The Connoisseur
-Nergis Dalal
Objectives of the Lesson
• This piece of prose explores human relations of the present day.
• Background of Miss Krishna, a connoisseur and her likes.
• Her fascination towards beautiful and rare artifacts.
• Miss Krishna’s eccentric behaviour with the author.
• Ms. Krishna’s angina attack and her death
• Ms. Krishna’s sister return for Maya’s funeral
• Ms. Krishna’s sister became the soul beneficiary of the will
• Ms. Krishna becomes an unexpected humour in the life of the author
1. What was the story of Miss Krishna’s past?
Ans: Miss Krishna was a spry and thin spinster
. She was aged about sixty five.
She has a nervous and frenetic appearance which also reflects in her dressing.
She has a great fascination to beautiful things and she steals these artifacts and
preserves them carefully. She had habit of talking continuously and used to ask
umpteen numbers of questions. She was so fuss about food.
All her life was spent in looking after her ailing mother. She had a younger sister
who was married and had left home many years ago. Though Miss Krishna
looked after her mother carefully, perversely her mother had lavished all her love
and tenderness on the younger girl. Consequently, Miss Krishna had been left in
the cold. When her mother died she had been left a small annuity and a tiny
cottage for her to lead her life.
2. Did Miss Krishna make a good guest? Give reasons for your answer
Ans: Miss Krishna did not make a good guest. There are sufficient reasons to
reinforce it. She makes fuss about every little thing and talks endlessly about her
distressing past life. When the author had invited her for a short stay she moved
in with an astonishing array of black tin trunks. A string of coolies brought all
those black tin trunks on their head as if she was setting out on safari into the
wilds of the Amazon. Seeing the entire luggage, the author felt half amused and
half annoyed. She felt she cluttered her house and made lot of noise when the
tins were moved. The writer shrugged the whole things off – and thought the sort
of mild eccentricity common to ageing spinsters.
Moreover, she was an irritating guest. She fiddles with everything in the house.
She picks every small thing and poses umpteen numbers of questions. Miss
Krishna distracted the author all the time and she found it great difficult to write
her book. She was astonishingly fuss about food as well, and insisted on brown
sugar for coffee and fresh butter on all her vegetables. Staying two weeks with
Miss Krishna, the author got vexed and decided strongly not to see Miss Krishna
again. She felt it would be impossible to exist even one more day with Miss
Krishna under the same roof.
Hence, it can be concluded that Miss Krishna does not make a good guest with
the reasons presented here.
3. What caused Miss Krishna’s stay at the writer’s home to come to an
end?
Ans: Soon after two weeks, Miss Krishna’s stay has come to an end in the
author’s house. She was an irritating guest and nobody could bear with her. She
fiddles every unnecessary thing in the house. She picks every small thing and
poses umpteen numbers of questions which would annoy the author. Miss
Krishna distracted the author’s attention and she found it great difficult to write
her book. She was astonishingly fussed about food. She insisted on brown sugar
for coffee and fresh butter on all her vegetables. Staying two weeks with Miss
Krishna, the author got vexed and decided strongly not to see Miss Krishnaagain. She felt it would be impossible to exist even one more day with Miss
Krishna under the same roof.
Miss Krishna was extremely inquisitive and looked at the photo of author’s late
husband and asked whether she had been happy with him. She went further into
author’s private matters and asked how much money he had left her and how
much she could make on her writings. This besides, she sent feelers about to
pool the author’s resources and to share her house permanently. The author got
terribly alarmed as Miss Krishna intruded into her privacy and became a pain in
her neck. On her personal visit and interaction with Mali, she came to know that
Miss Krishna’s house had been distempered two weeks ago and was ready to be
occupied. When the author came back, Miss Krishna was reading author’s
unpublished manuscript. She could not bare it and told callously that she did not
like anyone reading her unpublished writings. She told Miss Krishna coldly to go
back right away to her house.
As a result, Miss Krishna’s stay with author has come to an eternal end.
4. How did the writer happen to make a shocking discovery about Miss
Krishna?
