1. The Portrait of a Lady

Lesson-1

The Portrait of a Lady

By Khushwant Singh

The Portrait of a Lady Introduction

The author's story is told in The Portrait of a Lady. He describes his grandmother's relationship with him over the years. He keeps track of her daily activities and how she changed as a character over time. He describes her appearance, which aids in forming an image in the reader's mind.

The Portrait of a Lady Summary

The author and his grandmother are the subjects of the chapter 'The Portrait of a Lady.' The grandmother was a frail old lady with wrinkled face. For the past twenty years, the author had seen her in this manner. She appeared to be so old that he couldn't imagine her as 'young and pretty, with a husband.' She was short, chubby, and slightly bowed. The author had seen his grandfather's portrait, which depicted an elderly man wearing a turban and having a long white beard that covered his chest. To the author, his grandfather did not appear to be a man who could have a wife and children, but rather a man who could have a lot of grandchildren. His grandmother used to walk around the house in 'Spotless White,' one hand on her waist, the other counting the beads on her rosary.

The author and his grandmother had a good relationship in the beginning. She used to get him up and ready for school. She used to pack his belongings for the day and walk him to school every day. She used to go to the temple attached to the school. She had a habit of reading the scriptures. The author sat on the verandah with other children, singing alphabets and morning prayers. They used to return home together, surrounded by stray dogs as his grandmother carried stale chapattis to feed them. Soon after, the author's parents arrived in the city to settle in and called them. His relationship with his grandmother weakened as they reached the city. Despite the fact that they shared a room, their relationship degraded. He began attending an English medium school, she no longer accompanied him to his school, and there were no longer stray dogs roaming around them as they walked home. She, on the other hand, used to ask about his day and what he had learned. She couldn't understand anything because everything was in another language she didn't understand. She didn't agree with the new curriculum he was studying because she believed it didn't teach him about God and the scriptures. They saw each other less frequently.

He grew older as the days passed and eventually went to university. He had his own room, which strained their relationship. She stopped talking to everyone and spent the entire day at her spinning wheel, reciting prayers and moving rosary beads with one hand. She did, however, enjoy feeding sparrows on the verandah at dawn. Her daily routine consisted of breaking bread into pieces and feeding it to the birds. The birds would sit on her legs, head, and even her shoulders. Soon after, the author decided to pursue further education in another country. She arrived at the train station to drop him off. She was not sentimental; she recited her prayers continuously, her mind lost in the prayers, and kissed him on the forehead. When he returned home after five years, she was still there, came to pick him up at the station, and was exactly the same as she had been five years before. She cradled him in her arms and didn't say anything. She was still feeding her sparrows.

She didn't recite her prayers one day, but instead gathered the women of the neighbourhood, got a drum, and began singing. She awoke the next morning with a mild fever. The doctor assured her that there was nothing to be concerned 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, so she spent her final hours laying on the bed reciting her prayers. She died, and her lifeless body lay on the bed. As they prepared for her funeral, they noticed all the sparrows gathered on the verandah, mourning her death.

The Portrait of a Lady Lesson Explanation

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.

• 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

The author discusses his grandmother. He'd known her for over a decade, and she'd always been old and wrinkled. He was told that she was once young and beautiful, and that she had a husband. His grandfather's portrait hung on the wall, depicting him in loose-fitting clothes, a turban, and a long, white beard that reached his chest. He also appeared to be very old, and the author assumed that he could have many grandchildren but no wife or children. The author could never have imagined that his grandmother was once young and attractive. He was unable to connect with this idea. She used to tell him and his cousins about her childhood memories, such as the games she used to play. They thought these stories were illogical and disrespectful because it was beyond their imagination to believe that grandmother was once a child who played such games. They assumed that her life stories were similar to the moral stories she used to tell them.

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.

• 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

His grandmother was short, fat, with a slightly bent posture and a wrinkled face. She appeared to be very old, and she had remained the same for the past twenty years. She was beautiful but not pretty, according to the author. She walked around the house awkwardly, dressed in spotless white, with rosary beads hanging from one hand and the other hand resting on her back for support. She had silver-colored hair that was uncombed and disorganised. She was always reciting prayers. He compares her to the peaceful and calm winter landscape of the mountains. She was a living example of a pure, white, peace-emitting entity.

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.

• 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.

