Question

The Portrait of A Lady Chapter Highlights..............................................

Answer 1

• When the author, Khushwant Singh, was a little child, his parents left him in the village with his grandmother and went to live in the city.
• The author’s grandmother was an old lady. She was very religious. The author shared a very close bond with his grandmother. They became very good friends.
• The grandmother woke him up, dressed him and accompanied him to school. The school was attached to the temple.
• While the author was at school, the grandmother used to read the scriptures in the temple.
• When the author’s parents were well-settled, he and his grandmother also went to the city. It proved a turning point in their friendship.
• In the city, Khushwant Singh attended an English school and travelled in a motor bus. He learnt English words and topics of Western Science.
• The grandmother could no longer accompany him to his school nor help him in his studies. However, they shared the same room.
• When the author went to the University, he was given a separate room, Thus, the last link of their friendship was broken.
• The grandmother kept herself busy in her prayers and spinning the wheel. Her favourite part of the day was feeding the sparrows.
• When the author went abroad for higher studies, the grandmother came to see him off at the station but she showed no emotions and was not even sentimental.
• The author came back after five years and was received by his grandmother at the station. She was unchanged and did not look a day older.
• In the evening, the grandmother did not pray and instead collected the women of the neighbourhood and celebrated her grandson’s homecoming,
• The grandmother fell ill the next day and she knew that her end was near.
• She stopped talking and closed her eyes. She was lost in her prayers and counting the beads of her rosary. Suddenly, the rosary fell down and her lips stopped moving. She was dead.
• Thousands.of sparrows assembled in the room and sat quietly to mourn her death. They did not even eat the crumbs given by the author’s mother.
• After the grandmother’s body was taken for cremation, the sparrows flew away silently.