Ans: The author got shocked when Mali informed her that Miss Krishna lying on
the bed and did not wake up for her morning tea. The author visited her with a
doctor but felt depressed to know about her death with angina attack. The author
sent a telegram for Miss Krishna’s sister and made arrangements for funeral. Her
sister May was on time for the funeral. The author got astonished to see the
number of people gathered there. Surprisingly, the author had no idea that Miss
Krishna knew so many people.
After funeral, Miss Krishna’s sister asked the author to stay back. She was sullen
and stared at the author something like distrust. The author got particularly
shocked to know that Miss Krishna is also called Maya and she wrote a will and
left everything to her. The author told immediately that she was afraid she can
not accept anything. She said firmly ‘I have no wish to be rude, but really, I hardlyknew your sister. We were simply casual acquaintances. The author told it would
be quite improper for her to take his/her things off.
5. How did Maya’s sister first behave with the writer and what could have
been the reason for the change in her attitude later?
Ans: Initially, Maya’s sister was sullen and stared at the author with something
distrust. It was because the will was not written on her name. Later, she said
to the author Maya wrote a will and left everything for her which was legal and
duly witnessed. The author told immediately that she was afraid she can not
accept anything. Miss Krishna said firmly ‘I have no wish to be rude, but really,
I hardly knew your sister. We were simply casual acquaintances. She said it
would be improper for me to take her things. She then asked who the next
beneficiary was. Maya’s sister said smilingly and agreeably ‘I am’. Maya’s
sister behaviour was changed because of the author’s noble response not to
accept the will written on her name and gave away everything to Maya’s sister.
6. Look up a dictionary to find out the meaning of ‘connoisseur’. Why do
you think the title is appropriate for the story?
Ans: The meaning of ‘connoisseur’ is an expert who has specialist knowledge of
or training in a particular field of the fine or domestic arts, or whose taste in
such a field is considered to be discriminating. The title of the lesson is quite
apt as it deals with the story of Miss Krishna, a connoisseur. She has great
appreciation for all beautiful artifacts and other exquisite household things. All
through the story, one can come across how avidly Miss Krishna collects a
wide variety of objects and preserves them with utmost care.
7. Give a detailed sketch of ‘Connoisseur’
Ans: Miss Krishna was a spry and thin spinster. She was aged about sixty five.
All her life was spent in looking after her ailing mother. She has a nervous and
frenetic appearance which also reflects in her dressing. Maya, younger sister of
Miss Krishna was married and had left home many years ago. Perversely, themother had lavished all her love and tenderness on the younger girl.
Consequently, Miss Krishna had been left in the cold. When her mother died she
had been left a small annuity and a tiny cottage in which to live.
Miss Krishna and the author met each other for the first time in an art exhibition,
where they found each other looking bemusedly at an enormous, life-size nude
portrait. They became quite familiar to each other. For the author, Miss Krishna
seemed to be sympathetic and an abandoned dog. The author was impelled to
invite her for a cup of tea. Then the author came to know about her interest for
beautiful things. Miss Krishna went to raptures when she saw author’s collection
including tea set, Chinese carpet, crystal ash trays, red ceramic bowls filled with
roses and carnations and petit-point footstool and the chair covers.
When she saw all those beautiful artifacts she cursed her depressed past and
poverty. She told her life had been a continuous struggle and told all those
coarse sheets on the bed, uncarpeted floors, pottery cups and plates and ugly
discarded furniture. She envied author’s house in a way she had been starved for
beautiful things in all her life.
On one week moment, the author had invited her for a short stay with her while
her own cottage being distempered and painted. She was glad and readily
accepted and moved in with an astonishing array of black tin trunks. A string of
coolies brought all those black tin trunks on their head as if she was setting out
on safari into the wilds of the Amazon. Seeing the entire luggage, the author felt
half amused and half annoyed as her house was cluttered noisy.
Moreover, she was an irritating guest. She fiddles with everything in the house.
