Class 11 English Notes Chapter 1 (The Portrait of a Lady) – Hornbill Book

Alright class, let's delve into the first chapter of our Hornbill textbook, 'The Portrait of a Lady' by Khushwant Singh. This is a poignant autobiographical piece, rich in emotion and detail, making it important for your understanding and potentially for examinations. Pay close attention to the nuances.

Chapter 1: The Portrait of a Lady - Detailed Notes

1. Introduction:

• Author: Khushwant Singh (renowned Indian author, lawyer, diplomat, journalist, and politician).
• Genre: Autobiographical sketch/Pen-portrait.
• Focus: The chapter traces the author's evolving relationship with his grandmother over several years, depicting her character and their bond through different phases of his life. It's a tribute to her.

2. Key Themes:

• Innocence and Companionship: The initial phase in the village highlights a pure, undisturbed bond between the child and the grandmother.
• Generation Gap & Changing Relationships: The move to the city and exposure to modern education create a distance, showcasing the inevitable gap that arises between generations and lifestyles.
• Love and Acceptance: Despite the growing distance, the underlying love remains. The grandmother accepts her seclusion and changing circumstances with quiet resignation.
• Faith and Spirituality: The grandmother is depicted as deeply religious, finding solace in prayer, telling beads, and scripture. Her spirituality is a constant aspect of her personality.
• Contrast between Village and City Life: Village life represents simplicity, close bonds, and connection with nature (feeding dogs). City life brings alienation, formal education (disliked by grandmother), and a different connection with nature (feeding sparrows).
• Old Age, Loneliness, and Resilience: The grandmother's later years show her adapting to loneliness, finding companionship with sparrows, and maintaining her dignity and routine.
• Life, Death, and the Unexplained: The grandmother's peaceful death and the unusual behaviour of the sparrows add a layer of profoundness and suggest a connection beyond human understanding.

3. Character Sketch: The Grandmother

• Appearance (as remembered by the author): Old, short, slightly bent, fat. Criss-cross wrinkles on her face. Always wore spotless white clothes. Looked like a "winter landscape in the mountains"—an expanse of pure white serenity. The author found it hard to believe she was ever young and pretty.
• Personality & Traits:
  • Deeply Religious: Constantly telling the beads of her rosary, lips moving in inaudible prayer. Read scriptures inside the temple (village).
  • Kind and Compassionate: Fed stray dogs in the village and sparrows in the city. Showed immense love for the author.
  • Strong-willed & Resilient: Accepted changes (moving to city, author's education/travel) with quiet dignity. Did not show sentimentality outwardly (e.g., at the station).
  • Traditional: Disapproved of English education (no teaching about God/scriptures) and especially music lessons (associated with 'harlots and beggars').
  • Reserved: Spoke little, especially in her later years. Found solace in her spinning wheel, prayers, and feeding sparrows.
• Daily Routine:
  • Village: Woke the author, bathed him, plastered his slate, gave breakfast (stale chapatti), walked him to school (attached to the temple), read scriptures while he studied, walked back together, fed stray dogs.
  • City: Relationship changed. Less interaction. Accepted seclusion. Spent time at the spinning wheel (sunrise to sunset), recited prayers. Happiest half-hour was feeding the sparrows in the afternoon with "frivolous rebukes".
• Final Phase: Knew her end was near, stopped talking, focused solely on prayer, died peacefully while praying and telling her beads.

4. Character Sketch: The Author (Khushwant Singh)

• Perspective: Narrates the story from his viewpoint, reflecting on his childhood, youth, and adulthood in relation to his grandmother.
• Relationship Dynamics:
  • Childhood (Village): Deeply attached, dependent on grandmother. She was his constant companion.
  • Transition (City): Shared a room but grew apart due to school, different routines. The "common link of friendship was snapped."
  • University/Abroad: Physical separation increased (given own room). Accepted the distance. Appreciated her silent strength and love. Was apprehensive she might not survive his 5-year trip abroad.
  • Return: Touched by her unusual celebration (singing homecoming songs with women, beating an old drum). Concerned when she fell ill. Deeply affected by her death and the sparrows' mourning.

