English (Core) · Ch 1 — The Portrait of a Lady
Summary
Summary
- Author & type: An autobiographical character-portrait by Khushwant Singh of his grandmother — the "lady" of the title.
- The grandmother: Old, short, bent, wrinkled, always in spotless white, forever praying with her rosary; not pretty but truly beautiful and dignified; deeply religious and endlessly kind.
- Village phase: Very close friends; she wakes, feeds and walks him to the temple school, reads scriptures there, and feeds the village dogs.
- City phase (turning-point): English school by bus; she can't help with modern lessons, is upset by science and music replacing God and scripture, grows silent, and takes to feeding sparrows.
- University & abroad: The "common link of friendship" snaps; she lives secluded at her spinning-wheel and prayers; sees him off for five years abroad without emotion.
- Return & death: Meets him unchanged; one evening breaks her routine to sing of warriors' home-coming; next day, foretelling her end, she dies calmly at prayer with the rosary in her hands.
- The sparrows: Thousands gather in silence, refuse the bread crumbs, and fly off only when her body is carried away — a wordless tribute. …