The Portrait of a Lady is a memoir by Khushwant Singh that traces his relationship with his grandmother across three life stages: the village, the city school, and the university years. It explores memory, intergenerational bonds, quiet devotion, and the dignity of old age.
Important Questions Class 11 English Hornbill Chapter 1 The Portrait of a Lady covers all question types from the CBSE 2026 exam pattern: very short, short, long, and extra questions. All answers are drawn directly from the NCERT Hornbill textbook Reprint 2026-27.
Important Questions for Class 11 English Hornbill Chapter 1 - The Portrait of a Lady
Q.
Notice these expressions in the text. Infer their meaning from the context.
- the thought was almost revolting
- an expanse of pure white serenity
- a turning-point
- accepted her seclusion with resignation
- a veritable bedlam of chirrupings
- frivolous rebukes
- the sagging skins of the dilapidated drum
Q.
Mention the three phases of the author’s relationship with his grandmother before he left the country to study abroad.
Q.
Mention three reasons why the author’s grandmother was disturbed when he started going to the city school.
Q.
Mention three ways in which the author’s grandmother spent her days after he grew up.
Q.
Mention the odd way in which the author’s grandmother behaved just before she died.
Q.
Mention the way in which the sparrows expressed their sorrow when the author’s grandmother died.
Q.
The author’s grandmother was a religious person. What are the different ways in which we come to know this?
Q.
Describe the changing relationship between the author and his grandmother. Did their feelings for each other change?
Q.
Would you agree that the author’s grandmother was a person strong in character? If yes, give instances that show this.
Q.
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?
Q.
Which language do you think the author and his grandmother used while talking to each other?
Q.
Which language do you use to talk to elderly relatives in your family?
Q.
How would you say ‘a dilapidated drum’ in your language?
Q.
Notice the following usage of the word ‘tell’ in the text.
1. Her fingers were busy telling the beads of her rosary.
2. I would tell her English words and little things of Western science and learning.
3. At her age one could never tell.
4. She told us that her end was near.
Given below are four different senses of the word ‘tell’. Match the meanings to the uses listed above.
1. make something known to someone in spoken or written words
2. count while reciting
3. be sure
4. give information to somebody
Q.
Notice the different senses of the word ‘take’.
1. to take to something: to begin to do something as a habit
2. to take ill: to suddenly become ill
Locate these phrases in the text and notice the way they are used.
Q.
The word ‘hobble’ means to walk with difficulty because the legs and feet are in bad condition. Tick the words in the box below that also refer to a manner of walking.
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haggle
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shuffle
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stride
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ride
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waddle
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wriggle
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paddle
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swagger
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trudge
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slog
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Important Questions for Class 11 English Hornbill Chapter 1 - The Portrait of a Lady
This is one of the most frequently tested chapters in Class 11 English. Students who prepare the three phases of the relationship, the grandmother's character sketch, and the sparrow episode will handle every question type with confidence. The complete question bank is available section by section below. Use the Important Questions Class 11 English Hornbill page to revise all chapters together.
Key Takeaways
| Topic |
What to Focus On |
| Chapter |
The Portrait of a Lady by Khushwant Singh |
| Book |
NCERT Hornbill, Class 11 (Reprint 2026-27) |
| Most Important Exam Theme |
Three phases of the author-grandmother relationship |
| Character Sketch |
Physical appearance, piety, resilience, warmth |
| Title Significance |
The story itself becomes a portrait — no photograph exists |
| Symbolism |
Sparrows mourning her death |
| Key Textual Phrases |
"accepted her seclusion with resignation", "a veritable bedlam of chirrupings", "a turning-point" |
| Exam Question Types |
Very short (1 mark), short (2-3 marks), long (5 marks), extra |
Most Important Exam Questions from The Portrait of a Lady
Class 11 English Chapter 1 question answer sets from CBSE 2026 exam patterns consistently test five areas. Students who prepare all five will be ready for any question format.
The three phases of the author's relationship with his grandmother appear in almost every exam. Her role in his early education, her reaction to the city school and music lessons, her life in seclusion at the university stage, and the sparrows and what their silence meant are the other four.
The Portrait of a Lady Class 11 Very Short Answer Questions
Very short answers test direct recall from the text. Keep answers to one or two lines.
Q1. Write the meaning of the following words. Revolting: disgusting or deeply unpleasant. Serenity: calm and peaceful quality. Seclusion: state of being alone, away from others. Veritable: used to emphasise the truth of something.
Q2. What story is The Portrait of a Lady about? It is Khushwant Singh's autobiographical account of his grandmother: her appearance, her personality, and how their relationship changed as he grew up.
Q3. What did the grandmother do every afternoon? She sat in the verandah, broke bread into small pieces, and fed sparrows. That half-hour was the happiest part of her day.
Q4. What change came over the grandmother the evening before she died? She did not pray. She gathered neighbourhood women, picked up an old drum, and sang songs of the homecoming of warriors for several hours.
Q5. How long did the author stay abroad? Five years.
