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Discuss the relevance of the title "The Portrait Of a Lady".

The story The Portrait of the Lady by Khushwant Singh revolves around the story of the author and his relationship with his grandmother. The author's mother was a deeply religious woman who was very kind hearted. She epitomised purity and peace of mind which is very well written as an expanse of pure white serenity. Though she wasn't beautiful physically, she possessed deep spiritual beauty. She took great delight in feeding birds and animals.

The story begins with the narrator describing how old his grandmother was. The thought of the authors old grandmother being young and pretty, in early years of her life, raised a conflict in the mind of the author. Her hair was white as snow and she had a little stoop in her back.

When Singh was a child and his parents were away he was brought up by his grandmother who used to wake him up and get him ready for school. While performing this daily chore, she used to sing prayers which she wanted him to learn by heart but in vain. She would walk with him to and from his school. On their way back, they would throw chappatis to the village dogs.

When his parents settled in the city Singh went to stay in the city with her. This was a turning point in the relationship he shared with her. He disliked many things taught in the school. She could no longer help him with his lessons. A small gap had developed between them which wasn't very prominent. She didn't accompany him to school any long.

With the passage of time ,Singh went to the university with which ended the last string of attachment which held them together. His grandmother started spending more time on the spinning wheel. This shows the authors grandmothers passive submission to her secluded life. She surrendered to her situation of separation from her family members, especially the author. She became friendly to the sparrows and fed them little pieces of bread. The birds in turn loved her company and would sit on her shoulders and even on her head.

Next came a phase when Singh decided to go to abroad to study for five years. He contemplated on his grandmother not being alive till the time he came back. However, she went to receive him in the station when he was back. She welcomed him by singing songs on drums with the other ladies of the colony, for several hours.

Next morning she fell very ill. The doctors had given up. She rested in bed, peacefully, telling her beads, not wasting her time in reminiscing her life with anybody. Suddenly she breathed her last, the rosary falling from her hand. She was covered with a red shroud. The most notable fact about the day she died was how thousands of sparrows gathered mournfully on the verandah, all silent. The sparrows paid no heed to the bread crumbs the author's mother gave them and flew away when the grandmother's body was taken away.

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too big and not revelant P. Rahul Dev

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The Author sees and remembers her grandmother as old and wrinkled. He could never imagine her younger or getting older. The fact that she had a husband once was unbelievable to him. In the 20 years of author's life, she had stayed at the same age.His grandmother was a benevolent woman especially towards lower life forms. At the village she daily fed street dogs with stale chapattis and when she moved to the city, she resorted to feeding sparrows with bread crumbs. This used to be her happiest half-hour of the day.She was strictly religious and started her days with her morning prayers. She regularly visited the temple. And, when she moved to the city, she spent her time spinning the wheel and reciting prayers. When the author was ready to go to abroad for higher studies, without getting sentimental, she only mumbled her prayer and started telling beads of her rosary. By kissing author's forehead, she bid him good-bye. She did not need to demonstrate her love and blessing, but it is expressive through her actions.When the author returned from abroad after 5 years, her appearance was still the same. She did not engage in talking but clasped him in her arms, simultaneously reciting her prayer. Author noted that her happiest moments were still with sparrows.During the last few hours before her death, she did not want to waste her time by talking to her family but wanted to be left alone to pray. Even after her death, there was a peaceful pallor spread over her.According to the author, she might not be pretty in the worldly sense but she was beautiful. Her contentment, courage and serenity were the reasons for her beauty. Author describes her as " the winter landscape in the mountains, an expanse of pure, white serenity breathing peace and contentment.Just like a portrait, the author remembers her as static, beautiful, content, peaceful and subtly expressive.

