What went wrong when the king rode under the arch?

It was too low and knocked off his crown

How does the chain of blame unfold in the poem?

Each accused person blames another, ending with the king's own changes

Who wrote "The Portrait of a Lady" and what kind of writing is it?

Khushwant Singh; it is an autobiographical prose sketch recalling his grandmother.

What were the three phases of the author's relationship with his grandmother before he went abroad?

The close village years, the loosening bond after moving to the city school, and the snapped link at university.

Why did the grandmother stop going to school with the author in the city?

The new English school was not attached to a temple and he travelled by motor bus, so she could no longer accompany him.

Why was the grandmother disturbed by the city school's lessons?

It taught western science and music but nothing about God or the scriptures, which distressed her religious nature.

How did the grandmother spend her days after the author grew up?

Mostly at her spinning-wheel reciting prayers, and feeding sparrows in the afternoon, which was her happiest half-hour.

How did the grandmother behave on the eve of her death, breaking her routine?

She did not pray; instead she gathered neighbourhood women, took an old drum, and sang of warriors returning home.

How did the grandmother react when she fell ill?

She said her end was near, refused to waste time talking, and lay praying and telling her beads until she died peacefully.

How did the sparrows express their grief at her death?

Thousands sat silently and still around her body and ignored the bread crumbs offered, flying away only when she was carried off.

What instances show the grandmother's strength of character?

Her calm acceptance of seclusion, her unsentimental farewell at the station, and her firm decision to spend her last hours in prayer.

Why is the grandmother described as "beautiful" though never "pretty"?

Her serene, prayerful, dignified presence — like pure white winter serenity — gave her a spiritual beauty independent of youthful prettiness.

The Portrait of a Lady

Class 11 English · Hornbill · Chapter 1

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CBSE Class 11 · English Core

All 10 Hornbill texts: 5 prose, 5 poems

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The story in short

Khushwant Singh's autobiographical prose sketch traces the changing bond between the narrator and his grandmother across three phases. In the village, the two are inseparable: she wakes him, dresses him, walks him to the temple school, reads scriptures while he learns the alphabet, and feeds the village dogs on the way home. When the family moves to the city, the friendship loosens; she can no longer accompany him to the English school, cannot help with western lessons in science and gravity, and is quietly distressed by the absence of religious teaching and by his music lessons. At university he gets a separate room and the common link snaps; she withdraws to her spinning-wheel and prayers, her happiest half-hour spent feeding sparrows. She shows no sentiment when he leaves for five years abroad, and meets him calmly on his return. On the eve of her death she breaks routine, gathering neighbourhood women to sing of warriors' homecoming. Falling mildly ill the next day, she declares her end is near, stops talking, and dies peacefully telling her beads. At the funeral, thousands of silent sparrows gather around her body, refusing the crumbs offered, and fly away only when she is carried off — a moving image of mute mourning that closes the portrait.

The Portrait of a Lady

Characters & key ideas

Autobiographical sketcha prose account drawn from the author's own life and memory.

Rosarythe string of beads the grandmother constantly tells while reciting prayers.

Spinning-wheelthe device at which she spins thread and recites prayers in her seclusion.

Sparrowsthe birds she feeds daily; their silent gathering at her death symbolises mourning.

Seclusionthe withdrawn, prayerful life she accepts with resignation as the narrator grows up.

Serenityher calm, peaceful nature, compared to a white winter landscape in the mountains.

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Who is the author of "The Portrait of a Lady"?

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The Portrait of a Lady

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