perhaps, the grandmother
didn't forget to engage herself in her routine activities of praying and feeding the sparrows.

5. By then the sparrows had become an inextricable part of her and the narrator found that it gave her a
spiritual gratification that surpassed her all other attainments of the day. She fed the sparrows for a
longer period of time indicating how her happiness was not just manifested in her expression of love for
her grandson but also her love for nature and God.

In the evening...she did not pray.

1. A dramatic transformation came over the grandmother in the evening when she collected a few
women from the neighborhood, got an old drum and started to sing to celebrate the homecoming of
her grandson. The "sagging dilapidated drum" symbolizes the fragility of the grandmother and also
symbolizes the continuation of life force in her.

2. Her sudden outburst/ outpour was a result of her repressed feelings. She vented our her emotions
which she had held long within herself, during her self- imposed seclusion. Her feelings of resistance
comes to the fore and she could finally express her immense joy on her grand grandson's return. It was
like she could finally defeat a foreign culture because her grandson had come back to his own country,
to his own roots.

3. She thumped on the old drum for hours and sang the songs of homecoming of soldiers or war
veterans (after they had fought a prolonged battle or deployment and returned victorious) with rare
verve and gusto.

4. Homecoming is always cited as a tremendous source of joy for the family members, whom the soldier
gets united with after a long period of time. They celebrate his return with mirth.

5. The rare flamboyance that her renditions reflected also reminds us how she clung on to her village
traditions of celebration. The rural charm and splendour of vernacular songs, traditional dances and
colourful dresses are indispensable part of every celebration.
The next morning...she was dead.

1. It is said that flame shines the brightest just before it dies down. The grandmother overstrained
herself refuting the pleas of her family members, and she fell sick the very next day.

2. The fact that she did not pray on the penultimate day of her life made the grandmother remorseful
and she spurned the words of the doctor (representative of the Western medical treatment) who
reassured that she would get well. Instead the grandmother prognosticates her impending death. She
wanted to spend her remaining few hours of her life praying and surrendering completely to the
Almighty.

3. Even during the remaining hours of our life she looked for solace in her prayers to God and
condemned all Western notions. Eventually she breathed her last. She died in peace and her life of
cultural resistance and utter devotion to God came to an end.

pallor- an unhealthy pale appearance

We lifted her... dustbin.

shroud: a cloth or an enveloping garment in which a dead person is wrapped for burial.

1. As the time approached for her last rites, her body was laid off the bed, and was covered in red
shroud, which is an Indian tradition. By evening her family members had arranged for her funeral and a
stretcher was brought to her room so that her lifeless body could be carried to the cremation ground.

2. It is a belief that when pious and good people die, even nature mourns their death. This was true in
her case as the room in which she was laid was lit with the blaze of the golden light, as if her noble
existence was being commended by Nature herself.

3. Even more spectacular was that all over the verandah and in her room, thousands of sparrows sat
scattered on the floor. It seemed that they too could discern the loss of a selfless, empathetic woman
who never forgot to feed them and who enjoyed their company as much as she did. Her philanthropic
disposition and her unconditional love for all won her the love of these sparrows who became her
eternal companions.

4. Observing the solemnity of the moment, they silently perched around her as though bidding her an
adieu and flew away on ce her corpse was taken away for cremation, without paying any attention to
the breadcrumbs given by the narrator's mother.
SYMBOLISM IN KHUSHWANT SINGH'S THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY

1.Khushwant Singh has been able to probe deep into the reality and imaginatively portrayed them
through symbols and images.

2. This is much in evidence in almost all his novels and short stories. It is through such symbols and
images that Khushwant Singh has succeeded in highlighting the hidden meaning of the objects he deals
with. It is this which has enabled Khushwant Singh to have a peep into the psyche of his characters.

3. This story too seems to be replete with symbols and images. The image of the grandmother in the
story exemplifies nobility, security, firmness, poise and stabilty. She is an epitome of love and
compassion. She is also shown as the one representing the cultural resistance. Khushwant Singh
compares her with the winter landscape. When one sees the winter landscape covered with snow and
gleaming, it exhumes a feeling of purity, serenity and calmness. Similarly, the grandmother clad in a
white saree conjures an image of the white mountains in the mind of the poet.

4. Pye- dogs are symbolic of the natural world around us and people living in the rural areas could
connect to them easily. Their absence in the city shows how people there willingly disassociated
themselves from from a peaceful co- existence with nature.

5. The motor bus that was used by the poet to commute to his school in the city is symbolic of the
partial modernisation ( developed infrastructure and communication) of the Indian cities under British
rule.

6. The English school where Khushwant Singh was sent to is symbolic of the Western influence and
deterioration of the Indian value system.

7. The sparrows that are regarded as spiritual messengers also symbolized an eternally beautiful
connection between humans and nature.

8. The spinning wheel is symbolic of India's lost identity. It also hints at Gandhiji 's principle of self-
reliance and also the age old customs and traditions of India.

9. "The sagging dilapidated drum" symbolizes the fragility of the old grandmother (The sagging skin of
the drum creates the mental image of the sagging skin of the grandmother due to her old age). It
symbolizes the continuation of life force in the fragile grandmother.

10. The sun symbolizes the life- cycle of a human being. The setting sun whose rays had lit her room
symbolized that the ephemeral life of the grandmother has to come to an end. The blaze of Golden light
conveyed that her life had been meaningful and was well spent.

SAQs:

1. How did Khushwant Singh's admission in the English medium school become a divisive force in his
relationship with his grandmother?
2. Why did the narrator find the very idea of his grandmother being young and pretty as abominable and
unrealistic?

3. The grandmother leaves an indelible imprint on Khushwant Singh's psyche as he describes her with
childlike innocence. Explain.

4. The Indian education system was never a dissociated or fragmented concept. Expatiate with
reference to kind of education that Khushwant Singh received in Hadali.

5. Which instances from the chapter tell you that the grandmother was a conformist to the Indian
cultural practices and traditional beliefs?

6. What did the grandmother do to celebrate the homecoming of her grandson? How was it in sharp
contrast to her prudent reserve?

7. What grave inhibitions and apprehensions did the narrator have when he left for London? What does
it tell you about his bonding with his grandmother?

8. What character attributes of the grandmother are reflected when the narrator makes an explicit
comparison between the her and wintry landscape?

9. The reciprocal empathy showcased by the sparrows establishes the grandmother's perfect spiritual
communion with sparrows. Comment.

LAQs:

1. The eternally old lady portrayed by Khushwant Singh is the one who represents and manifests Indian
ethos and ideology. Elaborate.

2. The chapter documents a plethora of emotions from love, bonding, pain, nostalgia and while dealing
with the subtle intricacies of grandmother- grandson relationship. Comment.

3. Juxtapose the Indian education system to the Western education system as presented in the chapter
'The Portrait of a Lady'.

4. Draw out the instances from the chapter that validates that the company of her grandson propelled
the grandmother to break away from the stereotypical notions associated with old age.

5. The grandmother 's preoccupations during a self- imposed seclusion demonstrates how she remained
resolutely anchored to the idealistic school of thoughts which advocates her resistance. Substantiate
with reference to what the grandmother did to put up with her isolation in the city.