The Portrait of a Lady Question Answer Chapter 1 Solved PDF

Q1. The three phases of the author's relationship with his grandmother before he left the country to study abroad.
Answer:
1. Village life: The author and his grandmother were very close. She took him to school, prepared him for school and accompanied him to the temple school.
2. City school: When they moved to the city, their relationship began to change. She could no longer accompany him to school because he travelled by motor bus.
3. University: When the author went to university, he was given a separate room. Their physical closeness decreased further, although their love and affection remained.

Q2. Three reasons why the author's grandmother was disturbed when he started going to the city school.
Answer:
1. She could no longer accompany him to school.
2. The city school taught English, Western science and learning, which she considered unsuitable.
3. There was no teaching about God and the scriptures, unlike the temple school in the village.

Q3. Three ways in which the author's grandmother spent her days after he grew up.
Answer:
1. Praying and telling the beads of her rosary.
2. Spinning at her spinning-wheel for a large part of the day.
3. Feeding the sparrows in the courtyard.

Q4. The odd way in which the author's grandmother behaved just before she died.
Answer: She suddenly stopped praying for an evening, gathered neighbourhood women, took an old drum and sang songs about the homecoming of warriors for several hours. Later she fell ill and said her end was near.

Q5. The way in which the sparrows expressed their sorrow when the author's grandmother died.
Answer: Thousands of sparrows gathered silently around her dead body. They did not chirp or eat breadcrumbs. After the body was carried away, they quietly flew away.

Q1. The author's grandmother was a religious person. What are the different ways in which we come to know this?
Answer: She prayed continuously, counted rosary beads, read scriptures, took the author to the temple school, disliked non-religious schooling, and remained in prayer even near death.

Q2. Describe the changing relationship between the author and his grandmother. Did their feelings for each other change?
Answer: Their daily closeness reduced from village to city to university life, but their love and emotional attachment remained strong.

Q3. Would you agree that the author's grandmother was a person strong in character? Give instances.
Answer: Yes. She stayed committed to her beliefs, accepted changes without complaint, devoted herself to prayer and routine, and faced death calmly.

Q4. Have you known someone like the author's grandmother? Do you feel the same sense of loss?
Answer (Sample): Yes. Losing a loving and caring elder creates deep emptiness, but their values and memories continue to guide life.

Q1. Which language do you think the author and his grandmother used while talking to each other?
Answer: Most likely their common regional or home language, not English.

Q2. Which language do you use to talk to elderly relatives in your family?
Answer (Sample): I use Hindi because my elderly relatives are most comfortable in it.

Q3. How would you say "a dilapidated drum" in your language?
Answer: In Hindi: ek jarjar / tuta-phuta dhol.

Q4. Can you think of a song or a poem in your language that talks of homecoming?
Answer (Sample): Yes. Many Hindi folk songs describe homecoming with feelings of reunion and joy.

Take to something: to begin doing something as a habit.
Example: She took to feeding sparrows in the courtyard.

Take ill: to suddenly become ill.
Example: The next morning she was taken ill.