The Portrait of a Lady

1. Unit at a glance

• This unit is a single prose piece: the autobiographical essay “The Portrait of a Lady” by Khushwant Singh.
• It traces the writer’s relationship with his grandmother across three phases of his life (village childhood, city school, university and abroad).
• The central figure is the grandmother, shown through her daily routines, religious habits and quiet acceptance of change.
• Key images include the grandfather’s portrait, village dogs, city sparrows and the grandmother’s rosary and spinning-wheel.
• The narrative ends with the grandmother’s death and the sparrows’ silent mourning.
• Common theme: the gradual distancing caused by modern education and city life, set against unchanging devotion and serenity.

2. Prose

Summary

The narrator describes his grandmother as an old, wrinkled woman who had always looked the same for the twenty years he knew her. They shared a close bond in the village, where she woke him, prepared him for school attached to the temple, fed village dogs, and spent her day reading scriptures. When the family moved to the city, the narrator attended an English school by bus; the grandmother could no longer accompany him and disapproved of the curriculum, especially music lessons. Their contact decreased further when he went to university and later abroad. On his return after five years she appeared unchanged, but that evening she sang and beat an old drum instead of praying. The next day she fell ill, refused to talk further, and died peacefully while telling her beads. Thousands of sparrows sat silently around her body and flew away when her corpse was carried out.

Setting

Village house and temple school, later a city house with a courtyard; time span covers the narrator’s childhood to young adulthood.

Main characters

• Narrator: the grandson who recounts the changing bond with his grandmother.
• Grandmother: the central figure, deeply religious, unchanging in appearance and routine.
• Grandfather: seen only in a portrait; depicted as very old with a white beard and turban.
• Parents: mentioned briefly as moving to the city and later sending for the family.

Sequence of key events

1. Daily village routine: grandmother wakes narrator, walks him to temple school, feeds dogs on return.
2. Move to city: narrator goes to English school by bus; grandmother stays home and feeds sparrows.
3. University years: separate room; grandmother’s seclusion increases.
4. Five years abroad; silent farewell at station.
5. Return: grandmother meets him at station, later sings and beats drum.
6. Next morning she falls ill, stops speaking, and dies while praying.
7. Sparrows gather silently; they ignore bread crumbs and fly away when the body is removed.

3. Poem

No poem is included in this unit.

4. Themes and messages

The writer shows that deep affection can remain even when daily companionship ends; the grandmother “accepted her seclusion with resignation” yet continued her prayers and feeding of sparrows. He also highlights the contrast between traditional religious education and modern schooling, which caused the grandmother silent distress. The final image of the sparrows refusing food conveys wordless grief and the quiet dignity of her life.

5. Literary devices

• Simile: “She was like the winter landscape in the mountains, an expanse of pure white serenity breathing peace and contentment.”
• Imagery: “an expanse of pure white serenity” (visual and emotional picture of the grandmother).
• Personification/imagery: “a veritable bedlam of chirrupings” (sparrows’ noise described as noisy confusion).
• Metaphor: “the sagging skins of the dilapidated drum” (old drum compared to worn-out skin).
• Irony: the grandmother, who disapproved of music, sings and beats the drum on the evening before her death.

6. Vocabulary

• revolting – extremely unpleasant or shocking
• serenity – calm and peaceful state
• seclusion – state of being alone or isolated
• resignation – calm acceptance of a situation
• veritable – true or real (used for emphasis)
• bedlam – noisy confusion or uproar
• frivolous – not serious, light-hearted
• dilapidated – old and in poor condition
• hobbled – walked with difficulty
• pallor – unnatural paleness of the skin

7. Exam pitfalls

• Confusing the three phases of the relationship (village, city school, university/abroad).
• Stating that the grandmother went to the city school with the narrator (she stopped after the move).
• Claiming she showed strong emotion at his departure (she remained silent and prayed).
• Forgetting that the sparrows sat in complete silence and refused the bread crumbs.
• Mixing the grandfather’s portrait details with the grandmother’s actual appearance.