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portrait of a lady by Kushwant Singh talk about his life with his grand mother ... of the memories that he had with her as a child and after he graduated .. i think that the title is appropriate as the story focuses on the grand mother .. and her stages of life .. even though the writer says that she had not aged ever since he had seen her as a child till the day she died... in the story the writer does not give importance to her physical appearance but of her nature and how it changes with time .. he remembers his child hood when she used to chant hopping that he would learn .. and dressing him up and ensuring that he had taken the necessary equipment with him to the temple where the priest taught him .. she even made sure to take some chappatis for the stray dogs on the road .. later on when they moved to the city a change in her nature is shown when she gets really upset that there is no importance given to god and that she was not able to help out her grand son with his school work as she had no knowledge of the English language .. she spent most of her time with her spinning wheel and did not spend time speaking to anybody .. she kept murmuring her preyers and took a break only for a half hour everyday to feel the birds .. when the writer leaves to pursue his further studies the grand mother does feel very sad but does not express her emotions but in turn kisses her grand son good bye and hopes to see him again on the same platform .. when the writer returns his grand other stops her preyer and gathers all the woman in the neighbourhood and starts to sing about battles fought in the past and about the warriors .. with an old drum .. even though the family tells her to stop she chooses to go on and in turn tires herself out .. the next day she is bed ridden with fatigue and says good bye to all ..the title is apt as it talks about the stages of the grand mother and hence is called the portrait of a lady

   
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The title is an appropriate one because the story revolves around an old lady and as the portrait never changes as so the behaviour of the old lady never changed since the narrator saw him. This is why the title is an appropriate one!!
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the author khushwant sungh drew up a heart warming portrait of his grandmother whom he admired the most ,as a tribute to his grandmother ,the whole story is about his beloved grandmother as she had a deep impact on author
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@ P. Rahul Dev
​Yours is a summary of the story and NOT at all relevant to the question asked.

 
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The portrait of a lady is the perfect and the most suitable title given to ...
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The Portrait of a Lady is a very appropriate title for the story as in the complete story, the author keeps on talking about his grandmother. Whether the start, where she is dressing the author and singing prayers or at the near end when the lady started feeding the birds in the balcony; every branch of the plot in the story highlights the attribute of the old lady. Moreover, we can notice that not once did the writer trace anything other than the life of his grandmother. So, more easily, we can state that the whole story is like some drawing of the writer's grandmother. However, it not only gives physical traits like an image, instead covers up the several emotions and feelings of the lady too. Hence, it is a wise title that is very clearly stating the subject (the main character) of the plot because of which the audience can easily infer what they are going to study in the story.

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Answer for long answer questions (about 400 words)


"The portrait of a lady" is an autobiographical element from the life of the author Khushwant Singh where he describes his relationship with his grandmother over the years. He pens down her daily activities and how she evolved as a character as time passed by. He explains her appearance that helps to create an image in the reader's mind. The title is quite appropriate because the story revolves around an old lady and as a portrait never changes so the behavior of the old lady never changed since the narrator saw her.

                                 The author sees and remembers his grandmother as old and wrinkled. He could never imagine her younger image or getting more older. The fact that she had a husband once was unbelievable to him. In the twenty years of the author's life, she had stayed at the same age. His grandmother was a benevolent woman, especially towards lower life forms. At the village, she daily fed street dogs with stale chapattis when she moved to the city she restored to feeding sparrows with bread crumbs. This used to be her happiest half-hour of the day.

                               She was strictly religious and started her days with morning prayers. She regularly visited the temple. When she moved to the city, she spent her time spinning the wheel and reciting prayers. When the author was ready to go abroad for higher studies without getting sentimental, she only mumbled her prayer and started telling beads of her rosary. By kissing the author's forehead she bid him goodbye. She didn't need to demonstrate her love and blessing. When the author returned from abroad after five years her appearance was still the same. She didn't engage in talking but clasped him in her arms. The author noted that her happiest moments were still with sparrows. During the last few hours before her death, she did not waste her time by talking to her family but wanted to be left alone to pray. Even after her death there was a peaceful pallor spread over her.

                                 According to the author, she might not be pretty in the worldly sense. Her contentment, courage, and serenity were the reasons for her beauty. The author describes her as the "winter landscape in the mountains, an expanse of pure white serenity breathing peace and contentment ." Just like a portrait the author remembers her as static, beautiful, content, peaceful, and subtly expressive. Hence it is a wise title that clearly states the main character. The audience can easily infer what they are going to see in the story. It is the most suitable title.




 
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What was the first indicator of rough weather in the story „We‟re Not Afraid to Die…If We Can All Be Together.‟
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The title "The portrait of a Lady" is a very apt title because the author describes his close relationship with his grandmother. He not only describes her emotional and mental status but also her physical appearance. As time passed by the author's grandmother's behaviour remained the same and so did her appearance(he told this after he returned 5 years after studying in university) just like a portrait.
 
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