The Portrait of a Lady HS 1st Year Important Questions Answers for AHSEC 2024

The Portrait of a Lady HS 1st Year Important Questions Answers for AHSEC 2024: The Portrait of a lady is a lesson from class 11 NCERT English main text-book Hornbill. The portrait of a lady is written by Khushwant Singh. Here, in this post you'll get The Portrait of a Lady HS 1st Year Important Questions Answers for AHSEC 2024.

The Portrait of a Lady Class 11 Important Questions Answers for AHSEC 2024

Q1. Mention three ways how the author's grandmother spent her days after he grew up. HS 2011, 17

Ans: The three ways in which the author’s grandmother spent her days after he grew up are. She lived alone in her room as she had accepted her loneliness quietly. She sat at her spinning wheel reciting prayers. In the afternoon, she would feed the sparrows for half an hour.

Q2. Why it was hard for the author to believe that his grandmother was once young and pretty. HS 2011, 12

Ans: It was hard for the author to believe that his grandmother was once young and pretty because he has never seen her childhood and adulthood photos. The author has always seen his grandmother like this for the last twenty years.

Q3. How does Khuswant Singh describe his grandmother ? HS 2013

Ans: The narrator, Khushwant Singh describes his grandmother as a short, fat and slightly bent old woman. He says that her face was a criss-cross of wrinkles running from everywhere to everywhere in her spotless white.

Q4. Explain; Old, so terribly old that she could not have grown older. HS 2014

Ans: The grandmother looked extremely old. She was fat and slightly bent. Her face was a criss-cross of wrinkles. She couldn't have grown older any more. She looked the same terribly old lady for the last twenty years. The narrator had never seen her being young and pretty. She always looked terribly old.

The Portrait of a Lady Class 11/ HS 1st Year Important Short Questions Answers for AHSEC 2024

Q5. How could the grandmother be beautiful without being pretty ?  HS 2014

Ans: She was never an attractive woman physically. But she had a divine beauty in her. Her noble qualities gave her a spiritual beauty. So she could be 'beautiful' without being 'pretty.

Q6. How did the sparrows react to the death of the author's grandmother ? HS 2015

Ans: When the grandmother died the sparrows expressed their sorrow in a unique and moving manner. Author's mother threw the crumbs to the sparrows as the grandmother used to do. The sparrows took no notice of the bread. When they carried the grandmother's corpse off they flew away quietly.

Q7. What the difference between village school education and urban school education is as brought out in the lesson 'The Portrait of a Lady ? HS 2015

Ans: The village school taught religious scriptures while there was no focus on religious education in the urban city school. The urban city school focused mainly on English and western Science while the village school taught the alphabet and the morning prayer.

Q8. Mention three reasons why the author's grandmother was disturbed when he started going to the city school. HS 2016

Ans: The author's grandmother was disturbed when he started going to the city school because, she could not help him with his lessons in English, science. There was no teaching of God and scriptures in the city school. She was unhappy with the idea of music lessons being given at school.

The Portrait of a Lady Class 11/ HS 1st Year Common Questions Answers for AHSEC 2024

Q9. What are the different ways in which we come to know that the author's grandmother was a deeply religious person ? HS 2017, 2022

Ans: She said her morning prayers in a monotonous sing-song and wanted the author to learn it by heart. She went to school with the author as the school was attached to the temple. The grandmother used to read scriptures inside the temple. Gradually, she turned to reciting prayers all through the day.

Q10. Would you agree that the author's grandmother was a person strong in character ? If yes, give instances that show this. HS 2018

Ans: Yes, the author's grandmother was a person strong in character. She appeared composed and did not display any emotion when the author decided to go abroad for studies. Ignoring everyone who tried to stop her, she sang for several hours celebrating the home-coming of her grandson.

Q11. Give two examples of the author's grandmother's love of animals. HS 2018

Ans: From two phase of the story we can say that grandmother loved animals. First she used to take stale chapattis and used to give those chapattis to the village dogs. Second when grandmother shifted to city she used feed the sparrows. The sparrows used to sit on her leg and head but she never shoed them away.

