The Portrait of a Lady by Khushwant Singh is a heartfelt character sketch of his grandmother. The relationship between the author and his grandmother over the years is vividly described in this story.
'द पोर्ट्रेट ऑफ अ लेडी', खुशवंत सिंह द्वारा लिखित उनकी दादी का एक हार्दिक रुपरेखा है। इस कहानी में लेखक और उसकी दादी के बीच के वर्षों के संबंध को स्पष्ट रूप से वर्णित किया गया है।
The grandmother was a wrinkled, elderly woman. For the preceding two decades, the author had always seen her in this light. He couldn't fathom her being 'young and lovely, someone with a husband' because she appeared to be so ancient. She was short, chubby, and a tad bent. The author had seen his grandfather's portrait, which depicted him as an elderly man wearing a turban and sporting a long white beard that covered his chest.
His grandfather, according to the author, did not appear to be a man
who could have a wife and children, but rather a man who could have a large
number of grandchildren. His grandmother used to walk around the house dressed
in 'Spotless White,' one hand on her waist and the other counting the beads on
her rosary.
The author and his grandma had a terrific
relationship in the beginning. She used to get him ready for school by waking
him up. She used to walk him to school every day, packing the items he needed
for the day. She used to pay her respects at the school's temple. She had a
habit of reading the Bible every day. The author sat on the verandah with other
children, singing alphabets and morning prayers. They used to return home
together, surrounded by stray dogs, and his grandma would carry stale chapattis
to feed them.
Soon after, the author's parents, who had moved to the city to settle in, called them. His relationship with his grandmother deteriorated as they approached the city. Despite the fact that they shared a room, their relationship suffered. He began attending an English-medium school, she no longer accompanied him to school, and they no longer encountered stray dogs as they walked home.
She, on the other hand, used to inquire about his day
and what he had discovered. She couldn't understand anything because it was all
in a language she didn't understand. She didn't like the new syllabus he was
studying since she believed it didn't teach him enough about God and the Bible.
They didn't see one other as much.
He grew older as the days passed, and he eventually
enrolled in university. Their relationship was not the same since he had his
own room. She stopped communicating to everyone and sat at her spinning wheel
all day, muttering prayers and moving the rosary beads with one hand. She did,
however, enjoy feeding birds in the morning on the verandah. Her daily routine
consisted of breaking bread into pieces and giving it to the birds. Birds would
perch on her legs, on her head, and on her shoulders.
Soon after, the author made the decision to continue
her education abroad. She arrived at the train station to drop him off. She was
not sentimental, and she kissed him on the forehead as she continued to repeat
her prayers, her mind lost in the prayers. When he returned home after five years,
she was there, waiting for him at the station, and she looked exactly the same
as she did five years before. She held him in her arms and didn't say anything.
Her sparrows were still fed by her.
She didn't recite her prayers one day, instead of
gathering the women of the neighbourhood, picking up a drum, and starting
singing. She felt sick with a moderate temperature the next morning. The doctor
assured her that she had nothing to be concerned about, but she was certain
that her time had come.
She didn't want to waste any more time talking to anyone in the family, so she spent her final hours resting in bed reciting her prayers. She died, and her lifeless body lay on the bed. They noticed all the sparrows sitting in the verandah around her, mourning her loss, as they prepared for her funeral.
Poem: A Photograph by Shirley Toulson
Betty and Dolly, two cousins who went kayaking in the sea with the poetess mother, are depicted in the photograph pasted on the cardboard. They were each holding one of the poet's mother's hands, who was a big girl of around twelve years old at the time. Her uncle was equipped with a camera. All three of them remained motionless in front of the camera. They smiled as they pushed their hair back.
As a result, the shot depicts three
happy faces. The poet's mother has a lovely smile on her face. It was from a
time before her birth. Their feet, which had only been exposed to seawater for
a short period, were shot alongside the sea, which appeared to have changed
less. The poet is implying that her mother's appearance has changed over time.
The poet's mother might chuckle at the photograph
after a period of time, maybe twenty or thirty years. She'd look at the photo
and remember how her cousins Betty and Dolly had dressed for a beach vacation
when they went to the beach. When she sees the revealing dress, she chuckles.
This sea vacation was a memory from her past. Her laughing is genuine and
enjoyable to the poet. For her, it is a priceless memory. Her trip and her
laughter are ironically amusing since they are tied to her loss, which
necessitates a forced condition of painlessness.
The poet's mother has now been dead for nearly as long as the girl in the photograph. The poet is at a loss for words to express her feelings about her death. It's a solemn moment, and its silence has rendered her speechless. As a result, the poetess pays homage to her mother. The old snapshot is what brings her to a halt.
2. 'We're Not Afraid to Die…if We Can All Be Together' summary | |
9. Note-making summary | 10. Summarising summary |
11. Sub-titling summary | 12. Essay-writing summary |
13. Letter-writing summary | 14. Creative Writing summary |
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