CBSE Class 11 English The Portrait Of A Lady Khushwant Singh Worksheet Set 01

Khushwant Singh (born as Khushal Singh) was an Indian author, lawyer, diplomat, journalist and politician. His experience in the 1947 Partition of India inspired him to write ‘Train to Pakistan’ in 1956, which became his most well-known novel. As a writer, he was best known for his trenchant secularism, humour, sarcasm, and an abiding love of poetry. He served as the editor of several literary and news magazines, as well as two newspapers, through the 1970s and 1980s.

Questions

UNDERSTANDING THE TEXT

Mention

• The three phases of the author’s relationship with his grandmother before he left the country to study abroad.
• Three reasons why the author’s grandmother was disturbed when he started going to the city school.
• Three ways in which the author’s grandmother spent her days after he grew up.
• The odd way in which the author’s grandmother behaved just before she died.
• The way in which the sparrows expressed their sorrow when the author’s grandmother died.

Question. The three phases of the author’s relationship with his grandmother before he left the country to study abroad.
Answer: The three phases of the author’s relationship with his grandmother before he left the country to study abroad are as follows:
(i) First Phase: This is the period of his early childhood. During this time, the author used to live with his grandmother in the village. She used to wake him up and get him ready for school. They both would walk to school together and come back home together. They enjoyed a unique and memorable relationship with each other.
(ii) Second Phase: During this phase, the narrator and his grandmother moved to live in the city, as the former’s parents had settled comfortably into the city life. Although the two shared the same room, there was an inexplicable distance that existed between grandson and grandmother. This was the turning point in their deteriorating relationship. They began seeing less of each other.
(iii) Third Phase: This happened when the narrator went to university, where he was given a room of his own. The common link between them, ‘the same room’, snapped, and this made their relationship weaker. She became quieter and changed into an even more private person. She kept spinning the wheel and chanting prayers, all day long. She would feed the sparrows once a day. This was the only thing that made her happy now.

Question. Three reasons why the author’s grandmother was disturbed when he started going to the city school.
Answer: During the time the author lived in the village with his grandmother, they both enjoyed a great relationship. She used to wake him up, get him ready for school, and accompany him to school. She’d stay back in the templed precincts and read the scriptures. They’d then walk back home together. This routine changed when they moved into the city. The grandmother was disturbed for the following reasons:
(i) She could no longer help him in his lessons as he had started going to an English medium school.
(ii) The city school did not include lessons from the scriptures or lessons on God.
(iii) She didn’t like him taking the music lessons. According to her, music was only for beggars and harlots, and not meant for gentle folks.

Question. Three ways in which the author’s grandmother spent her days after he grew up.
Answer: The author claims that his grandmother changed a lot as he grew up. She would spend most of her day at the spinning wheel, chanting prayers and feeding sparrows. She accepted her seclusion with respectable resignation.

Question. The odd way in which the author’s grandmother behaved just before she died.
Answer: The author’s grandmother surprisingly did not pray in the evening before she passed. On the contrary, she gathered the women from the neighbourhood and started singing songs of the home-coming of the warriors, thumping continuously on the sagging skin of a dilapidated drum. The next morning when she fell ill, she said her end was near. She started praying peacefully while laying on her bed. She refused to talk to anyone during her last hours.

Question. The way in which the sparrows expressed their sorrow when the author’s grandmother died.
Answer: While leading a lonely life in the city, the grandmother used to find peace and contentment in feeding the sparrows, that would come in large numbers, onto her verandah each day. She developed a special relationship with them. When she died, thousands of sparrows sat scattered all around her on the floor, to express their sorrow. One could not hear the usual veritable bedlam of their chirruping. They maintained an unbelievably dignified silence. Besides, when the author’s mother tried to feed them by breaking the bread and throwing it in front of them, they refused to eat any of it. Thereafter, when the grandmother’s mortal remains were carried away for the final rites, they all flew away noiselessly.

