Class 11 English - GUJARAT
The Portrait of a Lady
The Portrait of a Lady by Khushwant Singh is the opening prose piece in the Class 11 Gujarat Board English textbook. It is a moving autobiographical memoir where the author pays a loving tribute to his grandmother. The chapter beautifully captures their deep bond during his childhood in the village, the emotional distance that grew when they moved to the city, and her serene final days. For GSEB board exams, this chapter is crucial for testing reading comprehension, character sketching, and understanding the emotional nuances of relationships, frequently appearing in both short answer and long answer questions.
Start Learning FreeKey Concepts
The Village Days
The early phase of the author's life where he and his grandmother lived together in the village, sharing a close bond as she prepared him for school and fed street dogs.
The Turning Point
The shift in their relationship when they moved to the city, where the author joined an English school, rode a motor bus, and the grandmother could no longer help him with his studies.
Growing Isolation
The grandmother's retreat into silence and spirituality, spending her day spinning the spinning wheel and feeding hundreds of sparrows in the courtyard.
The Sparrow's Mourning
A touching climax where hundreds of sparrows sat quietly in the veranda mourning the grandmother's death, refusing to eat the bread crumbs scattered by the author's mother.
Important Formulas
Board Exam Info
In the Gujarat (GSEB) Class 11 English examination, this chapter typically carries around 4 to 6 marks. Common question types include short answer questions about the grandmother's daily routine, her relationship with sparrows, and long answer questions requiring a character sketch of the grandmother or the theme of the chapter.
Frequently Asked Questions
She associated music with lewdness and beggarly associations, believing it was not meant for gentlefolk or school children.
She associated music with harlots and beggars, believing it lacked dignity and was not meant for respectable people.
What was the happiest moment of the day for the grandmother in the city?
The happiest moment was in the afternoon when she fed hundreds of tiny sparrows with pieces of bread for half an hour.
How did the sparrows mourn the death of the grandmother?
Thousands of sparrows sat scattered around her dead body in complete silence and did not touch the bread crumbs offered to them, flying away quietly after her cremation.
Learn The Portrait of a Lady with Your AI Tutor
10 different ways to study this chapter. Free for 3 chapters per day.
Lecture
Key Points
Interactive
Quiz
Flashcards