Question

Describe the appearance of the author's grandmother in chapter the portrait of a lady

Answer 1

The poet ( Khushwant Singh ) describes his grandmother as Short ,fat and a little Stooped. He also describes her as being not pretty in the traditional sense but her serenity made her beautiful as she always used to chant silent prayers from beads of rosary.She was always in spotless white.

They were very close to each other but the distance grew once he moved to city to further his academics.

Answer 2

The narrator's grandmother was the epitome of a perfectly poised lady with beauty and intellect, the most remarkable thing about her was her resilience and independence in spite of her advanced years. She showed the narrator, her grandson, to face problems with equanimity and not give in to excessive displays of emotion. She was a devoutly religious woman who would not give up telling the beads of her rosary,constantly steeped in prayers and a picture of serenity due to her calm and composed demeanour. She was not given to displays of sentimentality so whether it was her grandson's departure for studies abroad or the realization of her own death, she faced everything with a stoic calm. What we learn from her is not through the woman's piety but through her self-reliance and strangely reassuring perspective towards life,that one must carry on with the task of living no matter what problems one faces.