The Portrait of a Lady – Khushwant Singh

SAQs
1. How did Khushwant Singh portray his grandfather in the lesson?
Khushwant Singh describes his grandfather as he was painted in the portrait wearing big
turban and loose-fitting clothes, a long white beard covering the best part of his chest and
looking at least a hundred years old.
2. Describe ‘the happiest half-hour of the day’ for the grandmother.
For Khushwant Singh’s grandmother there was no other pastime and happy activity than
that of feeding the sparrows in the afternoon for half an hour. The sparrows could be seen
perched on her legs, shoulders and even on her head but were never shooed away by her.
3. What annoyed the grandmother the most about the education that author received at
his school?
no teachings about God and the scriptures- music lessons-according to her, music was only
for beggars and harlots
4. Why does the author’s grandmother sing songs of homecoming of warriors?
Author’s grandmother collected the women from the neighbourhood and started singing
songs about homecoming of the warriors and played a dilapidated drum to celebrate her
grandson’s unharmed and accomplished (also seemingly uninfluenced by western culture) a
return to his homeland much like a warrior who returns victorious and unharmed from the
battlefield.

LAQs
1. How did the author and his grandmother gradually grow distant from each other?
Author went to the city school and learnt what his grandmother neither understood nor
agreed with. They saw less of each other as she did not get him ready for school or
accompanied him to the same anymore. When the author went to the university, he was
given a room of his own. This made their friendship bond weaker as the common link
between them, that is, ‘the same room’ snapped. She became quieter and private and kept
to the spinning wheel all day long. She would feed the sparrows once a day and this was the
only thing that made her happy now.

2. Mention the three phases of the author’s relationship with his grandmother before he
left the country to study abroad.
The three phases of the author’s relationship with his grandmother before he left the
country to study abroad are as follows:
1. First Phase: The period of his early childhood where he used to live with her in the village.
His grandmother used to wake him up and get him ready for school. They both would walk
to school together and come back home together. They had a good friendship with each
other.

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2. Second Phase: In this phase, the author and his grandmother shifted to the city as the
author’s parents had settled in the city. Although author and his grandmother shared the
same room, their friendship was affected for they saw less of each other now.
3. Third Phase: When the author went to the university, he was given a room of his own.
The common link between them ‘the same room’ snapped. She became quieter and private
and kept the spinning wheel all day long. She would feed the sparrows once a day and this
was probably the only thing that made her happy now.

A Photograph – Shirley Toulson

RTC
The sea holiday
Was her past, mine is her laughter. Both wry
With the laboured ease of loss.

a. Who is ‘her’?
b. What are ‘her past’ and ‘mine’?
c. Explain ‘Both wry with the laboured ease of loss’.
d. Identify the figure of speech in the line ‘laboured ease of loss’.

Answers
a. The poetess’ mother
b. ‘Her past’ was a pleasant holiday by the sea. ‘Her’ refers to the poetess’ mother. ‘Mine’:
the poetess’ past was that her mother was alive and happy.
c. The poetess’ and her mother’s past, i.e., the poetess’ mother being alive, and the happy
sea holiday has now turned distorted. With great difficulty the poetess and her mother
have come to terms with their losses.
d. Oxymoron: wry with laboured ease of loss

SAQs
1. Why does the poetess Shirley Toulson bring the reference of transience of human life
while referring to past/memories?
Nature is perennial while human life is temporary or transient. The poet uses a transferred
epithet (terribly transient feet) in order to make this comparison and highlight the terribly
short-lived life of her mother/terribly short human life where beautiful memories is all one
can make to revisit and cherish in future for rest of it is subject to constant change.
2. Why does the mother laugh when she looks at the photograph?
mother is nostalgic; remembers the sea holiday, how their mother had dressed them up;
children were dressed in an outdated, funny fashion
3. How old do you think was poetess’ mother when she died?

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Poetess reports that her mother has been dead for as many years as ‘that girl’ lived
(referring to her mother’s past when she was 12 years or so) which implies that it has been
12 years since poetess’ mother passed away.
4. Explain the phrase ‘laboured ease of loss’.
being easy with the pain comes into place only with a lot of effort (ease which is laboured)-
the efforts made to come to terms with the pain-learning to live with loss/absence with a lot
of mental toil
5. What does the photograph show?
togetherness of a family holiday spent at sea; bond of friendship and care among the three
girl cousins; carefree silly dressing; thoughtful and fun-loving elders planning the holiday and
capturing the moment on camera; sweet and innocent childhood days
6. How did a casually-captured photograph become an important thing in both poetess’
and her mother’s lives?
The camera managed to capture a moment in time. It kept the memory of the mother and
hence the mother alive. The sea holiday brought a sad smile to the mother’s face because
she couldn’t live it again but was glad that she once had. Similarly, thinking of her mother’s
laughter brought a sad smile to the poetess’ face because although that laughter was now
gone, she was glad to have once had it in her life.

