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My Mother at Sixty-Six Notes
-Kamala Das
Textual Question Answers
(Think it out). Each bearing 2 Marks
Q.1. What is the kind of pain and ache that the poet feels?
Ans: The poet feels pain and aches to look at her old mother. Her mother was old and she looked pale and ash-like. Here the poet’s pain and ache is about the feeling of growing old which leads to death.
Q.2. Why are the young trees described as ‘sprinting’?
Ans: The term ‘sprinting’ refers to running fast. Here the poet describes the young trees as ‘sprinting’ because when she looks outside from a fast-moving car, the young trees seem to pass behind with the car’s speed. Here ‘sprinting’ symbolises ageing or growing old.
Q.3. Why has the poet brought in the image of the merry children ‘spilling out of their homes’?
Ans: The poet has brought in the image of ‘the merry children spilling out of their homes’ in the poem for poetic effect. It makes a contrast to the condition of the poet’s’ old mother. She is sad, pale and ash-like because of old age. On the other hand, the children are full of life and spirit because they are young.
Q.4. Why was the mother been compared to the ‘late winter’s moon? H. S. ’17, ’20
Ans: The poet’s mother has been compared to ‘late winter’s moon’ because as the late winter’s moon looks pale and ash-like, so the poet’s mother turned pale because of growing old.
Q.5. What do the parting words of the poet and her smile signify? H. S. ’24
Ans: Along with the smiling, the parting words of the poet was ‘see you soon, Amma’. The words and the smile signify the poet’s fear of losing her old mother because being old her mother may die at any time. So she wishes her mother would live long so that she could meet her mother again. By smiling the poet tries to hide her feeling of sorrow because of her mother.
Additional Question Answers
A. Short Answer-type Question:
1. Where is the poet Kamala Das driving to? H. S. ’12
Ans: Kamala Das was driving to the Cochin airport from her parent’s home.
2. What are the ‘merry children spilling out of their homes’ symbolic of? H. S. ’18
Ans: ‘The merry children out of their homes’ symbolises youthfulness and cheerfulness. The image of the ‘merry children’ stands in the poem as a contrast between young age and old age. Old age is full of gloom and inactivity while young age is full of cheerfulness and activity.
3. What do ‘young sprinting trees’ signify in the poem ‘My Mother at Sixty-six’? H. S. ’17, ’20
Ans: The young sprinting trees signify youthfulness, cheerfulness and activity. The image of the sprinting trees is used as a contrast between young age and old age.
4. What childhood fear did Kamala Das refer to in her poem? How did she hide it? H. S. ’24
Ans: By ‘childhood fear’ Kamala Das refers to her fear of losing her mother. She thought that growing old leads to death.
B. Reading Extract and Answering
Q.1. Read the following extracts and answer the questions that follow:
(a) ‘……. and felt that old
familiar ache, my childhood’s fear,
but all I said was, see you soon, Amma,
all I did was smile and smile and smile….’
Questions:
(i) What was the childhood fear that now troubled the poet? 1
(ii) What do the poet’s parting words suggest? 2
(iii) Why did the poet smile and smile? 1
Ans: (i) The poet’s childhood fear was that she would lose her mother one day- either soon or late.
(ii) The poet’s parting words suggest that she does not want to lose her mother.
(iii) The poet smiled and smiled to hide her sorrows which she felt for her ageing mother.
(b) ‘but after the airport’s
security check, standing a few yards
away, I looked again at her, wan, pall
as a late winter’s moon and felt that old
familiar ache, my childhood’s fear,
but all I said was, see you soon, Amma
all I did was smile and smile and smile ….’
Questions:
(i) What did the speaker do after the security check? 1
(ii) Why did the poet compare her mother’s face to a ‘late winter’s moon’? 2
(iii) What was the poet’s childhood fear? 1
Ans: (i) After the security check, the poet looked again at her mother’s face which looked pale and wan.
(ii) The poetess’s mother has been compared to ‘late winter’s moon because as the late winter’s moon looks pale and ash-like so the poet’s mother turned pale because of growing old.
(iii) The poet’s childhood fear was that she would lose her mother one day- either soon or late.
(c) ‘But soon put that thought away,
and looked out at Young Trees sprinting,
the merry children spilling out of their homes.’
Questions:
(i) Who looked at the young trees? 1
(ii) Which thought did the speaker put away? 1
(iii) What do young sprinting trees signify? 1
(iv) What did the poet see the children doing? 1
Ans: (i) The poet Kamala Das looked out at the young trees.
(ii) The poet put away the thought of the pain that she felt looking at the face of her old mother.
(iii) The ‘sprinting trees’ signify ageing or growing old.
(iv) The poet saw the children playing with merriment out of their homes.
(d) “Driving from parent’s home to
Cochin last Friday morning,
I saw my mother, beside me,
doze, open mouthed, her face ashen like that
of a corpse…” H. S. ’19
Questions :
(i) Where was the speaker driving to ? 1
(ii) What did she notice when her mother sat beside her? 1
(iii) Find two words from the passage that mean ‘sleep’ lightly’ and ‘dead body’ 2
(iv) Why was her mother’s face like that of a corpse? 1
Ans: (i) The speaker was driving to Cochin airport from her parents’ home.
(ii) She noticed that her mother was dozing while sitting beside the poet, She looked pale, ash-like and gloomy like a corpse.
(iii) The word in the poem that means ‘sleep lightly’ is ‘doze’ and the word that mean ‘dead body’ is ‘corpse’.
(iv) The poet’s mother’s face was like that of a corpse because she grew old and became gloomy, pale and ash-like. 0 0 0
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My Mother at Sixty-Six Notes: Text
Here is the text of the poem “My Mother at Sixty-Six” by Kamala Das:
My Mother at Sixty-Six
Driving from my parent’s
home to Cochin last Friday
morning, I saw my mother, beside me,
doze, open-mouthed, her face ashen like that
of a corpse and realized with
pain that she was as old as she
looked but soon
put that thought away, and
looked out at Young
Trees sprinting, the merry children spilling
out of their homes,
but after the airport’s
security check, standing a few yards
away, I looked again at her, wan,
pale as a late winter’s moon and felt that
old familiar ache, my childhood’s fear,
but all I said was, see you soon, Amma,
all I did was smile and smile and
smile…
My Mother at Sixty-Six Notes: Summary
In the poem, the poet describes a moment when she is driving to the airport with her 66-year-old mother, who is sitting beside her. The poet notices her mother is dozing off with her mouth open, looking pale and tired, almost like a dead person. This sight makes the poet sad as she realizes her mother is aging and might not have much time left.
To distract herself from these painful thoughts, the poet looks out of the car window and sees young trees rushing past and children playing happily. This scene contrasts sharply with her mother’s frailty and makes the poet feel the passage of time even more.
When they reach the airport and say goodbye, the poet looks at her mother again and sees her as weak and pale, like the moon in late winter. The poet is reminded of her childhood fear of losing her mother, but she doesn’t show her sadness. Instead, she smiles and reassures her mother that they will meet again soon, even though inside she feels deeply worried.
The poem captures the emotional struggle of seeing a loved one grow old and the fear of losing them, using simple yet powerful imagery to express these feelings. 0 0 0
