Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Khushwant Singh was an Indian author, lawyer, diplomat, journalist, and politician who was awarded Padma Bhushan in 1974 and Padma Vibhushan in 2007. His first novel The Train to Pakistan was based on the Partition of India in 1947 and it proved to be his most renowned novel. In addition, he wrote many short stories. In 2013, a collection of his short stories was published which was titled “The Portrait of a Lady: Collected Stories.” This short story is autobiographical in which Khushwant Singh talked about his relationship with his grandmother during different phases of his life. He has beautifully drawn a pen- picture of her grandmother and describes the changes that came in their relationship after he went to the city and went abroad for higher studies. He pens down her daily activities and also describes her appearance creating an image in the reader’s mind. Ultimately, he describes her death.
Characters of The Portrait of a Lady:
The main character of the story is the grandmother of the narrator who happens to be the author of the story. She was a short, plump, and slightly bent, old lady with grey hair and a wrinkled face. She had a constant beautiful demeanor with a calm gentle and reassuring face. The narrator describes her as a “winter landscape in the mountains”. She was a religious lady who held her virtues. She spent most of her time in temples or reading scriptures and holy books. She had a beaded rosary and she never forgot to tell her prayers while counting the beads of the rosary. She had a deep connection with the narrator during his school days when he was in the village. But once the narrator and his family shifted to the city for his higher studies, he started spending lesser time with her. Gradually she became lonely. The narrator then went abroad for higher studies and his grandmother was left alone. She was very old and the narrator wasn’t sure if he will be able to see her again. But she kept living while spinning her charkha, feeding sparrows, and reciting her prayers. After five years, when the narrator returned, his grandmother welcomed him back by beating drums but soon she fell ill. It was her time to go.
Summary of The Portrait of a Lady:
The narrator informs that during his childhood, his parents were living in the city while he was staying at his parental village, living with his grandmother. His grandmother was a very strong and religious lady who never missed her prayer. She was very old with white hair that the narrator describes as silver locks. She was short, a little fatty, and slightly bent with a wrinkled face. The narrator had always seen her as an old woman and for him, it was difficult to imagine her in her younger days. The narrator’s grandfather is no more. He never saw him in person but he has seen his picture that hung above the mantelpiece in the drawing room. His grandfather used to wear loose clothes and in the picture, he too appears too old as if he is more than 100 years of age. He used to wear a big turban.
The narrator says that his grandmother had a bent back and she couldn’t walk straight but she always kept roaming around the house. While walking, she had to keep one hand on her waist while she always kept a beaded rosary in her other hand, continuously repeating her prayers.
The narrator says that her grandmother used to wear spotless white clothes and with her silver locks spread across her face, she used to appear like snowy mountains, true to her nature which was calm and content. The narrator had a good friendly relationship with his grandmother and when he was left with her in the village, she kept good care of her. She used to take him to the village school every day as it was very near to the village temple.
The grandmother routinely used to wake him up early in the morning and get him ready for school. Every day, she would take him to the school and while going to the school, they both sang prayers. The narrator loved her voice though he never learned the meaning of those prayers.
His grandmother was very careful about him and used to wash his slate and paint it with yellow chalk every day. She would then take an earthen pot with water and a reed pen. His grandmother used to give her stale chapatis with a little butter and sugar sprinkled over them for breakfast. While taking him to school, his grandmother would always keep some stale chapatis to feed the village dogs. The school was nearby the village temple and the priest was the teacher at the school. He would teach the alphabet and prayers to the children while the narrator’s grandmother used to spend her time in the temple, reading holy books.
As the narrator was growing old, his parents called them to the city so that he may pursue education at the municipality school in the city. As they shifted to the city, the relationship between the narrator and his grandmother became a bit distant because the municipality school was too far and she couldn’t go to the school with the narrator as he used to go with a motor bus. There were no dogs near their home so the grandmother started feeding sparrows and other birds.
The narrator was growing and he got busy with his education thus, they saw less of each other. Though she had immense interest in the narrator’s education, she could not help him in his lessons as he was learning English, the law of gravity, Archimedes’ principle, and many more such things which she could not understand. She often asked him what the teacher had taught him. She was displeased by knowing that they are not teaching religious scriptures at the school. The narrator once told that he was given music lessons she believed it to be indecent. To her, music had lewd associations and she considered music to be unsuitable for gentle folk.
After completing his school, the narrator went to the University for further studies. As he was growing older, he got a room of his own. This further alienated his grandmother. She didn’t complain but accepted her loneliness. She rarely spoke to anyone and spent most of her time in her room while spinning her charkha or reciting her prayers while counting the beads of her rosary. During the afternoon, she used to feed the sparrows. The sparrows had grown friendly to her and they would often perch on her shoulders and some even on her head but she never shooed them away. For her, it used to be the happiest hour of the day.
After completing his graduation, the narrator got a chance to go abroad for higher studies for five years. The narrator felt that this will upset his grandmother but to his surprise, she was not sentimental and she happily bid him and sent him away for his studies. She visited the railway station to see him off. She continued moving the beads of her rosary while reciting the prayers and before he left, she gently kissed the narrator at his head. She was too old by now and the narrator was not sure if he would ever be able to see her again as he was going away for five years.
However, when the narrator returned after five years, he found his grandmother at the railway station again who came to receive him. She held him in her arms. The narrator observed that though his grandmother was looking as old as she always was, she grew more religious, calm, and content. She continued reciting her prayers and the narrator could listen to her. Even on the day of his return, his grandmother didn’t forget to feed the sparrows and enjoyed her time with the birds. However, in the evening, something strange happened. For the first time, she didn’t pray. Rather she decided to invite women from the neighborhood. She was in the mood of celebration as her grandson had returned. She got an old drum and started to sing songs about the homecoming of warriors. The narrator and his parents tried to persuade her to stop and not to overstrain herself but she wouldn’t listen to them.
On the next morning, she fell ill. As the doctor came to check on her, he informed them that it was a minor fever. But the narrator’s grandmother insisted that it was her time to go. She was convinced that her end is near. She told everyone that she did not want to talk to anyone and would rather spend her last moments praying. She ignored everyone’s protests and started counting the beads in her rosary while praying.
After a short while, the narrator noticed that his grandmother’s lips stopped moving and the rosary fell from her lifeless fingers. She died a peaceful death. She was covered with a red shawl. When the narrator and others came to take her body for the funeral, they saw that a lot of sparrows had surrounded the grandmother’s body as if they gathered to mourn her death. All the sparrows were silent and appeared sad. The narrator’s mother offered some bread to the sparrows but they didn’t eat and quietly flew away after the grandmother’s body was carried away for the last rites.
So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of Indian English Literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!
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