TALKING ABOUT THE TEXT

Question. The author’s grandmother was a religious person. What are the different ways in which we come to know this?
Answer: When the author’s grandmother lived in the village with him, she used to constantly chant prayers in a monotonous sound, even as she was getting him ready each morning. She used to go along with the author to his school. Thereafter, she would go to the temple attached to the school every day, sit inside and read the scriptures. Later, when they moved to the city, she would carry the beads of the rosary with her all the time. She would be continuously chanting her prayers as her hand remained busy counting the beads. When the author went to study at the university, she went into seclusion and spent the entire day in chanting prayers and worshipping God.

Question. Describe the changing relationship between the author and his grandmother. Did their feelings for each other change?
Answer: In the early days, the author and his grandmother, shared a good bond. She would get him ready for school and accompany him. After his school hours, they would walk back home together, accompanied by the street dogs, who growled and fought with each other to get their share of the stale chappatis that grandma gave them every day. Grandmother would also help him with his studies. She would say her morning prayers in a monotonous tone, everyday, while she got the young boy ready for school, in the hope that he’d pick up the words eventually. When they moved to the city, their relationship suffered. He started going to an English medium school. She could no longer accompany him to the school nor could she help him with his lessons. She disliked his new school as they did not teach him about God or the scriptures. Knowledge of science and exposure to music met with her silent disapproval. She stopped talking to him afterwards and would spend her day all alone chanting prayers and spinning the wheel.
When the author went to university and then abroad, their bond weakened even further. She would spin the wheel the whole day and chant her prayers. She accepted her seclusion with a dignified resignation.
It would probably be right to say that their feelings for each other did undergo a change, although they still loved each other deeply. This could be explained more explicitly by the fact that the grandmother went to see the author off at the railway station when he was going abroad for higher studies. She showed no emotion but kissed his forehead silently. The author valued this as perhaps the last sign of physical contact between them. However, the quality of the feeling they had for each other, that is, the love, care and concern, would definitely have remained the same.

Question. Would you agree that the author’s grandmother was a person strong in character? If yes, give instances that show this.
Answer: Yes, the author’s grandmother had a strong personality. Given below are a few instances to prove this:
(i) She had her own opinions about the schools and their teachings. She considered learning scriptures to be of greater significance than that of English or Science.
(ii) According to her, music was not meant for gentle folks.
(iii) When the author went to the university, she preferred to spend her time in seclusion. She would therefore, engage herself by spinning the wheel, chanting prayers, telling beads and feeding bread crumbs to the sparrows.
(iv) Her behaviour on the arrival of her grandson from abroad was remarkable. The aged grandmother, sang songs in honour of the homecoming of warriors, as she thumped on a dilapidated drum for hours. Her joy was so great that she didn’t stop even when her family requested her not to overstrain herself.
(v) She realised that her end was near. Therefore, she didn’t want to waste any time talking to anyone. She lay silently on her bed and chanted her prayers till her peaceful end.

Question. Have you known someone like the author’s grandmother? Do you feel the same sense of loss with regard to someone whom you have loved and lost?
Answer: Self-attempt

THINKING ABOUT LANGUAGE

Question. Which language do you think the author and his grandmother used while talking to each other?
Answer: The author and his grandmother would have been talking to each other in their mother tongue, which could possibly be Punjabi, as the author belongs to the state of Punjab.

Question. Which language do you use to talk to elderly relatives in your family?
Answer: My elderly relatives are well-versed in English and Hindi. I feel at home greeting them in English but I like to converse with them in Hindi. (Answer can vary)

Question. How would you say ‘a dilapidated drum’ in your language?
Answer: In my language, ‘a dilapidated drum’ would be said as ‘phata-purana dhol’. (Answer can vary)

Question. Can you think of a song or a poem in your language that talks of homecoming?
Answer: There are many folk songs and poems dedicated to the brave warriors. All of these songs talk about their homecoming after winning a battle.

