NCERT Solutions for Class 11 English Chapter 8 – The Portrait of a Lady

There are numerous poems and folk songs that sing of the exploits of the brave warriors. All these talks of the homecoming of the warriors after winning a war.

Three ways how the grandmother of the author spent her days after he grew up are:

1. She accepted the loneliness and lived unaccompanied in the room.

2. She would recite prayers while sitting at the spinning wheel.

3. She fed the sparrows for half an hour every afternoon.

The grandmother of the author did not speak to them before her death. The night before she died, she did not pray while singing homecoming songs and beating the drum, as she was not ready to waste time. She laid peacefully in her bed praying and telling beads and ignored the protests of her family members.

The dead body of the author’s grandmother was surrounded by thousands of sparrows which did not chirrup. They did not even notice the bread crumbs which were thrown by the author’s mother to feed them. They quietly flew away once the corpse of the grandmother was carried away. Hence, this way the sparrows expressed their sorrow when the author’s grandmother died.

The grandmother of the author was not educated. I think the author and his grandmother used Punjabi, which was their mother tongue while talking to each other.

The elderly relatives in my family are well versed in Hindi and English. I greet them in English and converse with them in Hindi.

The three phases of the relationship of the author with his grandmother before leaving the country to study abroad are:

(i) Early childhood – His grandmother helped him while getting ready and went to the village school along with him.

(ii) Boyhood – He shared a room with his grandmother when he studied at the city school. She was not able to help him in his studies.

(iii) Early youth – The link of their friendship snapped when he was provided a separate room at the university.

The three reasons why the grandmother of the author was disturbed when he went to the city school are:

1. She did not like Western learning and Science.

2. She was hurt when she came to know that there were no scriptures and teachings of God there.

3. She did not like music and thought that it was not for gentlefolk and decent people. In her opinion, it was the monopoly of beggars and prostitutes.

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

The grandmother of the author was a deeply religious person. This can be known from the different ways of her behaviour. Every morning, she visited the temple and read the scriptures. She always mumbled inaudible prayers at home and kept telling the rosary beads. She constantly repeated prayers like a song while helping the author get ready for school. She wished that the author would learn it by heart. She did not like the English school as there was no teaching of scriptures and God.

She would recite prayers even while spinning in her spinning wheel. Once, she forgot to say her prayers. Prior to her death, she felt over-excited in the evening while celebrating her grandson’s arrival with beatings of drums and songs. She continued telling beads of rosary and praying till her last breath.

The author was entirely dependent on his grandmother during his boyhood. She was an important part of his life. However, a turning point came in their friendship when they moved to the city. As he went to school by bus, she was not able to accompany him. She could not help him in his studies though they shared the same room. She used to ask him what his teachers taught him and did not believe in the things which were taught at school. She was pained that he was not taught about scriptures and God. As music was being taught, she felt offended and expressed her disapproval silently. She rarely spoke to the author after this. The link of their friendship was snapped as he was given a separate room when he went to the university. However, their feelings towards each other did not change. They loved one another deeply. When he left the country and moved abroad for higher studies, she went to the railway station to send him off. She quietly kissed his forehead and showed no emotion. This was valued by the author as it was the last sign of physical interaction between them. After five years, when the author returned, she received him at the station. She clasped the author in her arms and celebrated his homecoming in the evening by beating an old drum and singing songs.

Yes, I agree that the grandmother of the author was a person with a strong character. She was a woman with strong beliefs. Though she was not educated formally, she was serious about the education of the author. She was not able to adjust herself to the western lifestyle, English and Science education. She did not like music and disapproved of its teaching in schools.

She was a religious woman whose lips were always moving in a silent prayer and was telling the beads of her rosary. She daily went to the temple and read scriptures. When she got to know that there was no teaching of scriptures and God at New English School of Khushwant, she was distressed.

She was a kind woman who used to feed the dogs in the village. She was feeding sparrows in the city. Though weak in body and old in age, she had a strong mind. She refused to talk to the family members before her death as she was not ready to waste her time. She wanted to make up the time she did not pray to God the previous evening. She laid peacefully in bed telling the beads of rosary and saying prayers until her last breath.

