Solution of Chapter 1. The Portrait of a Lady (NCERT - English Hornbill Book)

The three phases of the author’s relationship with his grandmother before he left the country to study abroad.

Three reasons why the author’s grandmother was disturbed when he started going to the city school.

Three ways in which the author’s grandmother spent her days after he grew up.

The odd way in which the author’s grandmother behaved just before she died.

The way in which the sparrows expressed their sorrow when the author’s grandmother died.

The author’s grandmother was a religious person. What are the different ways in which we come to know this?

Describe the changing relationship between the author and his grandmother. Did their feelings for each other change?

Would you agree that the author’s grandmother was a person strong in character? If yes, give instances that show this.

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?

Which language do you think the author and his grandmother used while talking to each other?

Which language do you use to talk to elderly relatives in your family?

How would you say ‘a dilapidated drum’ in your language?

Can you think of a song or a poem in your language that talks of homecoming?

Notice the following uses 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

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.

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.

Talk with your family members about elderly people who you have been intimately connected with and who are not there with you now. Write a short description of someone you liked a lot.

What does the word ‘cardboard’ denote in the poem? Why has this word been used?

What has the camera captured?

What has not changed over the years? Does this suggest something to you?

The poet’s mother laughed at the snapshot. What did this laugh indicate?

What is the meaning of the line “Both wry with the labored ease of loss.”

What does “this circumstance” refer to?

The three stanzas depict three different phases. What are they?