WORKING WITH WORDS

Question. Notice the following uses of the word ‘tell’ in the text.
1. Her fingers were busy telling the beads of her rosary.
2. I would tell her English words and little things of Western science and learning.
3. At her age one could never tell.
4. She told us that her end was near.
Given below are four different senses of the word ‘tell’. Match the meanings to the uses listed above.
(a) make something known to someone in spoken or written words
(b) count while reciting
(c) be sure
(d) give information to somebody
Answer:
1. telling the beads — (b) count while reciting
2. tell her — (d) give information to somebody
3. one could never tell — (c) be sure
4. told us — (a) make something known to someone in spoken or written words

Question. Notice the different senses of the word ‘take’.
1. to take to something: to begin to do something as a habit
2. to take ill: to suddenly become ill
Locate these phrases in the text and notice the way they are used.
Answer: These phrases have been used in:
(i) “...she took to feeding sparrows in the courtyard of our city house.”
She would feed sparrows daily in the veranda. She made this her habit when they moved to the city.
(ii) “The next morning she was taken ill.”
This phrase refers to the fact that the author’s grandmother was suddenly ill.

Question. The word ‘hobble’ means to walk with difficulty because the legs and feet are in bad condition. Tick the words in the box below that also refer to a manner of walking.
haggle, shuffle, stride, ride, waddle, wriggle, paddle, swagger, trudge, slog
Answer: The words which refer to a manner of walking are: shuffle, stride, waddle, swagger, trudge, slog

Additional Questions

Extract-based Questions

Read the following extracts carefully and answer the questions that follow. (3 Marks each)

This made her unhappy. She could not help me with my lessons. She did not believe in the things they taught at the English school and was distressed that there was no teaching about God and the scriptures. One day I announced that we were being given music lessons. She was very disturbed. To her music had lewd associations. It was the monopoly of harlots and beggars and not meant for gentlefolk. She said nothing but her silence meant disapproval. She rarely talked to me after that.

Question. What made the grandmother unhappy?
(a) Because she didn’t understand English and could no longer help the author with his lessons
(b) Because the author couldn’t take out time for his grandmother
(c) Because the author was being given music lessons
(d) Because they had to move to the city
Answer: (a) Because she didn’t understand English and could no longer help the author with his lessons

Question. What was the thing that she did not believe in? Why?
Answer: She did not believe in the western education given at the English school because there was no teaching about God and the scriptures.

Question. What did the author announce one day?
Answer: The author announced one day that they were being given music lessons at the English school.

My grandmother and I were good friends. My parents left me with her when they went to live in the city and we were constantly together. She used to wake me up in the morning and get me ready for school. She said her morning prayer in a monotonous sing-song while she bathed and dressed me in the hope that I would listen and get to know it by heart; I listened because I loved her voice but never bothered to learn it.

Question. Where did the grandmother and the narrator live?
(a) In a village
(b) In an ashram
(c) In a metropolitan city
(d) None of the options
Answer: (a) In a village

Question. What do you think of the grandmother’s character in the chapter?
(a) Emotional
(b) Strong
(c) Selfless
(d) Loving
Answer: (b) Strong

Question. Did the author ever take time to memorise his grandmother’s morning prayers?
Answer: No, the author never bothered to take time to memorise his grandmother’s morning prayers, but he loved to listen to her prayers as he loved her voice.

People said that she had once been young and pretty and had even had a husband, but that was hard to believe. My grandfather’s portrait hung above the mantelpiece in the drawing room. He wore a big turban and loose-fitting clothes. His long, white beard covered the best part of his chest and he looked at least a hundred years old.

Question. Describe the author’s grandfather’s portrait.
Answer: The author’s grandfather wore a big turban and loose-fitting clothes. He had a long, white beard covering most of his chest.