‘Phata-purana dhol’ is the expression used to say ‘a dilapidated drum’ in my language.

Yes, my grandfather had looked after me and loved me deeply. Before retirement, he served in the army 20 years as a Colonel. He was still smart and active when I was a school-going kid. He was more interested in jogging, walking and playing games outdoors. He used to inspire us by waking up early in the morning. He believed that a healthy body comes from a healthy mind. He taught us a few physical exercises followed by nourishing food and milk and asked us to study for some time before going to school. He used to enquire about what we had been taught at school, in the afternoon. He helped us while doing our homework and supervised our writing, reading and solving problems. He was gentle, but firm and stressed on the building of good character and habits. When I left the country for higher studies, he passed away. When I see his photograph on the wall, a sense of loss fills my heart. But his looks cheer me to stay strong and fight the struggles of life.

Phrases                              Meaning

1. telling the beads                 count while reciting

2. tell her                                 give information to somebody

3. one could never tell           be sure

4. told us                                 make something known to someone in spoken or written words

In the text, these phrases are used as follows:

1. to take to: She took to feeding sparrows in the courtyard of our city house.

2. take ill: The next morning she was taken ill.

The words in the box that also refer to a manner of walking are:

shuffle

stride

swagger

waddle

trudge

Notice the form of verbs highlighted in the sentences below:

1. They had already reached their destination when the rain came.

2. Before she left me, we had worked together for six months on that project.

3. The teacher had explained the poem twice, to help students understand it well.

4. Since I had lived there it was the first time it began to rain.

5. The full moon in the sky had scattered its light everywhere.

In the poem, the word ‘cardboard’ indicates the photograph which is glued on a paper that is hard and thick. It has been used to describe the old practices when the photographs were glued on cardboard and framed with glass in front in order to preserve them.

The camera has captured three girls – the mother of the poet and her two cousins, Dolly and Betty, in their swimming dress on either side of the poet’s mother holding her hands and walking with feet in sea water.

Over the years, the sea has not changed. Its waves are tireless, shining and fresh as they were in the old days. The changes that occur in a human face with growing age is reminded by the changelessness of the sea.

This laugh indicates her joy at remembering the incident that connected with her past life, when she was young and free from worries and tensions of life.

“This circumstance” refers to the death of the poet’s mother.

1. Girlhood of the poet’s mother – The phase before the poet’s birth.

2. Middle age – The phase during the poet’s childhood.

3. Death – The phase after the death of the poet’s mother.

My grandfather

I was eleven years old when I lost my grandfather, but I still remember him. I liked him a lot and he loved me affectionately. Though he was old, he was able to move with ease. During his visits to the market, temple, garden or friends and relatives house, I was his constant companion. I was made fun of by my family members as grandpa’s watch dog. I ran to his arms when my mother or father were angry or cross with me. I miss the stories which he used to tell me during bedtime that included deeds of adventure or bravery. He was also careful about my studies and health. In order to maintain a good physique, he would make me eat fruits and drink milk. He helped me write the alphabet and was good at drawing. He gave quick solutions to all my problems. When I succeeded in sports, studies, recitation, song, fancy dress competition or poster making, he would bless me. I miss him a lot.

Paddling is rowing a boat or walking in shallow water.

Transient refers to temporary.

Dictionary Meaning:

Paddling is standing or walking in shallow water with bare feet.

Paddling also means rowing a boat.

Paddling is swimming with short movements of feet or hands up and down.

Transient is staying in a place for a short period of time.

The poet’s mother’s laughter and the sea holiday are the incidents from the past. A sense of loss is connected with them. Both are amusing and disappointing as a relaxed or comfortable feeling is a forced one or unnatural. This sense of loss is painful to bear. Also, the phrase ‘laboured ease’ is an oxymoron because it joins together two opposite ideas to make a meaningful idea, here, the sense of loss.