Summary of 'The Portrait of a Lady' (Class 11 English)

In his childhood, the author lived with his grandmother in a village while his parents worked in the city. They shared a very close bond. She was an old, wrinkled, and highly religious woman who constantly muttered prayers and carried a rosary. She woke him up, bathed him, walked him to the village school, and fed stale chapatis to the street dogs.

When they moved to the city to live with his parents, their relationship experienced a 'turning point'. The author started going to an English medium school in a motor bus. His grandmother could no longer help him with his studies because she didn't understand English or Science. She was also deeply disturbed that the city school taught music, which she considered inappropriate, and did not teach about God or scriptures. As the author grew older and went to University, he was given his own room, and the common link of their friendship snapped.

The author went abroad for five years for higher studies, expecting his old grandmother might pass away before he returned. Surprisingly, she was there at the station to welcome him back. That evening, instead of praying, she celebrated his return by singing songs while beating an old drum. The next morning, she fell ill. Knowing her end was near, she stopped talking, took her rosary, and died peacefully praying. On the day of her funeral, thousands of sparrows gathered silently around her dead body to mourn her, refusing to eat the bread crumbs thrown to them.