Question. What was hard for the author to believe?
(a) That his grandmother had a husband
(b) That his grandmother had once been young and pretty
(c) That his grandfather looked a hundred years old
(d) Both (a) and (b)
Answer: (d) Both (a) and (b)

Question. What do you think is a ‘mantelpiece’?
Answer: A ‘mantelpiece’ is a shelf above a fireplace.

The common link of friendship was snapped. My grandmother accepted her seclusion with resignation. She rarely left her spinning-wheel to talk to anyone. From sunrise to sunset she sat by her wheel spinning and reciting prayers. Only in the afternoon, she relaxed for a while to feed the sparrows. While she sat in the verandah breaking the bread into little bits, hundreds of little birds collected round her creating a veritable bedlam of chirrupings.

Question. What caused the common link of friendship to snap?
Answer: The common link of friendship between the narrator and the grandmother snapped when he was sent to the university for higher education.

Question. How did she spend her day?
Answer: She used to spend her day in seclusion, sitting by her spinning wheel from sunrise to sunset and reciting prayers. In the afternoon, she used to feed the sparrows.

Question. Pick up the characteristics of the grandmother from the list given below.
(1) Calm (2) Strong (3) Independent (4) Arrogant (5) Loving (6) Affectionate (7) Rude (8) Intolerant
(a) (2), (5), (6), (7)
(b) (1), (3), (4), (8)
(c) (1), (2), (3), (5), (6)
(d) (1), (4), (6), (7), (8)
Answer: (c) (1), (2), (3), (5), (6)

When I decided to go abroad for further studies, I was sure my grandmother would be upset. I would be away for five years, and at her age one could never tell. But my grandmother could. She was not even sentimental. She came to leave me at the railway station but did not talk or show any emotion.

Question. ‘... at her age one could never tell.’ What did the narrator mean?
Answer: The narrator meant that his grandmother was too old and may not be alive when he returns from abroad.

Question. How did grandmother react to the narrator’s decision of going abroad for further studies?
(a) She refused to let him go.
(b) She was not at all sentimental at his leaving.
(c) She was extremely happy for the narrator.
(d) She angrily bid him goodbye.
Answer: (b) She was not at all sentimental at his leaving.

Question. What was the narrator so sure about?
Answer: The narrator was sure his grandmother would be upset on his decision of going abroad for further studies.

There was no chirruping. We felt sorry for the birds and my mother fetched some bread for them. She broke it into little crumbs, the way my grandmother used to, and threw it to them. The sparrows took no notice of the bread. When we carried my grandmother’s corpse off, they flew away quietly. Next morning the sweeper swept the bread crumbs into the dustbin.

Question. What time of the day is described here?
Answer: It is the dusk time of the day that has been described here.

Question. What did they see when they entered the room where the grandmother lay dead?
Answer: When they entered the room where the corpse of the grandmother lay, they saw thousands of sparrows sitting on the floor, on the verandah and right up to her dead body.

Question. What happened when they took the grandmother’s corpse away?
(a) Neighbours visited them to pay condolences.
(b) They mourned her death in her room.
(c) Birds flew away quietly.
(d) Nothing happened.
Answer: (c) Birds flew away quietly.

In the evening a change came over her. She did not pray. She collected the women of the neighbourhood, got an old drum and started to sing. For several hours she thumped the sagging skins of the dilapidated drum and sang of the home-coming of warriors. We had to persuade her to stop to avoid overstraining. That was the first time since I had known her that she did not pray.

Question. ‘In the evening a change came over her.’ What is the change being referred to here?
(a) Grandmother did not pray.
(b) Grandmother went for a walk.
(c) Grandmother slept early.
(d) Grandmother did not talk to anyone.
Answer: (a) Grandmother did not pray.

Question. What kind of songs did the grandmother sing?
Answer: She sang songs about the home-coming of the warriors.

Question. Why did they have to persuade her to stop beating the drum?
Answer: They had to persuade her to stop beating the drum, so that she does not exert herself and fall ill.

