Very Short Answer Questions (1–2 lines each)
Q1. Who is the author of The Portrait of a Lady?
Ans. Khushwant Singh.
Q2. What did the grandmother always carry in her hand?
Ans. A rosary of beads.
Q3. What did the grandmother do while spinning the wheel?
Ans. She continuously recited prayers.
Q4. Which subjects displeased the grandmother in city education?
Ans. Science and music.
Q5. What did the grandmother feed in the afternoon?
Ans. She fed crumbs of bread to sparrows.
Q6. How did the grandmother look?
Ans. She was old, wrinkled, short, fat, and always in white.
Q7. What did the sparrows do after her death?
Ans. They sat silently and mourned without chirping.
Q8. Where did the grandmother read scriptures in the village?
Ans. In the temple adjoining the school.
Q9. What illness did the grandmother get before death?
Ans. A mild fever.
Q10. What unusual thing did she do after the author’s return from abroad?
Ans. She sang songs of warriors’ homecoming with a drum.
More Short Answer Questions (30–50 words)
Q9. How did the grandmother react to the absence of religious education in city schools?
Ans. She was unhappy because she believed scriptures were essential for learning. She disliked the modern curriculum that taught science, English, and music, as she felt they did not provide spiritual or moral education.
Q10. How did the author’s schooling in the city make the grandmother unhappy?
Ans. She could not help him with modern subjects. She disapproved of science without God and music lessons, which she considered unfit for respectable families. This created a silent gap between her and the author.
Q11. What shows the grandmother’s kindness towards animals and birds?
Ans. She fed street dogs in the village and sparrows in the city. The sparrows’ silent mourning at her death reflects how even nature acknowledged her compassion.
Q12. How did the grandmother spend her last few hours?
Ans. She stopped talking, as she believed she had little time left. She devoted herself to prayer, reciting the rosary beads. She passed away peacefully, lying in bed.
Q13. Why was the grandmother’s death considered natural and peaceful?
Ans. She sensed her end, prepared herself by praying, and left the world calmly. There was no panic or fear, only dignity and devotion, which made her death seem serene and spiritual.
Q14. What impression of the grandmother do you form from the chapter?
Ans. She was religious, disciplined, compassionate, and selfless. She accepted changes in life with silence, never complained, and remained deeply connected to prayer, simplicity, and kindness until the very end.
More Long Answer Questions (120–150 words)
Q5. Explain the author’s childhood relationship with his grandmother.
Ans. During his childhood in the village, the author and his grandmother were inseparable companions. She looked after him lovingly, woke him up, bathed and dressed him, and gave him breakfast. They went together to school, which was attached to a temple. While he studied alphabets and prayers, she read scriptures. On their way back, she fed the dogs with chapatis. Their relationship was filled with care, warmth, and spiritual influence. This stage of their life showed the closest bond between them.
Q6. How did the grandmother adapt herself to life in the city?
Ans. When they moved to the city, the grandmother could no longer accompany the author to school or help with his lessons. She disliked modern education but accepted the changes silently. She adjusted her life by devoting herself to spinning the wheel, praying, and feeding sparrows. Though her daily interaction with the author reduced, she continued to shower love on him in her quiet way. Her ability to adjust reflects her resilience and patience.
Q7. The sparrows’ mourning at the grandmother’s death was unusual. Discuss.
Ans. After her death, thousands of sparrows sat silently on rooftops, trees, and in the courtyard. They neither chirped nor made any movement. Their stillness reflected deep sorrow. The next morning, they flew away quietly after the cremation. This strange mourning was extraordinary because sparrows are usually noisy, but here they behaved as if they had lost a family member. It symbolised her purity, spirituality, and connection with nature.
Q8. In what ways does the grandmother symbolise Indian traditions?
Ans. The grandmother represents traditional Indian values of simplicity, religiosity, and compassion. She wore white clothes, lived austerely, and always prayed. She believed in scriptures, moral education, and feeding animals and birds. Her devotion to prayer, humility, and peaceful acceptance of death reflect the spiritual essence of Indian culture. Through her character, the story portrays the fading yet powerful presence of tradition amidst modern life.