Character Sketch of Narrator (Khushwant Singh)

Khushwant Singh, the narrator of the story ‘The Portrait of a Lady’ was a
sensitive and observant person. Having been entirely brought up under his
grandmother’s care, he displays a genteel sensitivity towards her. He
cherished the memories of his association with his grandmother. He has
beautifully described the details about many episodes from his past life
that were related to his grandmother. His description of his grandmother’s
old age, her movements, her religious beliefs, her association with
sparrows reflect his ability to describe the common things with sensitive
delicacy. He was a great author, grandson, and human being.
The Portrait of a Lady Overview – The Portrait of a Lady is the story of the
author. He describes his relationship with his grandmother over the years.
He pens down her daily activities and how she evolved as a character as
time passed by. He explains her appearance which helps create an image
in the reader’s mind.

Some Questions on Character Sketch of Narrator

Write about the character of the narrator, Khushwant Singh, in The Portrait
of a Lady?
How can we relate the characters of Khushwant Singh from ‘The portrait of
a lady’ and Jonathan and Suzanne from ‘We are not Afraid to Die, if we are
together’ in terms of family bonding and relationship with family elders?
Take instances from the stories to support your answer.
What was the narrator unable to believe about his grandparents?

Character Sketch of writer’s Grandmother

The grandmother was an old woman with a wrinkled face who was once
young and pretty. She was short, fat, and slightly bent. The narrator
portrays her as a “winter landscape in the mountains” since she constantly
wore a white dress with her silver hair hiding her face. She is deeply
religious and spends much of her time reciting prayers and counting the
beads of her rosary. She is kind-hearted and has a routine of feeding the
village dogs. In the city, she fed the sparrows with bits of bread. She was
very attached to her grandson and would spend hours talking to him about
his studies. However, she is traditional and does not approve of the new
syllabus that her grandson is studying, which she feels does not teach him
about God and the religious scriptures. Her relationship with her grandson
changes as he grows up and moves away from her. Despite this, she
continues to care for him and welcomes him when he returns home. She is
a simple, loving, and devout woman who lives her life according to her faith
and traditions.

Some Questions on Character Sketch of a Grandmother

How does the grandmother’s appearance reflect her personality?
Reflect on Grandma’s character in terms of her relationship with Khushwant
Singh.

Character Sketch of the Grandfather

The author’s grandfather’s portrait hung above the mantelpiece in the
drawing room. In the picture, he wore a large turban and loose-fitting
clothes, and also had a long, white beard that covered the best part of his
chest. He had passed away a long time ago. Khushwant Singh had never
seen his grandfather. The author’s grandfather seemed to have the look of
a man who neither had a wife nor children, only lots and lots of
grandchildren, because he looked that old.

Some Questions on Character Sketch of a Grandfather

How does the author describe his grandfather from the latter’s portrait?
Describe the grandfather as seen in the portrait.

The Portrait of a Lady Introduction

The Portrait of a Lady is the story of the author. He describes his
relationship with his grandmother over the years. He pens down her daily
activities and how she evolved as a character as time passed by. He
explains her appearance which helps create an image in the reader’s mind.