The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse – William Saroyan

SAQs
1. What justification does Aram give to himself for taking a ride on the horse despite being
aware of the truth about the theft of the horse by Mourad?
not as grave as stealing money- they were crazy about horses-would never sell the horse –
hence felt that they were not really stealing
2. How did Mourad and Aram’s actions conflict with their tribe’s values?
Garoghlanian people were proud first, honest next with an absolute discrimination between
right and wrong— meanwhile Mourad and Aram could not choose between the virtues the
tribe professed so strongly and their deep longings.
3. Why was it difficult for Aram to believe the sight of his cousin Mourad with the
beautiful white horse?
The sight was very difficult for Aram to believe for two reasons. First, the whole of the
Garoghlanian family to which the two boys belonged were extremely poor and therefore it
was not possible for Mourad to buy that horse. Secondly, in that case, it would mean that
Mourad had stolen that horse. But that was also not possible, because the Garoghlanian
family was also very much famous for their honesty and therefore Mourad could not steal
that horse either.
4. Where had Mourad been hiding the horse?

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Mourad had been hiding the horse in the barn of a deserted vineyard which was owned by a
farmer named Fetvajian.
5. What did the farmer John Byro tell the two boys when one day they accidentally met
him with his horse in their custody?
The farmer examined the horse and told them that he could swear that the horse was his
very horse which had been stolen from him many weeks before if he did not know about
their parents. He added that the fame of their family for honesty was very well known to
him and therefore he liked to say that the horse could be the twin of his stolen horse.
6. What did John Byro tell Aram’s mother and Uncle Khosrove when he got his horse
back?
John Byro came to Aram’s house and told Aram’s mother and Uncle Khosrove that he did
not know what to think about the whole matter. It was because the horse was stronger than
ever and was better tempered too and therefore, he thanked God.
7. Which excuses were given by Aram to himself for taking a ride on the horse despite
knowing fully the truth about the theft of the horse by Mourad?
Aram dismissed stealing a horse as much grave a crime as stealing money. Secondly, he
believed that if it was something like a horse for which both he and his cousin were crazy
then it couldn’t be stealing. Additionally, it was not going to become stealing until they
offered to sell the horse.
8. Why was Aram unwilling to return the horse so soon?
Aram was crazy for horses and he wanted to learn horse riding at all costs. The horse would
not let him to ride over it and hence he was unwilling to return the horse at least till he
would learn to ride it.

LAQs
1. Do you think Mourad’s stealing the horse was justified? Can stealing be acceptable if it
is not about the money? Justify your choice.
If yes: Mourad loved horses more than himself. The earliest and fondest of his longings were
that of riding a horse. He was crazily in love with John Byro’s horse. Stealing the horse was
not something he would even dream of. If the concept of stealing is related with the desire
of objects, Mourad isn’t guilty of it as the horse was not the object of his longing but his
love.

If no: Mourad and Aram took the horse out of a childish though heartfelt desire. While their
action did not stem from greed or malice, it does fall under the category of stealing. It also
did deprive lonely John Byro of his horse’s companionship and inconvenienced him for
weeks. As was seen in John’s reaction to seeing them with the horse, he was a true well-
wisher and friend and would have gladly let them ride the horse had they asked. (any other
well-justified response is acceptable)

2. Why is Mourad considered to be the direct descendant of Uncle Khosrove?

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Mourad was known for his crazy temperament like that of Uncle Khosrove. Both of them did
not conform to the ways of the world and appeared crazy to the people about them. Both of
them have hardly-noticed a soft side which was seen when Mourad nursed an injured bird
back to health and when Aram’s mother speaks of Uncle Khosrove’s large heart to which
losses have stopped mattering. Both of them exhibit a peculiar wisdom in their craziness
and have a single befitting trite for every time they are questioned: “Pay no attention to it,
it’s no harm”, would say Uncle Khosrove and “I have a way with...”, would boast Mourad.
Both of them lived a life reduced to simple pleasures and small acts of kindness. Although
they cared about the people around them, they refused to engage in any superfluous
behaviour. Uncle Khosrove seemed to be the most likely father of Mourad’s spirit.

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