Q12. Why have the sparrows refused to eat the crumbs of the bread on the death of the author's grandmother ? HS 2019

Ans: After the death of the grandmother, the sparrows scattered around her death body in the Verandah. There was no Chirruping. Thus we can say that the sparrows in order to express their grief over the death of the grandmother and to mourn over her death, refused to eat the crumbs of bread.

Q13. How did the grandmother celebrate the homecoming of the author ? HS 2022

Ans: The grandmother celebrated the homecoming of her grandson by inviting all the neighbourhood women to their house in the evening. She endlessly sang songs related to the homecoming of warriors while beating an old drum.

Q14. Why did the grandmother always accompany the author to the school ? HS 2022

Ans: The grandmother accompanied her grandson to his school. She was to closely attached to her young grandson that she spent most of her time with him. Actually, the school was attached to a temple. She sat inside the temple reading scriptures They came back home when the school was over.

The Portrait of A Lady Important Long Questions Answers for AHSEC 2024

Q1. The author's grandmother was a religious person. What are the different ways in which we come to know this. HS 2012

Ans: The author’s grandmother was a deeply religious lady. We come to know this through the different ways of her behaviour. She visited the temple every morning and read scriptures. At home she always mumbled inaudible prayer and kept telling the beads of rosary. She would repeat prayers in a sing-song manner while getting the writer ready for school. She hoped that he would learn it by heart. She didn’t like English school as there was no teaching of God and scriptures. Even while spinning at her spinning-wheel she would recite prayers. Perhaps it was only once that she forgot to say her prayers. It was on the evening prior to her death when she felt over excited while celebrating the arrival of her grandson with songs and beatings of drum. She continued praying and telling beads of her rosary till her last breath.

Q2. Cite reasons to validate whether the distancing relationship between the author and his grandmother was deliberate or beyond their control. HS 2015

Or

Describe the changing relationship between the author Khuswant Singh and his grandmother. Did their feeling for each other change. HS 2017, 2022

Ans: The author and the grandmother had a very intense relationship since his childhood. The grandmother used to take care of the author when they lived in the village. So, the author’s grandmother had ever lasting layers of love and care upon him. However, with gradual increase in the age, the author got a diversion in their relationship. The author had to focus in his studies, so he got no time to spend with his grandmother. So, the grandmother was left a loner. So, the grandmother had to spend her days on wheel chair by reciting prayers. And she used to feed the sparrows. The distancing relationship was a result of natural stream of life. Growing age had brought this difference. The grandchild was growing up to find a new meaning of life. However, the grandmother was losing age. So, difference was obvious and beyond their control. However physical distance does not mean an end. The grandchild and the grandmother were emotionally and mentally always near to each other. The grandmother was alive for more five years only to see the homecoming of the warrior.

Q3. Describe the childhood days spent in the village by the author with his grandmother. HS 2018

Ans: The author's grandmother was closely involved in bringing him up when the author lived with her in the village during his early life. She used to wake him up early in the morning. While bathing and dressing him, she sang her prayers, she hoped that the young boy would learn it by heart. She then gave him breakfast – a stale chapatti with butter and sugar. Then they would go together to the temple and school. While the author learnt his lesson, the grandmother would holy books. They returned home together. A turning point came in their friendship when his parents called them to city. Although they shared a room, she could not help him much. She hated music, science and western education. The common link of their friendship was gradually snapped.

Q4. Give a description of the author's grandmother after your reading of 'The Portrait of a Lady.' HS 2019

Ans: The grandmother narrated in the story ‘The Portrait of a Lady’ was a fine lady who was as white as snow due to her age. Her white and wrinkled face always expressed peace and tranquility. She was fat, short and slightly bent, living more than a hundred years. The grandmother was a very religious lady and pious lady. Her lips hardly stopped praying her daily prayers. Apart from being religious she was obliged to her duties as a grandmother. In the village she used to take care of her grandchild and took him to school. Moreover, the grandmother was very loving and tender to the animals. She used to feed the street dogs in the village and also fed the sparrows in the town. However, she was a bit conservative because she disliked music. Towards the end of the story, it reveals the endless love of the grandmother to her grandchild. She lived for more five years only to see the homecoming of her grandchild. She was so pure and pious that even the birds mourned at her death.

Important Questions for AHSEC 2024

Landscape of the Soul 

Childhood 

Albert Einstein at school