Summary

The story is written in first person and is in biographical mode. It is a perception of Khushwant Singh of his grandmother through his own eyes. Khushwant Singh recalls his grandmother as an eternally old person. She was an extremely religious person. It was difficult for him to believe that once she too was young and pretty like other women. The stories about her childhood games were like fairy tales to him. She was short, fat and slightly stooped in stature. Her silvery white hair used to scatter on her wrinkled face. Khushwant Singh remembers her hobbling around the house in spotless white clothes with one hand resting on her waist to balance her stoop and the other busy in telling the beads of her rosary. Her lips constantly moved in inaudible prayers.
Possibly she was not beautiful in worldly sense but she looked extremely beautiful with the peacefulness, serenity and the contentment her countenance displayed.
Khushwant’s relationship with his grandmother went through several changes when he was a small boy. In the first stage Khushwant lived in a village with her as his parents were looking for the opportunity to settle down in the city. In village grandmother took care of all the needs of the child. She was quite active and agile. She woke him up in the morning, got him ready for the school, plastered his wooden slate, prepared his breakfast, and escorted him to the school. They fed street dogs with stale chapattis on their way to school which was a great fun for them. She helped him in his lessons also .It was her domain and she was the queen of her kingdom. In this period she was the sole unchallenged guardian, mentor, and creator of the child Khushwant. The turning point came in their relationship when they came to city to stay with Khushwant’s parents.
In city Khushwant joined an English School and started to go to school in a motor bus. Here the role of his grandmother in his bringing up was curtailed a little bit. Now she could not accompany him to the school. Despite taking lot of interest in his studies she could not help him in his lessons because he was learning English, law of gravity, Archimedes’ principle and many more such things which she could not understand and this made her unhappy. She found herself at loss. One more thing which disturbed her a lot was that the kids were not learning about God and scriptures in the school instead they were given music lessons which was not an honourable thing in her opinion. To her music was not meant for gentlefolk. It was meant for beggars and prostitutes only. She highly disapproved this and as she could not change it she was dismayed and withdrew herself to some extent. Perhaps she had realized that in the makeover of the child her role was finished and this very thought saddened her most.
After finishing school Khushwant went to university. He was given a separate room. The common link of their friendship was snapped. His grandmother confined herself to a selfimposed seclusion. She spent most of her time in reciting prayers and by sitting beside her spinning wheel. She rarely talked to anyone. The only recreation for her was in the afternoon when she relaxed for a while to feed the sparrows. A kind hearted person, in village she used to feed street dogs, here in city she focused on birds and they too became very friendly with her.
This was the phase when she found herself totally isolated and aloof but she braved this isolation with grace and dignity.
Khushwant’s grandmother was a strong person. Whatever she went through in her heart she always restrained herself from demonstrating her emotions.He recalls that when he went abroad for further studies his grandmother was there to see him off on railway station quite calm busy telling the beads of her rosary and reciting prayers as always. When he came back after five years he found her more and more religious and more and more self-contained. She spent still more time in prayers and spinning the wheel. Feeding the birds was her only happy pastime. But just the day before her death for the first time she broke this routine and gave up her prayers.
That day she sang the songs of the home coming of the warriors on a withered drum along with the ladies of neighbourhood in order to celebrate her grandson’s return from abroad. Next morning she got ill. Although the doctor said it was a mild fever and would go away she could foresee that her end was near. She was upset that she omitted her prayers just before the final departure from the world. She did not want to waste any more time talking to anybody. She lay peacefully in bed praying and telling the beads till her lips stopped moving and rosary fell from her lifeless fingers. To mourn her death thousands of sparrows flew in and sat scattered around her body in utter silence. They even ignored the breadcrumbs thrown for them by Khushwant’s mother. They only flew away after the corpse was carried away for last rites.