She picks every small thing and poses umpteen numbers of questions. Miss
Krishna distracted the author all the time and she found it great difficult to write
her book. She was astonishingly fuss about food as well, and insisted on brown
sugar for coffee and fresh butter on all her vegetables. Staying two weeks with
Miss Krishna, the author got vexed and decided strongly not to see Miss Krishna
again. She felt it would be impossible to exist even one more day with Miss
Krishna under the same roof.To add to this Miss Krishna also intruded into the author’s private life. Miss
Krishna was extremely inquisitive and looked at the photo of author’s late
husband and asked whether she had been happy with him. She went further and
asked how much money he had left her and how much she could make on her
writings. This besides, she sent feelers about to pool the author’s resources and
to share her house permanently. The author got terribly alarmed as Miss Krishna
intruded into her privacy and became a pain in her neck.
On author’s personal visit to cottage and interaction with Mali, she came to know
that Miss Krishna’s house had been distempered two weeks ago and was ready
to be occupied. When the author returned, Miss Krishna was found reading
author’s unpublished manuscript. She got up out of fear and said, ‘I was looking
for a stamp and could not help just peeping into this’. She could not bare it and
told callously that she did not like anyone reading her unpublished writings. She
told Miss Krishna coldly to go back right away to her house. Then, Miss Krishna
went right backing a safari style to her cottage.
Miss Krishna continued her visits to author now and then in her usual untidy
appearance. She would generally sink back against the cushions of the sofa with
a luxurious sigh. She carried a large, battered leather purse and its handles
looped over her wrist securely. She never put that bag down, as though it were
an extension of herself. She used to share her marred past life about her
domineering and ailing mother whom she looked after all her life. She said how
her mother lavished all her love on her younger daughter and how she coldly she
was left alone
Once, Miss Krishna opened her handbag and shown a tiny exquisite coffee cup
and saucer, glazed red and gold, delicately translucent. She told ‘this is my
panacea of all my ills’. Author opined that that cup would be expensive but she
mildly refused and said u it was not at all expensive. Later, she put back cup and
saucer in her purse. Then, the author forgot all about it until she dined with Lalls.
Raina was an old friend of the author and enjoyed the evening. When coffee was
served, the author reminded of the same set of cup and saucer shown by Miss
Krishna.Next time, when Miss Krishna came, the author asked her whether she knew
Lalls and told about the 11 cups she saw there. Then the author sensed Miss
Krishna’s feelings. Since then the author had an eye on Miss Krishna’s moves.
Once, Miss Krishna offered Burmese lacquered box in black and gold. But the
author refused it and said she never accepted any presents from anyone. Miss
Krishna became sulky and never offered to her any.
One day, when Mali informed her that Miss Krishna lying on the bed and did not
wake up for her morning tea, the author got shocked. The author visited her with
a doctor but felt depressed to know about her death with angina attack. The
author sent a telegram for Miss Krishna’s sister and made arrangements for
funeral. Her sister May was on time for the funeral. The author got astonished to
see the number of people gathered there.
After funeral, Miss Krishna’s sister asked the author to stay back. She was sullen
and stared at the author something like distrust. The author got particularly
shocked to know that Miss Krishna is also called Maya and she wrote a will and
left everything to her. The author told immediately that she was afraid she can
not accept anything. She said firmly ‘I have no wish to be rude, but really, I hardly
knew your sister. We were simply casual acquaintances. The author told it would
be quite improper for the author to take his/her things off.
Initially, Maya’s sister was sullen and stared at her with something distrust. It
was because the will was not written on her name. Maya’s sister behaviour
was changed later because of the author’s noble response not to accept the
will written on her name and give everything to Maya’s sister who is
considered to be Maya’s next beneficiary. When they opened the trunks, to
their surprise, they found a plethora of artifacts and all are single and the
author found her own little-nine-inch clock half hidden by chiffon scarf, which
she lost it three months ago. When she took her watch Maya’s sister got
relieved as she did not pick anything more valuable.
For the author, Miss Krishna’s memory always reminds her of an unexpected
sense of humour.
