NCERT Solutions For Class 11 English Hornbill: The Portrait of a Lady
Understanding the text
Question 1: The three phases of the author’s relationship with his grandmother before he left the country to study abroad.
Answer-
The author’s relationship with his grandmother went through three distinct phases:
(a) Village Life (Intimate Companionship): They were good friends and constantly together. The grandmother took complete care of the author, waking him up, getting him ready, and walking with him to the temple school where she sat inside reading the scriptures.
(b) Early City Life (Changing Environment): This marked a turning-point in their friendship. Though they shared the same room, the grandmother no longer accompanied the author, who now went to an English school in a motor bus. They saw less of each other.
(c) University Life (Isolation): When the author went up to University and was given a room of his own, the common link of friendship was snapped. The grandmother accepted her seclusion with resignation and rarely left her spinning-wheel.
Question 2: Three reasons why the author’s grandmother was disturbed when he started going to the city school.
Answer-
The grandmother was disturbed for the following reasons related to the nature of the city school education:
(a) She was unhappy that she could not help him with his lessons concerning Western science and learning, such as the law of gravity or Archimedes’ Principle.
(b) She was distressed because there was no teaching about God and the scriptures, elements she considered essential for education. She did not believe in the things they taught.
(c) She was very disturbed by the announcement of music lessons. She believed music had lewd associations and was the monopoly of harlots and beggars and was not meant for gentlefolk.
Question 3: Three ways in which the author’s grandmother spent her days after he grew up.
Answer-
After the author moved to University and she accepted her seclusion, she spent her days primarily in devotion and feeding animals:
(a) She rarely left her spinning-wheel. She sat by the wheel spinning and reciting prayers from sunrise to sunset.
(b) Her lips constantly moved in inaudible prayer, and her fingers were perpetually busy telling the beads of her rosary.
(c) She relaxed for the happiest half-hour of the day in the afternoon to feed the sparrows in the verandah, creating a veritable bedlam of chirrupings.
Question 4: The odd way in which the author’s grandmother behaved just before she died.
Answer-
The author’s grandmother behaved in two ways that were unusual compared to her life-long habits of prayer and routine:
(a) On the evening of the author’s return, she did not pray. Instead, she collected the women of the neighbourhood, got an old drum with sagging skins, and sang vigorously of the home-coming of warriors. This was the first time since the author had known her that she did not pray.
(b) The next morning, though only suffering a mild fever, she insisted that her end was near and ignored the family’s protests and the doctor’s assurances. She stated that since she had omitted to pray only a few hours before the close of the last chapter of her life, she would not waste any more time talking to the family.
Question 5: The way in which the sparrows expressed their sorrow when the author’s grandmother died.
Answer-
The sparrows expressed their sorrow in a silent, unusual manner:
(a) Thousands of sparrows sat scattered on the floor of the verandah and the room, right up to where the grandmother lay dead.
(b) There was no chirruping.
(c) When the author’s mother broke and threw bread crumbs the way the grandmother used to, the sparrows took no notice of the bread.
(d) The sparrows only flew away quietly after the family carried the grandmother’s corpse off for cremation.
Talking about the text
Question 1: The author’s grandmother was a religious person. What are the different ways in which we come to know this?
Answer-
The grandmother’s deep religiosity is apparent throughout the narrative:
(a) She was characterized by constant devotion: her fingers were continually busy telling the beads of her rosary, and her lips constantly moved in inaudible prayer.
(b) Her village routine included frequent visits to the temple, which was attached to the school, where she sat inside reading the scriptures.
(c) She was distressed that the city English school curriculum lacked teaching about God and the scriptures.
(d) After her social connections lessened, she devoted her entire day to faith, sitting by her spinning-wheel spinning and reciting prayers from sunrise to sunset.
(e) In her final hours, she chose to dedicate her remaining time to praying and telling her beads, ignoring family conversation and asserting that she did not want to waste time.
Question 2: Describe the changing relationship between the author and his grandmother. Did their feelings for each other change?
Answer-
The relationship evolved significantly through three stages characterized by increasing separation:
(a) Village Intimacy: They were good friends and constantly together. She played an active role in his daily life and education.
(b) City Disconnect: This marked a turning-point in their friendship. The shared routine ended when the author began attending the English school by motor bus. Their communication lessened because their interests diverged, particularly over Western education and music.
(c) Isolation: When the author got a room of his own at University, the common link of friendship was snapped. She retreated into seclusion with resignation.
Despite the growing physical and communicative distance, their feelings for each other remained. The author cherished the moist imprint of her kiss when he left. Upon his return, she clasped him in her arms, and her happiest moments were still those spent in his presence while feeding the sparrows.
Question 3: Would you agree that the author’s grandmother was a person strong in character? If yes, give instances that show this.
Answer-
Yes, the grandmother showed considerable strength of character, dignity, and firm convictions:
(a) Resignation and Self-Sufficiency: When the relationship changed and she was left alone, she did not complain but accepted her seclusion with resignation. She quickly adopted a new, self-sufficient routine of spinning and praying.
(b) Moral Integrity: She displayed strong moral judgment regarding her grandson's education. She voiced strong disapproval—signified by her silence—over the introduction of music lessons, arguing that music had lewd associations and was solely for harlots and beggars.
(c) Willpower in Death: In her final moments, she was authoritative and clear-headed. She insisted that her end was near and ignored the family’s attempts to protest or persuade her to talk, choosing instead to use her last conscious hours solely for praying and telling her beads.
Question 4: Have you known someone like the author’s grandmother? Do you feel the same sense of loss with regard to someone whom you have loved and lost?
Answer-
This question invites the reader to relate the themes of the text—the loving bond with an elderly relative and the feeling of loss—to their own life experiences. The sources provide the facts of the author’s relationship and the shared grief symbolized by the silent sparrows, but they do not contain the necessary personal information to answer this subjective query, which is intended to establish empathy in the reader.
Thinking about language
Question 1: Which language do you think the author and his grandmother used while talking to each other?
Answer-
Given that the story is set in a village and the grandmother was highly traditional—reading scriptures and strongly rejecting the English language and Western science taught at the city school—it is highly probable that the author and his grandmother communicated using their home language or regional Indian language. English was a source of conflict for her.
Question 2: Which language do you use to talk to elderly relatives in your family?
Answer-
This query asks the reader to personally reflect on their familial linguistic practices and think about their own home language. The source materials describe the language preferences of the author’s grandmother, but they cannot provide the specific linguistic practices of the reader's family.
Question 3: How would you say ‘a dilapidated drum’ in your language?
Answer-
The phrase ‘the sagging skins of the dilapidated drum’ describes the instrument the grandmother played. This question is designed to encourage the reader to search for equivalents in their language for English phrases. However, the source text does not provide a translation of this phrase.
Question 4: Can you think of a song or a poem in your language that talks of homecoming?
Answer-
The text mentions that the grandmother sang of the home-coming of warriors. This question is intended to help the reader relate to songs with emotional import in their own language. As this requires external cultural or poetic knowledge, the sources cannot provide a song or poem in the reader’s language.