Students please note down the summary in your claswork copies :maintain index in your copies properly
The Portrait of a Lady deals with an account of the author’s
old grandmother. She was very old and wrinkled. She was fat, short and bent.
She moved about the house with her rosary in her hand. She was always dressed
in white. Her hair was white. Her lips always moved in prayer. She would wake
up the author and prepare him for school. She went with him to school. The
school was attached to the temple. While children learnt alphabet, she sat
inside and read religious books. After school they came back together. She gave
bread to village dogs.
After sometime they went to the city. The author was now
in an English school. The grandmother could not help him with his lessons. She
was not contented with what he learnt there. The writer told her that he was
taught music. The grandmother did not like it. For her, music was meant for
prostitutes. She was unhappy because there was no religious teaching at that
school. There were no stray dogs. She took to feeding sparrows.
The author then
left for England for further studies. She did not feel upset. She went to the
station to see him off. At the time of parting, she kissed the author. When he returned
after five years, she came to the railway station to receive him. She did not
look even a day older. Even now she was saying her prayer. In the evening she
did not pray. She brought a drum. She called women from her neighbourhood. She
sang songs to celebrate the return of her grandson. The next morning she fell
ill. She lay peacefully in her bed praying. She died peacefully. Her death
affected even the sparrows. They did not chirp. They ignored the crumbs thrown
to them.
No comments:
Post a Comment