-Nergis Dalal
Objectives of the Lesson
• This piece of prose explores human relations of the present day.
• Background of Miss Krishna, a connoisseur and her likes.
• Her fascination towards beautiful and rare artifacts.
• Miss Krishna’s eccentric behaviour with the author.
• Ms. Krishna’s angina attack and her death
• Ms. Krishna’s sister return for Maya’s funeral
• Ms. Krishna’s sister became the soul beneficiary of the will
• Ms. Krishna becomes an unexpected humour in the life of the author
1. What was the story of Miss Krishna’s past?
Ans: Miss Krishna was a spry and thin spinster
. She was aged about sixty five.
She has a nervous and frenetic appearance which also reflects in her dressing.
She has a great fascination to beautiful things and she steals these artifacts and
preserves them carefully. She had habit of talking continuously and used to ask
umpteen numbers of questions. She was so fuss about food.
All her life was spent in looking after her ailing mother. She had a younger sister
who was married and had left home many years ago. Though Miss Krishna
looked after her mother carefully, perversely her mother had lavished all her love
and tenderness on the younger girl. Consequently, Miss Krishna had been left in
the cold. When her mother died she had been left a small annuity and a tiny
cottage for her to lead her life.
2. Did Miss Krishna make a good guest? Give reasons for your answer
Ans: Miss Krishna did not make a good guest. There are sufficient reasons to
reinforce it. She makes fuss about every little thing and talks endlessly about her
distressing past life. When the author had invited her for a short stay she moved
in with an astonishing array of black tin trunks. A string of coolies brought all
those black tin trunks on their head as if she was setting out on safari into the
wilds of the Amazon. Seeing the entire luggage, the author felt half amused and
half annoyed. She felt she cluttered her house and made lot of noise when the
tins were moved. The writer shrugged the whole things off – and thought the sort
of mild eccentricity common to ageing spinsters.
Moreover, she was an irritating guest. She fiddles with everything in the house.
She picks every small thing and poses umpteen numbers of questions. Miss
Krishna distracted the author all the time and she found it great difficult to write
her book. She was astonishingly fuss about food as well, and insisted on brown
sugar for coffee and fresh butter on all her vegetables. Staying two weeks with
Miss Krishna, the author got vexed and decided strongly not to see Miss Krishna
again. She felt it would be impossible to exist even one more day with Miss
Krishna under the same roof.
Hence, it can be concluded that Miss Krishna does not make a good guest with
the reasons presented here.
3. What caused Miss Krishna’s stay at the writer’s home to come to an
end?
Ans: Soon after two weeks, Miss Krishna’s stay has come to an end in the
author’s house. She was an irritating guest and nobody could bear with her. She
fiddles every unnecessary thing in the house. She picks every small thing and
poses umpteen numbers of questions which would annoy the author. Miss
Krishna distracted the author’s attention and she found it great difficult to write
her book. She was astonishingly fussed about food. She insisted on brown sugar
for coffee and fresh butter on all her vegetables. Staying two weeks with Miss
Krishna, the author got vexed and decided strongly not to see Miss Krishnaagain. She felt it would be impossible to exist even one more day with Miss
Krishna under the same roof.
Miss Krishna was extremely inquisitive and looked at the photo of author’s late
husband and asked whether she had been happy with him. She went further into
author’s private matters and asked how much money he had left her and how
much she could make on her writings. This besides, she sent feelers about to
pool the author’s resources and to share her house permanently. The author got
terribly alarmed as Miss Krishna intruded into her privacy and became a pain in
her neck. On her personal visit and interaction with Mali, she came to know that
Miss Krishna’s house had been distempered two weeks ago and was ready to be
occupied. When the author came back, Miss Krishna was reading author’s
unpublished manuscript. She could not bare it and told callously that she did not
like anyone reading her unpublished writings. She told Miss Krishna coldly to go
back right away to her house.
As a result, Miss Krishna’s stay with author has come to an eternal end.
4. How did the writer happen to make a shocking discovery about Miss
Krishna?