Short-Answer Questions:

Question. How did Khushwant Singh portray his grandfather in the lesson?
Answer: Khushwant Singh describes his grandfather as he was painted in the portrait wearing a big turban and loose-fitting clothes, a long white beard covering the best part of his chest and looking at least a hundred years old.

Question. Describe ‘the happiest half-hour of the day’ for the grandmother.
Answer: For Khushwant Singh’s grandmother there was none other pastime and happy activity than that of feeding the sparrows in the afternoon for half an hour. The sparrows could be seen perched on her legs, shoulders and even on her head but were never shooed away by her.

Long –Answer Questions:

Question. ‘All over the verandah and in her room right up to where she lay dead and stiff wrapped in the red shroud, thousands of sparrows sat scattered on the floor. There was no chirruping. --------The sparrows took no notice of the bread. When we carried my grandmother’s corpse off, they flew away quietly.’
Animals do recognize and value a relationship established with human beings. Write an article pertaining to the above sentence keeping in mind the relationship established by Khushwant Singh’s Grandmother with animals.
Answer: Animals are said to have no brains but they do have hearts for they feel and it is out of feeling, concern or love for human being that they let themselves domesticated. But do they recognize relationships too?
At least I believe that they do. Numerous examples can be stated to prove the same. The relationship between Khushwant Singh’s grandmother and the dogs and the sparrows can be just one of them. The need is to revere this lovely bond of emotional attachment with the animals in one way or the other. And it is but evident that the animals and birds are more compassionate, more affectionate and more dependable than most of the human beings.

Question. Compare and contrast the routine of the grandmother in the village with that of it in the city.
Answer: 
-Accompanying the writer to the school, helping in study
-Prayers at the temple
-Feeding dogs
-Frustrated at the subjects taught in English school
-Resolved to prayers
-Feeding sparrows

Question. Khushwant Singh’s grandmother was emotionally attached to him. Support the statement with help of instances from the story ‘The Portrait of A Lady’.
Answer:
-The grandmother’s attachment with Khushwant Singh
-Her feelings when she could not help the writer
-Her prayers for the writer’s safe journey
-Happiness expressed at the writer’s arrival
-Continuous chanting of prayers

The Portrait of a Lady

Khushwant Singh In this story, the author draws a pen portrait of his grandmother. He beautifully unfolds his relationship with her, while describing her appearance and daily activities.

Appearance of the grandmother

The author recalls his grandmother as a very old lady with a wrinkled face. She appeared so old that it was hard for him to believe that she had once been ‘young and pretty’. She was short, fat and a little stooped in appearance. The author remembers her moving about the house in ‘spotless white’, counting the beads of her rosary while her lips moved constantly in silent prayers. She was not ‘pretty’ in the traditional sense, yet her serenity made her ‘beautiful’.

Initial years of togetherness:

Life in the village In the initial years of his life, the author lived with his grandmother in the village, sharing a good friendship. His grandmother used to wake him up in the morning and get him ready for the school. She would hand over to him the things he required in the school. After having thick, stale chappatis with butter and sugar for breakfast, they used to leave for school. The author's grandmother always accompanied him to school as it was attached to the temple. It was her habit to carry several stale chappatis for the village dogs, which they used to feed while returning from the school. The grandmother used to sit inside the temple reading holy books while the narrator learnt alphabets and prayers in the school.

Turning point of their friendship: Life in the city

The ‘turning-point’ of their friendship came when they moved to the city to stay with the author’s parents. Though they shared the same room, his grandmother no longer accompanied him to the school since the author started going in a bus. As years rolled by, they ‘saw less of each other’. Meanwhile, as there were no dogs in the streets, she took to feeding the sparrows. Unlike the village school, the author was not taught about God and the scriptures which troubled his grandmother. She did not believe in what was being taught at his school and was unhappy as she could not help him with his lessons. Moreover, she was disturbed at the idea of music lessons being given at school as she considered music to be unsuitable for gentlefolk. Her disapproval was conspicuous in her silence.