In the village, the author shared a room with her. They were good friends. His parents abandoned him to live with her in the city. Every morning, the author's grandmother would wake him up and get him ready for school. She would recite her morning prayers while bathing and dressing him, and he loved her voice but would not try to remember a word she said. She would prepare his things, such as a wooden slate, a tiny earthen inkpot, and a red pen. He'd eat a thick stale chapatti spread with butter and sugar. They used to walk to school together, and his grandmother would bring stale chapattis to feed the village dogs.

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.

• Scriptures – the sacred writings of a religion
• Growling – making a low guttural sound in the throat
• Courtyard- verandah

His grandmother would accompany him to school because the temple was attached to the school and she used to go there on a daily basis. On one side, he would sit with other children on the verandah and sing the alphabet and prayers in chorus. She, on the other hand, would go to the temple and read the scriptures. They would walk back home together after finishing.

The village dogs greeted them at the door. They would follow them home, growling and fighting over the stale chapatis she fed them. When his parents moved to the city, they contacted them. That was the turning point in his relationship with his grandmother. They shared a room, but she would no longer accompany him to his school. He began attending an English medium school, and a motor bus would come to pick him up and drop him off. There were no dogs in the streets for her to feed like there were in the village. As a result, she began feeding sparrows on their verandah.

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.

• Years rolled by- time passed
• Distressed – suffer from extremely sorrow, anxiety or pain
• Lewd Association – Indecent or Obscene
• Harlots – Prostitutes
• Gentlefolk – People of noble birth

Their interaction steadily declined as the years passed in the city. For a while, she would wake him up and get him ready for school. She'd ask him what he'd learned that day at school. She was irritated by the scientific terminology and English words. She couldn't help him with the lessons because she didn't speak the language. This made her sad because his new school never taught him about God or religious scriptures. She was opposed to such an education. She was disturbed to learn that he was taking music lessons. Music, she said, was indecent, and it was an art for beggars and prostitutes, not for those from respectable families. She didn't like the fact that he was learning music, so she stopped talking to him.

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.

• 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’

When the author went to university, he had his own room. The common link of his friendship with his grandmother that they had when they shared the same room had now been broken, and thus his friendship with her had come to an end. She became more private, spending the entire day spinning the wheel. She would sit and silently recite her prayers from sunrise to sunset. She used to feed the sparrows on the verandah in the afternoon. She would feed hundreds of birds by breaking the bread into small pieces. The birds would gather around her, some on her legs, some on her shoulders, and a few on her head. She never pushed them away and always smiled. She was the happiest she had been all day in that half-hour.

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.

• 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

When the author decided to study abroad, he thought it would be the last time he saw her because he would be gone for five years. As they reached the station, she clutched him tightly and kissed his head. He assumed it was his final physical contact with her. He treasured the wet impression of her hand. She was not sentimental in the least. She came to meet him at the station when he returned after five years. She didn't look a day older than she did five years ago. She cradled him in her arms once more, reciting her prayers. On the first day of his arrival, he noticed that only sparrows made her happy.

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 home-coming 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.

• 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, requeste
• Overstraining- overdoing something
• Omitted – leave out or exclude something

She did not pray as she usually does one evening. She gathered a group of women from the neighbourhood, grabbed a drum, and began singing with them. She sang along as she thumped the shattered part of the drum. The entire family persuaded her to stop because she might become ill from exhaustion. She became ill the next morning. It was a low-grade fever. The doctors told them it would go away, but she didn't believe them. She predicted that she would die soon because her end was near. She began chanting prayers because she didn't want to waste her final hours talking to anyone.

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.

• Protested – express an objection against something or someone
• Pallor – an unhealthy pale appearance

The family objected and tried to stop her, but she sat peacefully on her bed, chanting prayers and doing her beads. She came to a halt, and the rosary fell from her lifeless fingers. She died with a calm, pale expression on her face.

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.

• 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

Her family lifted her from her bed, placed her on the ground, and wrapped her in a red cloth. Thousands of sparrows sat quietly around her. The author's mother went out to get some bread for the birds, but they didn't eat any of it. Later, as the family carried the dead body, they flew away. The crumbs were picked up by the sweeper the next morning. The birds were extremely sensitive. They didn't want to eat bread because they were grieving the death of the one who had fed them for so long.

About the Author

Khushwant Singh (February 2, 1915 – March 20, 2014) was an Indian author, lawyer, diplomat, journalist, and politician. His experiences during India's 1947 partition inspired him to write Train to Pakistan in 1956 (which was adapted into a film in 1998), which became his most well-known novel.