Ans: The author got shocked when Mali informed her that Miss Krishna lying on
the bed and did not wake up for her morning tea. The author visited her with a
doctor but felt depressed to know about her death with angina attack. The author
sent a telegram for Miss Krishna’s sister and made arrangements for funeral. Her
sister May was on time for the funeral. The author got astonished to see the
number of people gathered there. Surprisingly, the author had no idea that Miss
Krishna knew so many people.
After funeral, Miss Krishna’s sister asked the author to stay back. She was sullen
and stared at the author something like distrust. The author got particularly
shocked to know that Miss Krishna is also called Maya and she wrote a will and
left everything to her. The author told immediately that she was afraid she can
not accept anything. She said firmly ‘I have no wish to be rude, but really, I hardlyknew your sister. We were simply casual acquaintances. The author told it would
be quite improper for her to take his/her things off.
5. How did Maya’s sister first behave with the writer and what could have
been the reason for the change in her attitude later?
Ans: Initially, Maya’s sister was sullen and stared at the author with something
distrust. It was because the will was not written on her name. Later, she said
to the author Maya wrote a will and left everything for her which was legal and
duly witnessed. The author told immediately that she was afraid she can not
accept anything. Miss Krishna said firmly ‘I have no wish to be rude, but really,
I hardly knew your sister. We were simply casual acquaintances. She said it
would be improper for me to take her things. She then asked who the next
beneficiary was. Maya’s sister said smilingly and agreeably ‘I am’. Maya’s
sister behaviour was changed because of the author’s noble response not to
accept the will written on her name and gave away everything to Maya’s sister.
6. Look up a dictionary to find out the meaning of ‘connoisseur’. Why do
you think the title is appropriate for the story?
Ans: The meaning of ‘connoisseur’ is an expert who has specialist knowledge of
or training in a particular field of the fine or domestic arts, or whose taste in
such a field is considered to be discriminating. The title of the lesson is quite
apt as it deals with the story of Miss Krishna, a connoisseur. She has great
appreciation for all beautiful artifacts and other exquisite household things. All
through the story, one can come across how avidly Miss Krishna collects a
wide variety of objects and preserves them with utmost care.
7. Give a detailed sketch of ‘Connoisseur’
Ans: Miss Krishna was a spry and thin spinster. She was aged about sixty five.
All her life was spent in looking after her ailing mother. She has a nervous and
frenetic appearance which also reflects in her dressing. Maya, younger sister of
Miss Krishna was married and had left home many years ago. Perversely, themother had lavished all her love and tenderness on the younger girl.
Consequently, Miss Krishna had been left in the cold. When her mother died she
had been left a small annuity and a tiny cottage in which to live.
Miss Krishna and the author met each other for the first time in an art exhibition,
where they found each other looking bemusedly at an enormous, life-size nude
portrait. They became quite familiar to each other. For the author, Miss Krishna
seemed to be sympathetic and an abandoned dog. The author was impelled to
invite her for a cup of tea. Then the author came to know about her interest for
beautiful things. Miss Krishna went to raptures when she saw author’s collection
including tea set, Chinese carpet, crystal ash trays, red ceramic bowls filled with
roses and carnations and petit-point footstool and the chair covers.
When she saw all those beautiful artifacts she cursed her depressed past and
poverty. She told her life had been a continuous struggle and told all those
coarse sheets on the bed, uncarpeted floors, pottery cups and plates and ugly
discarded furniture. She envied author’s house in a way she had been starved for
beautiful things in all her life.
On one week moment, the author had invited her for a short stay with her while
her own cottage being distempered and painted. She was glad and readily
accepted and moved in with an astonishing array of black tin trunks. A string of
coolies brought all those black tin trunks on their head as if she was setting out
on safari into the wilds of the Amazon. Seeing the entire luggage, the author felt
half amused and half annoyed as her house was cluttered noisy.
Moreover, she was an irritating guest. She fiddles with everything in the house.