The Portrait of a Lady Summary

Summary of The Portrait of a Lady – The chapter ‘The Portrait of a Lady’ is
the story of the author and his grandmother. The grandmother was an old
woman with a wrinkled face. The author had always seen her like this, for
the past twenty years. She appeared to be so old that he could not imagine
her being ‘young and pretty, someone who had a husband. She was short,
fat, and slightly bent. The author had seen his grandfather’s portrait- an old
man with a turban and a long white beard covering his chest. To the
author, his grandfather didn’t seem like a man who could have a wife and
children, but someone who could have lots of grandchildren. His
grandmother used to move around the house in ‘Spotless White’ with her
one hand resting on her waist and her other hand counting the beads of her
rosary.
Initially, the author and his grandmother had a good relationship. She used
to wake him up and get him ready for school. She used to pack the things
he required for the day and walked him to school every day. She used to
visit the temple that was attached to the school. She had a routine of
reading the scriptures. The author along with other children sat on the
verandah singing alphabets and morning prayers. They both used to come
back home together with stray dogs roaming around them as his
grandmother would carry the stale chapattis to feed them.
Soon, the parents of the author who went to the city to settle in and called
them. As they reached the city, his relationship with his grandmother took
a turn. Though they shared the room, there bond grew apart. He started
going to an English-medium school, she no longer accompanied him to his
school, and there were no longer stray dogs who roamed around them
while walking back home. She, however, used to ask him about his day and
what he had learned. She didn’t understand anything as everything was in
another language which she could not understand. She didn’t approve of
the new syllabus that he was studying because she thought that they did
not teach him about God and the scriptures. They saw less of each other.
As the days passed, he grew older and soon went to the university. He had
his own room and this made their relationship sour. She stopped talking to
everyone and spent her whole day sitting at her spinning wheel, reciting
prayers and moving beads of the rosary with one hand. However, she loved
feeding sparrows in the verandah at dawn. Breaking bread into pieces and
feeding it to the birds was her daily routine. The birds would sit on her legs,
her head, some even on the shoulders.
Soon, the author decided to go abroad for further studies. She came to the
railway station to leave him off. She was not sentimental, continuously
recited her prayers, her mind lost in the prayers, and she kissed him on the
forehead. After five years, as he returned home, she was there, came to
pick him at the station, was still the same as she had been five years ago.
She clasped him within her arms and didn’t say a word. She still used to
feed her sparrows.
One day, she didn’t recite her prayers but instead collected the women of
the neighbourhood, got a drum and started singing. The next morning, she
was ill with mild fever. The doctor said that there was nothing to worry
about but she was sure that her end was near.
She didn’t want to waste her time talking to anyone in the family anymore
but spent her last hours in reciting her prayers laying on the bed. She died
and so her body lay on the bed, lifeless. As they prepared for her funeral,
they saw all the sparrows sitting in the verandah around her, mourning her
death.

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The Portrait of a Lady Lesson Explanation
Passage: My grandmother, like everybody’s 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. My grandfather’s
portrait 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. He did not look the
sort of person who would have a wife or children. He looked as if he could
only have lots and lots of grandchildren. As for my grandmother being
young and pretty, the thought was almost revolting. She often told us of
the games she used to play as a child. That seemed quite absurd and
undignified on her part and we treated it like the fables of the Prophets she
used to tell us.
Word Meaning:
Wrinkled- having lines or folds
Portrait- painting or picture
Mantelpiece- a structure of wood, marble, or stone above and around a
fireplace.
the thought was almost revolting- it was very hard for the author to believe