The grandmother combats her loneliness by feeding the sparrows

When the author started going to the university he was given a room of his own. It resulted in a further gap between them. She accepted her loneliness and rarely spoke to anyone. All day long, she sat spinning the wheel and reciting her prayers. She relaxed for a short time, only in the afternoon, to feed the sparrows who came in large numbers. The bond and level of comfort they shared with her is evident in the fact that they perched even on her legs and head. She used to be at her happiest-self while feeding the sparrows.

Author leaves for higher studies
The author decided to go abroad for further studies. He was sure that his grandmother would be upset at his departure. On the contrary, she came to the railway station to see him off but did not show any emotion. She was absorbed in her prayers, telling the beads of her rosary. She silently kissed the author's forehead, which the author considered to be (supposedly) the last sign of their physical contact.

Author’s homecoming
On his return after five years, the author did not find any change in his grandmother. She was as old as ever and remained absorbed in her prayers. Even that day, the happiest moment for her was feeding the sparrows. In the evening, for the first time ever, she did not pray. She collected several ladies of the neighbourhood and sang songs related to the home-coming of the warriors. She had to be persuaded to stop singing in order to avoid overstraining. However, the next day she was taken ill.

Grandmother's death
Though diagnosed with a mild fever by the doctor, grandmother knew that her end was near. She decided to spend the last few hours of her life reciting prayers and telling her beads. Soon, her lips stopped moving and she died.

A silent tribute by the sparrows
The family went to make arrangements for the grandmother’s funeral. As they came with a stretcher, they stopped mid-way to find thousands of sparrows scattered around her dead body. The sparrows mourned the death of the grandmother in utter silence. They ignored the bread crumbs thrown at them by the author’s mother and flew away silently after the body was carried away for cremation. The bread-crumbs were swept away the next morning.

THEME
The fact that generation gap is not an unsurpassable gulf is characterised by the fact that a wave of nostalgia overpowers us when we think of the simple and serene days of our childhood spent with parents and grandparents. We might grow up and grow apart but the morals and principles instilled in us by the older generation refuse to die. As we grow up, various tasks and interests attract our attention leaving us with little time to realize that we might be the only interest of someone in our family. We end up being so busy that those silent steps the old ones take to retreat from our lives are rarely noticed. The story by Khushwant Singh is an attempt to celebrate those childhood years spent with his grandmother when the simple pleasures of chanting of Gurubani and feeding the dogs kept the duo busy. There might not be anything dramatic in their routine but the way she took care of the smallest of his needs and worked for his education shows the depth of their relationship. But, as is true of every good thing, this bonding had to face the test of time when the writer’s parents took both of them to the city, throwing them out of their humble abode into a city which took the attention of the child and drove them a little apart every passing day. Although the generation gap widened in the city, they still loved one another. She silently lent him support when he went to study abroad. Her death left a void in Khushwant’s life even though he felt blessed for having had her as a part of his life.

LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTION

Question. Describe the three phases of the author’s relationship with his grandmother before he left the country to study abroad.
Answer: The first phase was the period of the author’s early childhood. During this phase, he used to live with his grandmother in the village. The grandmother used to take care of him from waking him up and getting him ready to accompanying him to the school. Both shared a good friendship with each other.
The second phase was the time when the author and the grandmother moved to the city to live with author’s parents. In city the narrator joined an English school and started to go to school in a motor bus. Despite taking lot of interest in his studies she could not help him in his lessons. Here the role of his grandmother in his bringing up was curtailed a little bit. This was a turning-point in their friendship because now they ‘saw less of each other’.
The third phase was the time the author joined university. He was given a room of his own and the common link of their friendship was snapped. The grandmother turns to the spinning- wheel and reciting prayers all day long. She rarely talked to anyone. The only recreation for her was in the afternoon when she relaxed for a while to feed the sparrows. She accepts her seclusion with silence.