She picks every small thing and poses umpteen numbers of questions. Miss
Krishna distracted the author all the time and she found it great difficult to write
her book. She was astonishingly fuss about food as well, and insisted on brown
sugar for coffee and fresh butter on all her vegetables. Staying two weeks with
Miss Krishna, the author got vexed and decided strongly not to see Miss Krishna
again. She felt it would be impossible to exist even one more day with Miss
Krishna under the same roof.To add to this Miss Krishna also intruded into the author’s private life. Miss
Krishna was extremely inquisitive and looked at the photo of author’s late
husband and asked whether she had been happy with him. She went further and
asked how much money he had left her and how much she could make on her
writings. This besides, she sent feelers about to pool the author’s resources and
to share her house permanently. The author got terribly alarmed as Miss Krishna
intruded into her privacy and became a pain in her neck.
On author’s personal visit to cottage and interaction with Mali, she came to know
that Miss Krishna’s house had been distempered two weeks ago and was ready
to be occupied. When the author returned, Miss Krishna was found reading
author’s unpublished manuscript. She got up out of fear and said, ‘I was looking
for a stamp and could not help just peeping into this’. She could not bare it and
told callously that she did not like anyone reading her unpublished writings. She
told Miss Krishna coldly to go back right away to her house. Then, Miss Krishna
went right backing a safari style to her cottage.
Miss Krishna continued her visits to author now and then in her usual untidy
appearance. She would generally sink back against the cushions of the sofa with
a luxurious sigh. She carried a large, battered leather purse and its handles
looped over her wrist securely. She never put that bag down, as though it were
an extension of herself. She used to share her marred past life about her
domineering and ailing mother whom she looked after all her life. She said how
her mother lavished all her love on her younger daughter and how she coldly she
was left alone
Once, Miss Krishna opened her handbag and shown a tiny exquisite coffee cup
and saucer, glazed red and gold, delicately translucent. She told ‘this is my
panacea of all my ills’. Author opined that that cup would be expensive but she
mildly refused and said u it was not at all expensive. Later, she put back cup and
saucer in her purse. Then, the author forgot all about it until she dined with Lalls.
Raina was an old friend of the author and enjoyed the evening. When coffee was
served, the author reminded of the same set of cup and saucer shown by Miss
Krishna.Next time, when Miss Krishna came, the author asked her whether she knew
Lalls and told about the 11 cups she saw there. Then the author sensed Miss
Krishna’s feelings. Since then the author had an eye on Miss Krishna’s moves.
Once, Miss Krishna offered Burmese lacquered box in black and gold. But the
author refused it and said she never accepted any presents from anyone. Miss
Krishna became sulky and never offered to her any.
One day, when Mali informed her that Miss Krishna lying on the bed and did not
wake up for her morning tea, the author got shocked. The author visited her with
a doctor but felt depressed to know about her death with angina attack. The
author sent a telegram for Miss Krishna’s sister and made arrangements for
funeral. Her sister May was on time for the funeral. The author got astonished to
see the number of people gathered there.
After funeral, Miss Krishna’s sister asked the author to stay back. She was sullen
and stared at the author something like distrust. The author got particularly
shocked to know that Miss Krishna is also called Maya and she wrote a will and
left everything to her. The author told immediately that she was afraid she can
not accept anything. She said firmly ‘I have no wish to be rude, but really, I hardly
knew your sister. We were simply casual acquaintances. The author told it would
be quite improper for the author to take his/her things off.
Initially, Maya’s sister was sullen and stared at her with something distrust. It
was because the will was not written on her name. Maya’s sister behaviour
was changed later because of the author’s noble response not to accept the
will written on her name and give everything to Maya’s sister who is
considered to be Maya’s next beneficiary. When they opened the trunks, to
their surprise, they found a plethora of artifacts and all are single and the
author found her own little-nine-inch clock half hidden by chiffon scarf, which
she lost it three months ago. When she took her watch Maya’s sister got
relieved as she did not pick anything more valuable.
For the author, Miss Krishna’s memory always reminds her of an unexpected
sense of humour.
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