Revolting – unpleasant
Absurd – Illogical
Undignified- disrespectful
Fables- fictitious stories with a moral teaching
Prophets- saints
Explanation of the above passage: The author talks about his grandmother.
He had known her for the past twenty years and she had always been old
and wrinkled. He was told that she was once young and pretty and had a
husband. His grandfather’s portrait hung on the wall, in which he wore
loose fitted clothes, a turban and had a long, white- coloured beard that
reached his chest.
He also appeared very old and the author thought that he was someone
who could have many grandchildren but not a wife or children. The author
could never imagine that once his grandmother was young and pretty. He
could not connect to this idea.
She used to tell him and his cousins about her childhood memories like the
games she used to play as a child. They found these stories illogical and
disrespectful because it was beyond their imagination to think that
grandmother was once a child and played such games.
They thought that her life’s stories were like the other moral stories which
she used to tell them.
Passage: She had always been short and fat and slightly bent. Her face was
a criss-cross of wrinkles running from everywhere to everywhere. No, we
were certain she had always been as we had known her. Old, so terribly old
that she could not have grown older, and had stayed at the same age for
twenty years. 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
her rosary. Her silver locks were scattered untidily over her pale, puckered
face, and her lips constantly moved in inaudible prayer. Yes, she was
beautiful. She was like the winter landscape in the mountains, an expanse
of pure white serenity breathing peace and contentment.
Word Meaning:
Criss- cross – a pattern of intersecting straight lines
Hobbled – walked in an awkward way
spotless white – she wore clean, white coloured dresses
Stoop – bend one’s body forward
Rosary- a string of beads for keeping count of number of chants made of a
religious prayer
Locks- hair
Scattered – disorganized
Untidily – not neat
Puckered – a face contract into wrinkles
Inaudible- unable to be heard
Serenity – the state of being peaceful and calm
an expanse of pure white serenity – refers to the calm, relaxed and
peaceful character of the author’s grandmother
Contentment – a state of happiness and satisfaction
Explanation of the above passage: His grandmother was short, fat, slightly
bent in posture and her face had lots of wrinkles. She seemed so old and
she had been the same for the past twenty years. According to the author,
she was beautiful but not pretty.
She walked around the house in an awkward way, wearing spotless white
clothes with beads of the rosary hanging from one hand and the other hand
rested on her back for support. She had silver-colored hair which was not
neatly combed and was disorganized. She was constantly chanting prayers.
He compares her to the winter landscape in the mountains which has a
peaceful and calm feel. She was a live example of a pure, white, peace –
emitting entity.
Passage: My grandmother and I were good friends. My parents left me with
her when they went to live in the city and we were constantly together. She
used to wake me up in the morning and get me ready for school. She said
her morning prayer in a monotonous sing-song while she bathed and
dressed me in the hope that I would listen and get to know it by heart; I
listened because I loved her voice but never bothered to learn it. Then she
would fetch my wooden slate which she had already washed and plastered
with yellow chalk, a tiny earthen ink-pot and a red pen, tie them all in a
bundle and hand it to me.
After a breakfast of a thick, stale chapatti with a little butter and sugar
spread on it, we went to school. She carried several stale chapattis with her
for the village dogs.
Word Meaning:
Monotonous – dull and boring
Bothered- to be concerned
Fetch – go for and then bring back something for someone
Slate- a flat plate of slate formerly used for writing on in schools
Plastered- covered with a layer of plaster
Earthen- made of baked or fired clay
Stale- no longer fresh and pleasant to eat; hard, musty, or dry.
Explanation of the above passage: The author lived with her in the village.
They were good friends. His parents left him with her to settle in the city.
The author’s grandmother used to wake him up every morning and get him
ready for school. She would recite her morning prayers while she bathed
and dressed him up and he loved her voice but would not try to memorize a
word of what she spoke. She would make his things ready like a wooden
slate, a tiny earthen inkpot, and a red pen. He would eat a thick stale
chapatti with butter and sugar spread on it. They both used to walk to
school and his grandmother carried stale chapattis with her to feed the
village dogs.
Passage: My grandmother always went to school with me because the
school was attached to the temple. The priest taught us the alphabet and
morning prayer. While the children sat in rows on either side of the
verandah singing the alphabet or the prayer in a chorus, my grandmother
sat inside reading the scriptures. When we had both finished, we would
walk back together. This time the village dogs would meet us at the temple
door. They followed us to our home growling and fighting with each other
for the chapattis we threw to them. When my parents were comfortably
settled in the city, they sent for us.
That was a turning-point in our friendship. Although we shared the same
room, my grandmother no longer came to school with me. I used to go to
an English school in a motor bus. There were no dogs in the streets and she
took to feeding sparrows in the courtyard of our city house.
Word Meaning:
Scriptures – the sacred writings of a religion
Growling – making a low guttural sound in the throat
Courtyard- verandah
Explanation of the above passage: His grandmother would accompany
him to the school as the temple was attached to the school and she used to
visit the temple daily. On one side, he would sit on the verandah with other
children, would sing the alphabet and prayers in the chorus. On the other
hand, she would sit in the temple to read the scriptures. After finishing,
they would walk back home together.
The village dogs met them at the village door. They would follow them to
their home, growling and fighting with each other for the stale chapatis that
she fed them. When his parents got settled in the city, they called them.
That was the turning point of his friendship with his grandmother. They
shared the same room but she no longer would give him company to his
school. He started going to an English medium school and a motor bus
would come to pick and drop him. There were no dogs in the streets whom
she could feed as she did in the village. So, she started feeding sparrows in
the verandah of their house.
Passage: As the years rolled by we saw less of each other. For some time
she continued to wake me up and get me ready for school. When I came
back she would ask me what the teacher had taught me. I would tell her
English words and little things of western science and learning, the law of
gravity, Archimedes’ Principle, the world being round, etc. This made her
unhappy. She could not help me with my lessons. She did not believe in the
things they taught at the English school and was distressed that there was
no teaching about God and the scriptures. One day I announced that we
were being given music lessons. She was very disturbed. To her music had
lewd associations. It was the monopoly of harlots and beggars and not
meant for gentlefolk. She said nothing but her silence meant disapproval.
She rarely talked to me after that.
Word Meaning:
Years rolled by- time passed
Distressed – suffer from extremely sorrow, anxiety or pain
Lewd Association – Indecent or Obscene
Gentlefolk – People of noble birth

