The Portrait of a Lady
By-Khushwant Singh
Summary in English
Khushwant Singh's grandmother was very old. She was so old that she could not grow any older. Her face was wrinkled. She had a stoop and hobbled about with one hand on her back to balance her stoop. People said that once she had been young and pretty and had a husband. But the author could hardly believe it.
Of course, his grandfather's picture was there on the wall. He looked very old. He had a long white beard. He did not look like a man who could have only lots of grandchildren.
Author's parents went to the city. They left him with the grandmother in their village home. Every morning she bathed him and dressed him to prepare for school. She sang a prayer while she bathed him. She hoped he would learn the prayer by heart. But the boy never cared to learn it. She gave him a thick chapatti with butter and sugar for breakfast. She accompanied him to school.
The school was attached to a temple. The priest taught the children morning prayer and alphabet. In the meantime, she read the scriptures inside the temple. After school, both of them walked back to home. On the way, they threw stale chapatis street dogs.
The author's parents were comfortably settled. They sent for the boy and his grandmother. Both of them lived together but she could not accompany him to school. He went to school on a bus.
When the boy came back from school, she asked him what he had learned. he told her about English words and laws of science. She did not believe in those things.
She was unhappy to know that they did not teach him about God. But she was most shocked when he told her that he was being given lessons in music. She believes that the music was meant for low people and not for gentlefolk. She stopped speaking to him.
The author went to university. He was given a separate room. Now the last link between them was broken. They hardly ever saw each other.
But grandmother was not perturbed. She spent her time at the spinning wheel and prayers. Now there were no dogs in the city. She fed sparrows, they were her best friends and she was very happy with them.
When the author was going aboard for higher studies, she went to the railway station to say good-bye. She did not speak. She kept saying her prayer. But she kissed him on the forehead.
The author thought it was the last time he saw her. But he was wrong. She was once again at the railway station when he returned after five years.
Suddenly grandmother decided to celebrate author's homecoming. She collected women of the neighbourhood and sang songs thumping a drum. She overstrained her self. She had a mild fever. The doctor said it would go. But the grandmother said her end was near. For the first time in her life, she had missed her prayers. She stopped talking everybody. She lay down with her rosary.
Next morning her lips stopped moving. The rosary fell off her lifeless fingers. She had died.
Author' s parents laid her on the floor and covered her with a red shroud.
Thousands of sparrows came and sat all over in her room. They did not chirp. They sat silently. Author's mother broke a bread into pieces and threw it to them. But the sparrows took no notice of it. when the body was carried away for cremation the sparrows flew away quietly. The crumbs of bread lay untouched.
By-Khushwant Singh
Summary in English
Khushwant Singh's grandmother was very old. She was so old that she could not grow any older. Her face was wrinkled. She had a stoop and hobbled about with one hand on her back to balance her stoop. People said that once she had been young and pretty and had a husband. But the author could hardly believe it.
Of course, his grandfather's picture was there on the wall. He looked very old. He had a long white beard. He did not look like a man who could have only lots of grandchildren.
Author's parents went to the city. They left him with the grandmother in their village home. Every morning she bathed him and dressed him to prepare for school. She sang a prayer while she bathed him. She hoped he would learn the prayer by heart. But the boy never cared to learn it. She gave him a thick chapatti with butter and sugar for breakfast. She accompanied him to school.
The school was attached to a temple. The priest taught the children morning prayer and alphabet. In the meantime, she read the scriptures inside the temple. After school, both of them walked back to home. On the way, they threw stale chapatis street dogs.
The author's parents were comfortably settled. They sent for the boy and his grandmother. Both of them lived together but she could not accompany him to school. He went to school on a bus.
When the boy came back from school, she asked him what he had learned. he told her about English words and laws of science. She did not believe in those things.
She was unhappy to know that they did not teach him about God. But she was most shocked when he told her that he was being given lessons in music. She believes that the music was meant for low people and not for gentlefolk. She stopped speaking to him.
The author went to university. He was given a separate room. Now the last link between them was broken. They hardly ever saw each other.
But grandmother was not perturbed. She spent her time at the spinning wheel and prayers. Now there were no dogs in the city. She fed sparrows, they were her best friends and she was very happy with them.
When the author was going aboard for higher studies, she went to the railway station to say good-bye. She did not speak. She kept saying her prayer. But she kissed him on the forehead.
The author thought it was the last time he saw her. But he was wrong. She was once again at the railway station when he returned after five years.
Suddenly grandmother decided to celebrate author's homecoming. She collected women of the neighbourhood and sang songs thumping a drum. She overstrained her self. She had a mild fever. The doctor said it would go. But the grandmother said her end was near. For the first time in her life, she had missed her prayers. She stopped talking everybody. She lay down with her rosary.
Next morning her lips stopped moving. The rosary fell off her lifeless fingers. She had died.
Author' s parents laid her on the floor and covered her with a red shroud.
Thousands of sparrows came and sat all over in her room. They did not chirp. They sat silently. Author's mother broke a bread into pieces and threw it to them. But the sparrows took no notice of it. when the body was carried away for cremation the sparrows flew away quietly. The crumbs of bread lay untouched.
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