Q6. What did the grandfather look like in the portrait? He wore a big turban and loose-fitting clothes. His long white beard covered most of his chest. He looked at least a hundred years old.
The Portrait of a Lady Class 11 Short Answer Questions
The portrait of a lady class 11 questions with answers short format tests both recall and expression. Two to three sentences per point is the right length.
These the portrait of a lady short questions and answers cover the most tested passages from the NCERT text.
Q1. How did the grandmother and author spend their days in the village? The grandmother woke him each morning, said prayers while dressing him, and gave him breakfast of stale chapatti with butter and sugar. She walked him to school and sat inside reading the scriptures while he studied. On the way back, she fed stale chapattis to the village dogs.
Q2. How did the grandmother utilise her time in the city home? She accepted her seclusion with resignation. She sat at her spinning wheel from sunrise to sunset, reciting prayers. Only in the afternoon did she pause, to feed sparrows in the verandah.
Q3. How did the grandmother feel about the author's education in the city school? She was deeply unhappy. The city school taught English and western science and had no place for God or the scriptures. When the author told her about music lessons, she was even more disturbed. She believed music was meant for harlots and beggars, not decent people.
Q4. How did the author and grandmother's connection break? Their friendship had three breaks. First, when they moved to the city and he went to school by motor bus. Second, when his subjects moved beyond what she could help with. Third, when he went to university and got his own room.
Q5. What was the author's worry before going abroad for five years? He feared he might never see her again. But she came to the railway station without showing emotion, her fingers on her rosary, and kissed his forehead silently.
The Portrait of a Lady Class 11 Long Answer Questions
Long answers carry 5 marks each. Use a clear structure: opening statement, three to four developed points, and a closing line. These class 11th english chapter 1 question answers are written to that format.
Q1. Write a character sketch of the grandmother. Khushwant Singh's grandmother was short, fat, and slightly bent with age. Her face carried a criss-cross of wrinkles. Her silver hair was scattered over a pale, puckered face and her lips always moved in inaudible prayer. She always wore spotless white.
Her character was equally strong. She was deeply religious, beginning her prayers before dawn and ending them at night. She was warm and caring: she bathed, dressed, and fed the author as a child without complaint.
She was adaptable. When the village life ended, she transferred her habit of feeding dogs to feeding sparrows in the city. She held firm opinions on education but never imposed them. When the author grew away from her, she accepted her seclusion with quiet resignation.
Even in death, she was in control. She told the family her end was near, asked them not to fuss, and lay praying until she breathed her last. The author's final verdict: she could never have been pretty, but she was always beautiful.
Q2. Describe the changing relationship between the author and his grandmother. Did their feelings for each other change? The relationship passed through three clear phases. In the village, they were inseparable. She was his caregiver, companion, and teacher all at once. She walked him to school, fed him, prayed with him, and waited inside the temple while he studied.
The city was a turning-point. He went to school by motor bus. She could not help with his English or western science lessons. The music lessons disturbed her deeply and she grew quieter. They still shared a room, but the conversations thinned.
When he went to university and got a room of his own, the common link snapped. She turned wholly inward: the spinning wheel, the prayers, the sparrows. When he went abroad for five years, she came to the station but showed no emotion.
Their closeness reduced in contact but not in love. She never rebuked him or tried to hold him back. He always came home to her. When she died, he mourned. The love between them did not change, only its expression did.
Q3. The author's grandmother was a religious person. What are the different ways in which we come to know this? From the very first paragraph, the author describes her as always praying. Even while bathing and dressing him in the village, she sang prayers in the hope he would learn them. She sat inside the temple each morning while he was in school.
In the city, prayer became the centre of her existence. She sat at her spinning wheel from sunrise to sunset, reciting prayers. When the author went abroad, she stood at the station praying, her lips moving, her fingers on the rosary.
When he returned after five years, she clasped him while still reciting prayers. On her last day, she refused to speak because she had already missed prayers once. She spent her final hours counting her beads until the rosary fell from her lifeless fingers.
Q4. Would you agree that the author's grandmother was a person strong in character? Give instances. Yes. Her strength showed in several ways. She did not approve of the author's English education or music lessons, but she never stopped him. She accepted his choices silently and let him grow in his own direction.
When their closeness faded and she was left alone in the city, she did not complain. She accepted her seclusion with resignation and built a new routine around spinning, prayer, and the sparrows.
When the author left for five years abroad, she did not cry. She came to see him off and stood in prayer. That is not weakness. That is the quiet strength of someone at complete peace with themselves.
Q5. Explain how the title The Portrait of a Lady suits the writing. The title is quietly ironic. The only actual portrait mentioned in the story is the grandfather's, hanging above the mantelpiece. There is no photograph or painting of the grandmother.
Yet the story itself becomes her portrait. The author draws her in words: her wrinkled face, her silver locks, her white clothes, her bent frame, her moving lips, her rosary, her sparrows. He captures her at different stages of life.