Explanation of the above passage: As the years passed in the city, their
interaction reduced. For some time, she continued to wake him up and
would get him ready for school. She would ask him what he had learned in
school that day. The scientific terminology and English words made her
unhappy. As she didn’t know the language, she could not help him with the
lessons. As his new school never taught him about God and religious
scriptures, this made her sad. She did not approve of such an education.
When she came to know that he was getting music lessons, it disturbed
her. According to her, music was indecent and it was an art for the beggars
and prostitutes, and not for those belonging to decent families. She didn’t
like that he learned music, so, she stopped talking to him.
Passage: When I went up to University, I was given a room of my own. The
common link of friendship was snapped. My grandmother accepted her
seclusion with resignation. She rarely left her spinning-wheel to talk to
anyone. From sunrise to sunset she sat by her wheel spinning and reciting
prayers. Only in the afternoon she relaxed for a while to feed the sparrows.
While she sat in the verandah breaking the bread into little bits, hundreds
of little birds collected round her creating a veritable bedlam of chirrupings.
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.
Word Meaning:
Snapped- break suddenly and completely
Seclusion – the state of being private and away from the people
accepted her seclusion with resignation- the grandmother accepted a
lonely life as she accepted the separation from her grandson without
objection
Spinning-wheel – a household machine with a wheel attached to it for
spinning yarn
A veritable bedlam of chirrupings – refers to the noise and confusion
caused by the chirrupings of the sparrows
Veritable – use to describe something which is very interesting or unusual
Bedlam – confusion
Chirrupings – the noise of a small bird
Perched – alight or rest on something
Shooed – make a person or animal go away by shouting or saying ‘shoo’
Explanation of the above passage: As the author went to university, he
had a room of his own. The common link of his friendship with his
grandmother that they had when they shared the same room, was changed
now and thus, his friendship with her ended. She became more private and
spent her whole day spinning wheel. From sunrise to sunset, she would sit
and silently recite her prayers. In the afternoon, she used to feed sparrows
in the verandah. Breaking the bread into small pieces, she would feed
hundreds of birds. The birds would gather around her, some sat near her,
some on her legs, some on her shoulders and few on her head. She never
shooed them, but always smiled. She was the happiest in that half an hour
during the whole day.
Passage: When I decided to go abroad for further studies, I was sure my
grandmother would be upset. I would be away for five years, and at her age
one could never tell. But my grandmother could. She was not even
sentimental. She came to leave me at the railway station but did not talk or
show any emotion. Her lips moved in prayer, her mind was lost in prayer.
Her fingers were busy telling the beads of her rosary. Silently she kissed
my forehead, and when I left I cherished the moist imprint as perhaps the
last sign of physical contact between us. But that was not so. After five
years I came back home and was met by her at the station. She did not
look a day older. She still had no time for words, and while she clasped me
in her arms I could hear her reciting her prayers. Even on the first day of
my arrival, her happiest moments were with her sparrows whom she fed
longer and with frivolous rebukes.
Word Meaning:
Sentimental – a feeling of nostaglia, sadness or tenderness; an emotional
feeling
Beads – a small piece of glass or stone threaded with others to make a
rosary or necklace
Cherished – hold something dear
Moist- wet
Imprint – impression or stamp
Clasped – hold tightly
Frivolous – not having any serious purpose, light-hearted
Rebuke – disapproval of something or someone
frivolous rebukes – light-hearted scoldings
Explanation of the above passage: When the author decided to go abroad
for further studies, he believed it would be the last time he would see her
as he would be gone for five long years. As they all reached the station, she
