NCERT Solutions Class 11 English Hornbill Chapter 1 The Portrait of a Lady

1. The three phases of the author’s relationship with his grandmother before he left the country to study abroad.

The three phases of their relationship were:

Childhood (The Village Phase): They were constant companions. She woke him up, dressed him, and walked him to school. They shared a close, interdependent bond.
Boyhood (The City Transition): This was the “turning point”. Although they shared a room, their bond weakened. The author went to an English school by bus, and the grandmother could no longer help him with his lessons.
Early Adulthood (University): The author was given his own room. The “common link of friendship” was snapped. The grandmother accepted her seclusion and rarely spoke, focusing on her prayers and spinning wheel.

2. Three reasons why the author’s grandmother was disturbed when he started going to the city school.

The Curriculum: She could not understand English words and Western science (law of gravity, Archimedes’ principle) and was unhappy she couldn’t help him.
Lack of Religious Teaching: She was distressed that there was no teaching about God and the scriptures at the school.
Music Lessons: She considered music to be “lewd” and meant only for harlots and beggars, not for gentlefolk.

3. Three ways in which the author’s grandmother spent her days after he grew up.

After the author grew up, she accepted her seclusion with resignation:

Spinning Wheel: She sat by her wheel spinning thread from sunrise to sunset.
Prayers: She recited her prayers constantly, her lips always moving in inaudible prayer.
Feeding Sparrows: In the afternoon, she relaxed for half an hour to feed the sparrows, which she considered the “happiest half-hour of the day”.

4. The odd way in which the author’s grandmother behaved just before she died.

Just before her death, for the first time, she did not pray.
Instead, she collected the women of the neighbourhood, got an old dilapidated drum, and started to sing “homecoming of warriors” songs. She thumped the sagging skins of the drum for hours, overstraining herself, which led to her falling ill the next morning.

5. The way in which the sparrows expressed their sorrow when the author’s grandmother died.

When the grandmother died, thousands of sparrows sat scattered on the floor near her body. There was no chirruping. When the author’s mother threw bread crumbs to them (as the grandmother used to), they took no notice of the bread. When the body was carried off, they flew away quietly.

1. The author’s grandmother was a religious person. What are the different ways in which we come to know this?

We know she was deeply religious because:

Her lips constantly moved in inaudible prayer.
She always held a rosary, telling the beads.
In the village, she spent her time reading scriptures at the temple while the author was at school.
She was visibly distressed that the city school did not teach about God.
Even on her deathbed, she insisted on praying rather than talking to her family.

2. Describe the changing relationship between the author and his grandmother. Did their feelings for each other change?

The relationship shifted from constant physical closeness in the village to growing distance in the city due to the generation gap and modern education.

However, their feelings did not change. They still loved each other deeply. The grandmother silently accepted the changes to avoid conflict, and her emotion at the railway station (kissing his forehead) and her celebration of his return proved her enduring love.

3. Would you agree that the author’s grandmother was a person strong in character? If yes, give instances.

Yes, she was very strong.

Emotional Control: She did not show emotion when the author left for abroad; instead, she focused on her prayers.
Independence: She accepted her seclusion in the city without complaint, creating her own routine with the spinning wheel and sparrows.
Firm Convictions: She hated music and English education but maintained her dignity through silence rather than arguments.
Facing Death: She predicted her own death and faced it calmly, insisting on praying till the very end.

Language and Vocabulary

1. Language Used: They likely spoke Punjabi (as the author Khushwant Singh was from Punjab) or a dialect of Hindi/Hindustani.

3. ‘Dilapidated drum’ in your language:
(Example) Hindi: “Phuta-purana dhol” or “Jajar dhol”.

4. Homecoming Songs:
Folk songs sung during weddings or festivals to welcome a groom or a son returning home are common in Indian culture.

I. Meaning of the word ‘Tell’

Usage in Text	Meaning
1. Telling the beads	count while reciting
2. Tell her English words	give information to somebody
3. One could never tell	be sure
4. Told us her end was near	make something known

II. Meaning of the word ‘Take’

To take to something: “She took to feeding sparrows in the courtyard.” (Started doing it as a habit).
To take ill: “The next morning she was taken ill.” (Suddenly became sick).

III. Words referring to a manner of walking

The words from the box that refer to walking are:
shuffle, stride, waddle, swagger, trudge, slog.
(Note: ‘Hobble’ means walking with difficulty, similar to ‘shuffle’ or ‘trudge’ in some contexts).

Past Perfect Tense (had + verb)

The text uses the Past Perfect Tense to describe events that happened before another past event.
Example: “She had been old and wrinkled for the twenty years that I had known her.”
This form is used to recount things in the distant past to distinguish them from the simple past narrative.