5. Plot Summary & Key Turning Points:

• Phase 1: Village Life: Strong bond, grandmother actively involved in author's life, shared routines, connection with temple school and stray dogs.
• Phase 2: Move to the City: Turning Point 1. Parents send for them. Marks the beginning of their drifting apart. Author goes to an English school in a motor bus. Grandmother disapproves of the curriculum (science, English) and lack of religious teaching. Dislikes music lessons. Their "common link of friendship was snapped."
• Phase 3: Increased Separation: Turning Point 2. Author goes to university, given a separate room. Grandmother accepts her seclusion gracefully, focusing on spinning, praying, and feeding sparrows (her new companions).
• Phase 4: Going Abroad: Turning Point 3. Author leaves for higher studies for 5 years. Grandmother shows no emotion at the station, kisses his forehead (cherished as perhaps the last sign of physical contact).
• Phase 5: Return and Grandmother's Final Days: Author returns. Grandmother celebrates unusually, singing for hours, leading to illness. She declares her end is near, refuses to talk, lies peacefully praying. Dies.
• Phase 6: Mourning: Thousands of sparrows gather silently, ignore bread crumbs, fly away quietly after the body is taken – a unique, silent tribute.

6. Literary Style:

• Autobiographical Narrative: Personal, intimate, and reflective.
• Simple and Evocative Language: Creates vivid imagery (e.g., "winter landscape," "veritable bedlam of chirrupings").
• Use of Contrast: Effectively highlights the differences between village and city life, past and present, tradition and modernity.
• Emotional Depth: Conveys deep love, respect, and loss without excessive sentimentality.

7. Important Vocabulary/Phrases:

• Mantelpiece: Shelf above a fireplace.
• Absurd: Ridiculously unreasonable.
• Fables: Short stories, typically with animals as characters, conveying a moral.
• Hobbled: Walked in an awkward way, typically due to pain or injury.
• Rosary: String of beads for counting prayers.
• Serenity: State of being calm, peaceful, untroubled.
• Monotonous: Dull, tedious, repetitious.
• Snapped: Broke suddenly and completely.
• Seclusion: State of being private and away from other people.
• Bedlam: Scene of uproar and confusion.
• Frivolous Rebukes: Light-hearted scoldings.
• Dilapidated: In a state of disrepair or ruin.
• Pallor: Unhealthy pale appearance.
• Shroud: Length of cloth in which a dead person is wrapped for burial.
• Crude: In a natural or raw state; roughly made.

Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs):

1. What did the author find hard to believe about his grandmother?
   a) That she was deeply religious.
   b) That she was once young and pretty.
   c) That she could walk without hobbling.
   d) That she disliked music.

2. The grandmother's appearance is compared to a:
   a) Summer meadow in the plains.
   b) Bustling city street.
   c) Winter landscape in the mountains.
   d) Calm sea at dawn.

3. What was the "turning point" in the author and grandmother's friendship?
   a) When the author went to university.
   b) When they moved to the city to live with his parents.
   c) When the author went abroad for studies.
   d) When the grandmother started feeding sparrows.

4. Why did the grandmother disapprove of the author's English school education?
   a) Because it was too far from home.
   b) Because they didn't teach about God and the scriptures.
   c) Because the author travelled by motor bus.
   d) Because the medium of instruction was English.

5. What did the grandmother particularly dislike being taught at the English school?
   a) Science principles like gravity.
   b) English language lessons.
   c) Music lessons.
   d) World geography.

6. In the city, what became the grandmother's happiest half-hour of the day?
   a) Reciting her prayers.
   b) Working at her spinning wheel.
   c) Talking to the author's parents.
   d) Feeding the sparrows.

7. How did the grandmother react when the author was leaving for abroad?
   a) She cried uncontrollably.
   b) She gave him advice for his journey.
   c) She was not even sentimental; she kissed his forehead silently.
   d) She refused to come to the railway station.

8. What unusual activity did the grandmother engage in upon the author's return from abroad?
   a) She cooked a grand feast.
   b) She went to the temple for a special prayer.
   c) She collected women, sang songs, and beat an old drum.
   d) She narrated stories of his childhood.

9. How did the sparrows mourn the grandmother's death?
   a) They chirped loudly around her room.
   b) They sat scattered silently and ignored the bread crumbs.
   c) They attacked the people carrying the body.
   d) They flew away immediately upon seeing her body.

10. The phrase "frivolous rebukes" refers to the grandmother's:
    a) Serious scoldings to the author.
    b) Light-hearted scoldings to the sparrows.
    c) Complaints about city life.
    d) Arguments with the author's parents.

Answer Key:

1. b
2. c
3. b
4. b
5. c
6. d
7. c
8. c
9. b
10. b

Remember, this chapter is not just about a grandmother; it's about the passage of time, changing relationships, and the quiet dignity with which life and its challenges can be faced. Study these points carefully. Let me know if any part needs further clarification.