held him tightly and kissed his forehead. He thought it was the last physical
contact with her. The wet impression of her hand was dear to him. She was
not sentimental at all. When he came back after five years, she came to
meet him at the station. She looked just the way she did five years ago, not
a day older. She held him again in her arms and was still reciting her
prayers.
He noticed on the first day of his arrival that only sparrows would make her
happy.
Passage: In the evening, a change came over her. She 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. We had to persuade her to
stop to avoid overstraining. That was the first time since I had known her
that she did not pray. The next morning, she was taken ill. It was a mild
fever and the doctor told us that it would go. But my grandmother thought
differently. She told us that her end was near. She said that, since only a
few hours before the close of the last chapter of her life she had omitted to
pray, she was not going to waste any more time talking to us.
Word Meaning:
Thumped- hit
Sagging – sinking downwards
Dilapidated – in a state of despair or ruin
the sagging skins of the dilapidated drum- The loose surface of the worn
out drum
Persuade – to talk someone into doing something, request
Overstraining- overdoing something
Omitted – leave out or exclude something
Explanation of the above passage: One evening, she didn’t follow her
regular routine of praying. She collected a few women from the
neighbourhood, got a drum and started singing with them. She thumped
the ruined part of the drum and sang along. The whole family persuaded
her to stop as she might get ill due to exhaustion. The next morning, she
fell ill. It was a mild fever. The doctors told them that it would go away, but
she took it differently. According to her, she would die soon as her end was
near. She started chanting prayers as she didn’t want to waste her last
hours in talking to anyone.
Passage: We protested. But she ignored our protests. She lay peacefully in
bed, praying and telling her beads. Even before we could suspect, her lips
stopped moving and the rosary fell from her lifeless fingers. A peaceful
pallor spread on her face and we knew that she was dead.
Word Meaning:
Protested – express an objection against something or someone
Pallor – an unhealthy pale appearance
Explanation of the above passage: The family protested, tried to stop her
but she lay peacefully on her bed, chanting prayers and doing her beads.
Suddenly, she stopped and the rosary fell from her lifeless fingers. A calm,
pale appearance spread on her face and she was dead.
Passage: We lifted her off the bed and, as is customary, laid her on the
ground and covered her with a red shroud. After a few hours of mourning
we left her alone to make arrangements for her funeral. In the evening we
went to her room with a crude stretcher to take her to be cremated. The
sun was setting and had lit her room and verandah with a blaze of golden
light. We stopped half-way in the courtyard.
All over the verandah and in her room right up to where she lay dead and
stiff wrapped in the red shroud, thousands of sparrows sat scattered on the
floor. There was no chirruping. We felt sorry for the birds and my mother
fetched some bread for them. She broke it into little crumbs, the way my
grandmother used to, and threw it to them. The sparrows took no notice of
the bread. When we carried my grandmother’s corpse off, they flew away
quietly. Next morning the sweeper swept the bread crumbs into the
dustbin.
Word Meaning:
Customary – traditional
Crude – in a natural state, roughly made
Cremated – dispose of or burn a body after it is dead
Blaze – a very large burning fire
Shroud – a piece of cloth used to wrap a dead person
Corpse- dead body
Explanation of the above passage: The family lifted her from the bed,
laid her on the ground and wrapped her with a red- coloured cloth.
Thousands of sparrows sat silently near her. The author’s mother fetched
some bread for the birds but they didn’t eat any. They flew away later as
the family carried the dead body. The sweeper removed the crumbs the
next morning. The birds were so sensitive. They did not want to eat bread
but were mourning the death of the one who had fed them for so many
days.