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FLAMINGO Poem 1 My Mother At Sixty Six by KAMALA DAS

Summary:-
Firstly, when the poet is on her way to the Cochin airport with her old mother sitting beside
her, she looks at her closely and presents before us her image.
She compares her with a corpse. (Simile is a figure of speech to show comparison between
her mother’s face and a corpse.) As she looks at her mother’s pale and pallid face, she is
struck with the horror and pain of losing her. The mother with the dozing face and open
mouth is compared to a corpse. Here, the poet shows the typical love and affection which is
present in a mother-daughter relation.
The poet is pained and shifts her attention outside the car in order to drive out the negative
feelings. She changes her sad mood .The scene outside the window is of growing life and
energy. The rapidly sprinting trees alongside the merrily playing children symbolize life,
youth and vitality. The poet here is reminded of her own childhood when her mother had
been young whereas now she is encircled with the fear of losing her and that has made her
insecure.
She is at the airport to take a flight. It indicates departure and separation which creates
melancholy. As she bids goodbye to her mother, the image of the old, wan, worn out mother
in the twilight of years strikes her again. Here again a simile is used to compare her mother
with a late winter’s moon whose light is obstacle by fog and mist As she looks old now, her
personality is affected by it.
The poet is feeling the pain of separation, leaving her mother and going. Also, her childhood
fear of losing her mother which she feels that earlier was temporary but now, could be
forever as she could die of old age, is haunting her. She is so pained that it is natural for her
to cry but keeping a brave front she hides her tears and smiles.
She bids farewell to her mother and keeping her hope of seeing her again alive, says “see you
soon, Amma”. She hides her sorrow as she does not want to create a painful environment for
her mother and conveys her that as she is enjoying her life similarly her mother should also
be happy and enjoy her life.
(The poem revolves around the theme of advancing age and the fear that adheres to its loss
and separation. It is a sentimental account of the mother’s approaching end through the eyes
of the daughter. The seemingly short poem touches upon the theme of the filial bond
between the mother and daughter smeared in the backdrop of nostalgia and fear. Nostalgia of
the past (the time spent with the mother) and fear of the future without her.)
It is a short poem, without a full stop, the poem is like a long sentence, over flowing thought
process. The poet uses the device of comparison and contrast, simile and repetition.

QUESTION ANSWER:-
1.What is the kind of pain and ache that the poet feels?
When the poet looks at her mother’s face closely, she discovers that she has aged and her end
is near. The feeling of her mother being old, needing care and help pains the poet as there is
no one to look after her. She feels that her mother can die any moment and that then she will
lose her forever. Her childhood fear of losing her mother which was then timely but now,
will be forever, resurfaces. The poet feels the pain of her mother’s old age and her
helplessness towards her. She has the fear of separating from her mother forever, upon her
death.
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2Why are the young trees described as ‘sprinting’?

The young trees have been personified. When looked at from the poet’s moving car, they
seem to be running past. The poet found it to be strikingly opposite to her mother who
looked as still as a dead body.

3Why has the poet brought in the image of the merry children ‘spilling out of their
homes’?
The poet draws a comparison between what is travelling with her and what she can see
outside. It’s a comparison between life and death. Her mother is sleeping, with mouth open,
like a dead body, while outside she can see children who are full of life, energy and
enthusiasm.

4Why has the mother been compared to the ‘late winter’s moon’?
Just as the late winter’s moon is dull and lacks luster, so is her mother at the end stage of her
life. Also, as the late winter moon gets overshadowed by the fog and mist in the sky similarly
her mother can get overshadowed by death at any time. Both of them are nearing an end- one
of season and the other of life.

5What do the parting words of the poet and her smile signify?
The parting words of the poet show her positive attitude. She overcomes her pain and fear,
assures herself and her mother that they would meet again. She is being very brave which is
indicated by the use of repetition in the poem:
“smile and smile and smile......”

6. How did Kamala Das put away the thought of her mother’s old age?
The poet started looking out of the window because she wanted to drive away the pain and
agony she was experiencing by looking at her aged mother. She looked outside at the world
which was full of life and activity. She saw young trees running past her and merry children
sprinting out of their homes to play.

