Looking at a portrait of a man, Akhil said, "His mother is the wife of my father's son. I have no brothers or sisters." Whose portrait was Akhil looking at?

Introduction / Context:
This classic blood relation riddle appears in many competitive exams. It mixes a portrait, a description of relatives and a special condition about having no siblings. The challenge is to translate the verbal description into family roles and simplify step by step until you know exactly who the person in the portrait must be.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• Akhil is speaking while looking at the portrait of a man.
• He says that the man's mother is the wife of my father's son.
• Akhil also says that he has no brothers or sisters, so he is an only child.
• We assume standard family structure with father, mother, spouse and children.

Concept / Approach:
The key is to decode the phrase my father's son when the speaker has no siblings. In that case, my father's son must be the speaker himself. Then the wife of my father's son is the wife of the speaker. If the mother of the man in the portrait is the wife of the speaker, then the man must be the speaker's child. Since the portrait shows a man, that child is his son.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Because Akhil has no brothers or sisters, the phrase my father's son refers only to Akhil himself.Step 2: The wife of my father's son therefore means the wife of Akhil.Step 3: Akhil says that the mother of the man in the portrait is this woman, the wife of Akhil.Step 4: If a woman is the wife of Akhil and also the mother of the man in the portrait, then Akhil is the father of that man.Step 5: Hence, the person in the portrait is the son of Akhil.

Verification / Alternative check:
Suppose, for a moment, that my father's son had referred to someone else, such as a brother. Then the wife of that person would be the sister-in-law of Akhil, and the man in the portrait would be the nephew of Akhil. However, the problem explicitly removes that possibility by stating Akhil has no brothers or sisters. This forces my father's son to be Akhil himself, and the logic then leads uniquely to the portrait being of his son.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Uncle is impossible because the description focuses on the man's mother being the wife of my father's son, which links directly to Akhil, not to an older generation.Nephew would occur only if my father's son meant a brother, which is ruled out.Cousin is not consistent with the direct parent link we find.Father would require the man's mother to be the grandmother of Akhil, which is not supported by the description.

Common Pitfalls:
The biggest mistake is ignoring the statement that Akhil has no brothers or sisters and assuming that my father's son is a brother. Once that happens, students often label the man in the portrait as a nephew. Always handle the condition about siblings first in these riddles. It usually locks down who my father's son or my mother's daughter must be, after which the rest of the deductions are straightforward.

Final Answer:
Akhil was looking at the portrait of his son.