The Portrait of a Lady NCERT Solutions Class 11 PDF Download 2026

Ans: The three phases are:
1. Childhood in the Village: This was a period of intense companionship. They were constantly together; she woke him up, got him ready for school, walked with him, and they fed the village dogs together.
2. Boyhood in the City (The Turning Point): They shared a room, but she could no longer accompany him to his English school. She disapproved of his modern subjects (science, music) and could not help him with studies. They saw less of each other.
3. Early Youth (University): When the author went to the university, he was given a separate room. The common link of their friendship was snapped, and she accepted her seclusion with resignation.

Ans: The grandmother was disturbed because:
1. She could not understand English and the laws of gravity/science, so she could no longer help him with his lessons.
2. She was deeply distressed that there was no teaching about God and the scriptures in the modern city school.
3. She was horrified to learn he was being given music lessons. To her, music had lewd associations and was meant for harlots and beggars, not gentlefolk.

Ans: After the author grew up and the bond of friendship snapped, she spent her days by:
1. Sitting continuously by her spinning wheel, spinning from sunrise to sunset.
2. Reciting her prayers silently with her rosary beads, rarely talking to anyone.
3. Feeding the sparrows in the afternoon in the courtyard, which became the happiest half-hour of her day.

Ans: Just before she died, a sudden change came over her. For the first time in her life, she did not pray. Instead, she collected the women of the neighbourhood, got an old dilapidated drum, and sang songs of the homecoming of warriors for several hours. The next morning, she fell ill. Realizing her end was near, she refused to waste any more time talking to her family, ignored their protests, and lay peacefully in bed praying and telling her beads until she died.

Ans: Thousands of sparrows gathered in the courtyard and sat silently around her dead body. Unlike their usual behaviour, there was no chirruping. They were absolutely quiet, expressing a deep, mournful silence. When the author's mother threw little crumbs of bread to them, the sparrows took no notice of the bread. When the grandmother's corpse was carried off, they flew away quietly.

Ans: The author had seen his grandmother as an old, deeply wrinkled woman for the twenty years he had known her. Her appearance seemed so permanent and terribly old that the idea of her being young, pretty, and playing games seemed almost revolting and absurd to him.

Ans: In the portrait hung above the mantelpiece, the grandfather wore a big turban and loose-fitting clothes. His long white beard covered the best part of his chest, and he looked at least a hundred years old—someone who could only have lots and lots of grandchildren, not a young wife or children.

Ans: In the village, she would wake him up, bathe him, and dress him for school while singing her morning prayers. She would fetch his wooden slate, an earthen ink-pot, and a red pen, hand him a breakfast of thick, stale chapattis with butter and sugar, and then accompany him to school.

Ans: She accompanied him because the school was attached to the village temple. While the children sat in rows learning the alphabet and morning prayers, she sat inside the temple reading the holy scriptures.

Ans: The author expected her to be upset, but she was not even sentimental. She came to the railway station to see him off, showing no emotion. She simply kissed his forehead silently while her lips moved in prayer and her fingers told the beads of her rosary.

Ans: In the city, the happiest half-hour for her was in the afternoon when she fed the sparrows. Hundreds of little birds would gather around her, creating a veritable bedlam of chirruping. They perched on her legs, shoulders, and even her head, but she never shooed them away.

Ans: The grandmother was a woman of strong character, deep religious faith, and immense emotional stability. Physically, she was short, fat, slightly bent, and her face was a criss-cross of wrinkles. She always wore spotless white clothes, comparing her to an "expanse of pure white serenity."
She was highly conservative, strictly believing that education must include religion and scriptures. She was deeply compassionate towards animals, feeding street dogs in the village and sparrows in the city. Though she loved her grandson deeply, she was not overly sentimental. When the generation gap grew, she accepted her seclusion with quiet resignation. Her death, mourned silently by thousands of sparrows, proved the purity and nobility of her soul.

Ans: The shift to the city drastically altered their physical and emotional proximity. In the village, the grandmother was the author's primary companion; she prepared him for school and walked with him. In the city, a motor bus took him to an English school, ending their joint walks. She could not understand English, science, or gravity, making her unable to help with his homework. The introduction of music lessons completely broke their communication, as she considered music highly inappropriate. Thus, modern city life and education inadvertently created a massive wedge, turning their intimate friendship into a distant, silent co-existence.

Ans: The grandmother’s compassion for animals was a constant trait, but it adapted to her environment. In the village, she actively engaged with street dogs. She purposefully carried stale chapattis and threw them to the dogs on their way back from the temple, while the dogs followed them, growling and fighting for the food in an energetic manner.
In the city, confined to the courtyard, her interaction shifted to sparrows. She patiently broke bread into little crumbs. The interaction was much more intimate and delicate; the birds perched on her shoulders and head. While the village dogs represented her active, outdoor life, the city sparrows became the sole focus of her quiet, secluded indoor life, providing her with her only half-hour of daily joy.

Ans: The author and his family dealt with her death in a customary, practical manner. After she passed away, they lifted her off the bed, laid her on the floor, and covered her with a red shroud. After a few hours of mourning, they left her alone to make arrangements for the funeral.
In stark contrast, the reaction of the sparrows was deeply emotional and mystical. Thousands of sparrows arrived but maintained an absolute, deathly silence—not a single chirp was heard. When the author's mother offered them breadcrumbs, they completely ignored the food, proving they had come to mourn her loss, not to eat. They flew away quietly only when her corpse was carried off, demonstrating a profound, almost human level of grief.

Ans: The author uses this beautiful simile to describe his grandmother's aura. A winter landscape in the mountains is pristine, calm, white, and undisturbed. Similarly, the grandmother, dressed always in spotless white, with her silver locks scattered over her pale face, radiated a sense of absolute purity. Her constant, silent prayers and her calm acceptance of life's changes (even her own seclusion) gave her an aura of deep, unshakeable peace and spiritual contentment, just like the serene mountains.

Ans: "That" refers to the event of the author and his grandmother moving from the village to the city to live with the author's parents. This geographical shift forced a major change in their lifestyle and education, gradually separating them.

Ans: After five years, when the author returned, she did not pray that evening. Instead, she collected neighborhood women, took an old, sagging drum, and spent hours singing songs about the homecoming of warriors, overstraining herself in her excitement.

Ans: She realized her end was near and felt guilty that she had omitted her prayers the previous evening (while singing). To make up for the lost time, she refused to waste any more time talking to her family and devoted her last moments entirely to praying.

Ans: Seeing the silent sparrows, the author's mother felt sorry for them. She brought some bread, broke it into little crumbs exactly the way the grandmother used to, and threw it to them. It did not work; the sparrows took absolutely no notice of the bread.