7. Why did Kamala Das add the image of merry children to her poem?
The merry children symbolise the spring of life, its energy, vigour and happiness. Their
image presents a sharp contrast to the poet’s limp and ageing mother. This image is also
imperative for the understanding of the process of old age which is associated with decay.
The spontaneous outpouring of life symbolised by these children is in contrast to the poet’s
mother’s passive and inactive life.

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follows:
1. …but soon
put that thought away and
looked out at young
trees sprinting, the merry children spilling
out of their homes, …
1. Which thought did the poet put away?
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2. What do the ‘sprinting trees’ signify?

3. What are ‘the merry children spilling out of their homes’, symbolic of?
Answer:
1. The poet put away the painful thought of her mother’s ageing and declining health and the
possibility of losing her mother.
2. The trees appear to be racing past as their car moves towards the airport. The old, inactive
mother is contrasted with the energetic and active trees.
3. The ‘merry children spilling out of their homes’ are symbolic of happiness, energy and
playfulness. They are in stark contrast to the old, dozing mother. The sad thoughts of the
poet are also contrasted with the merry children.

2.…..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 …
1. What was the childhood fear that now troubled the poet?
2. What do the poet’s parting words suggest?
3. Why did the poet smile and smile?
Answer:
1. The childhood fear of death and decay now troubled the poet. She is concerned about her
mother’s frail health and old age.
2. The poet’s parting words reveal her fear. Though she hopes she will see her mother soon
but she is anxious about her mother’s deteriorating health and falls short of words to convey
her true feelings.
3. The poet smiled and smiled in an effort to reassure herself that she will meet her mother
soon. Her words and smiles are a deliberate attempt to hide her real fears and feelings from
her mother.

3. 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 realised with pain
that she was as old as she looked….
1. What was the poet driving to?
2. Why was her mother’s face looking like that of a corpse?
3. What did the poet notice about her mother?
Answer:
1. The poet was driving to the airport from where she would head to her house in Cochin.
2. Her mother’s face was looking like that of a corpse because it was pale, lifeless and
colourless.|
3. The poet noticed that her mother was really old and this made her reflect painfully on the
latter’s imminent death.

4. …..my childhood’s fear

but all I said was, see you soon,
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Amma,
all I did was smile and smile and smile ……..
1. Who is ‘I’?
2. What was ‘my childhood’s fear’?
3. Why did the narrator smile repeatedly?
Answer:
1. I refers to the poet, Kamala Das.
2. The poet’s childhood fear is that of death and decay. She is concerned about her mother’s
frail health and old age.
3. The poet smiled repeatedly to reassure herself that she will meet her mother soon. Her
words and smiles are a deliberate attempt to hide her real fears and feelings.
MCQs
Q1- Who is the poet of this poem?
A) John Keats B) Rudyard Kipling C) William Wordsworth D) Kamala Das
Q2- What is her work known for?
A) for their originality, versatility and flavour of the soil B) for their popularity
C) for their style D) for the expressions used
Q3- What is the kind of pain and ache that the poet feels?
A) Losing her mother B) heart attack
C) headache D) children screaming at her
Q4- Name the poetic devices used in the poem.
A) metaphor B) simile C) alliteration D) all these
simile
In this poem, the poet uses the device of simile on two instances. When she compares her
mother's face with that of a corpse and also uses the word “like” while making that comparison.
She again compares her mother with the moon in wintertime and also uses the word “as” while
making this comparison.

Q5- What is the significance of the title My Mother at Sixty Six?

A) Poets fear of losing her old mother B) poets fear of moving fast
C) poets inability to express her feelings D) All these
Q6- Which poetic device is Trees sprinting ?
A) metaphor B) simile C) alliteration D) Personification
metaphor
In this poem, the poet uses the device of metaphor in line when she speaks 'Trees sprinting, the
merry children spilling out of their homes' to show the contrary image of her mother's age and
approaching end.

Q7- What is the distinctive feature of the poem?

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A) Its metaphors B) simile used

C) alliteration used D) narrative style using a single sentence in a set of 14 lines

Q8- What does this narrative style of the poem signifies?

A) Differing thoughts B) many thoughts
C) contrasting thoughts D) a single thread of thought mixed with harsh realities
Q9- What is the main idea of the poem?
A) Eternal painful old age and its fears B) mother and daughter love
C) helplessness of a daughter D) lack of strength
Q10- What did the poet realize with the pain?
A) her mother's appearance like a corpse with growing age B) she is helpless
C) old age is painful D) she has duties