She is not named. She is called "my grandmother" throughout. This makes her universal. She becomes every grandmother who gave everything quietly and asked for nothing in return. The story becomes a portrait of a lady in the truest sense: detailed, honest, and made with love.
Character Sketch of the Grandmother in The Portrait of a Lady
The grandmother in portrait of a lady class 11 is one of the most fully drawn characters in NCERT Hornbill. The author builds her through appearance, habit, and value, not through plot.
Her physical description: short, fat, slightly bent. A face full of wrinkles. Silver hair scattered over a pale face. Always in spotless white. One hand on her waist to balance her stoop, the other telling the beads of her rosary.
Her personality: pious, warm, adaptable, strong, and at peace with herself. She was not sentimental. She did not weep when the author left. She did not complain when she was left alone. The author's final verdict: she could never have been pretty, but she was always beautiful.
Changing Relationship Between the Author and His Grandmother
The three phases of the relationship are the most tested topic in the portrait of a lady class 11 questions and answers sets. Each phase marks a shift in proximity, not in love.
Phase 1: The Village
They were together all day. She was his caregiver, guide, and constant companion. She walked him to school and waited in the temple while he studied.
Phase 2: The City School
Moving to the city was a turning-point. He went by motor bus. She could not follow. His subjects were foreign to her. Music lessons disturbed her most. She withdrew into silence.
Phase 3: University and Abroad
When he got a room of his own, the last common thread broke. She spent her days at the spinning wheel, in prayer, and with her sparrows. When he went abroad for five years, she came to the station and said goodbye through silence and a kiss on the forehead.
Why Was the Grandmother Disturbed by the City School Education
This is a class 11 english chapter 1 short question answer that appears regularly in school tests and CBSE 2026 periodic assessments.
Three reasons come directly from the NCERT text. The city school taught English and western science with no place for God or scriptures. This went against everything she believed education should do. The music lessons disturbed her most: she believed music was meant for harlots and beggars, not for gentlefolk.
How Did the Grandmother Spend Her Days in the City
After the author went to university, she accepted her seclusion with resignation. From sunrise to sunset, she sat at her spinning wheel and recited prayers.
Only in the afternoon did she step away. She sat in the verandah and fed sparrows. Hundreds of birds gathered around her, some sitting on her legs, others on her shoulders, some even on her head. She smiled at them and never shooed them away. It was the happiest half-hour of her day.
How Did the Sparrows Mourn the Grandmother's Death
When the family came to carry the grandmother's body for cremation, thousands of sparrows sat scattered all over the verandah and in her room. There was no chirruping.
The author's mother brought bread and broke it into crumbs the way the grandmother used to. The sparrows took no notice. When the body was carried out, they flew away quietly. The next morning, the sweeper swept the untouched crumbs into the dustbin. Their grief was wordless but clear.
Why Is the Title The Portrait of a Lady Justified
The title is justified because the story is itself the portrait. No painting or photograph of the grandmother exists in the text.
The author paints her in language: her appearance, her habits, her values, her silences, and her love. By not naming her and calling her simply "my grandmother," Khushwant Singh makes her universal. She becomes every grandmother who prays, adapts, gives, and lets go with grace.
The Portrait of a Lady Class 11 Extra Questions and Answers
The portrait of a lady class 11 extra questions and answers go beyond standard NCERT exercises. These cover application and inference questions that appear in school tests and pre-board papers.
Q1. How did the grandmother say goodbye when the author left for abroad? She did not cry or show emotion. She came to the railway station, stood in prayer, kept her fingers on the rosary, and silently kissed the author's forehead. That quiet kiss was, as the author writes, perhaps the last sign of physical contact between them.
Q2. What was the odd way the grandmother behaved just before she died? The evening the author returned from abroad, she did not pray for the first time he had ever known. She gathered neighbourhood women, got an old drum, and sang songs of the homecoming of warriors for several hours. The family had to persuade her to stop. The next morning she fell ill and said her end was near.
Q3. What does the author mean when he says she was "an expanse of pure white serenity"? He describes the total impression his grandmother gave: old, white-clad, peaceful, and still. He compares her to a winter mountain landscape: calm, vast, and full of quiet beauty. She carried no agitation and no complaint.
The Portrait of a Lady Class 11 Important Themes and Values
Themes carry marks in long-answer questions in CBSE 2026 Class 11 English exams. Every five-mark question from this chapter connects to at least one of these themes.
Class 11 English Chapter 1 Short Question Answers
These class 11 english chapter 1 question answer items are the most searched before unit tests and periodic assessments.
- What was the common link of friendship between the author and his grandmother? Their shared daily routine: waking together, going to school together, walking back together, feeding dogs together. When the author went to university and got his own room, that routine ended. The common link of friendship was snapped.
- Why could the grandmother not help the author with his lessons in the city? She had no formal education and had grown up with scripture-based learning. The city school taught English, western science, and music: subjects entirely outside her world.
- What did the sparrows do the day after the grandmother's death? The bread crumbs scattered for the sparrows lay untouched on the verandah floor. The sweeper came and swept them into the dustbin.