My Mother at Sixty Six Class 12 English

Summary, Explanation, Question Answers

My Mother at Sixty Six by Kamala Das is a moving poem. In this she laments her mother’s
ageing and feels extremely sad at the time her separation from her ageing mother at the
airport. In the car, she notices that her mother had grown terribly old and that the two would
not probably meet again. She compares her mother with a late winter’s moon. She pretends
to be happy to make her mother happy and departs with a heavy heart.

In this poem, Kamala Das presents a daughter’s anguish (pain) as she is leaving her ageing
mother behind her for a while. She is going to board a flight and is not sure about her timely
return in case something happened to her mother.

The poet was going to the Cochin international Airport. She was probably in a taxi. It is
certain that she was going to a distant place for a long stay there. She was accompanied by
her aged mother. The mother was very old, older than her age. During the journey the
mother slipped into a doze. Her mouth remained open like that of a dead body. Moreover
her face had lost the color of life. Her face was colourless, ashen.

Stanza 1

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.

Meaning

o Parent’s – Here, mother’s

o Cochin – A town in Kerala (Kochi)
o Beside – With
o Doze – Sleep
o Ashen – Grey (Old age)
o Corpse – Dead body

Questions and Answers

1. Where was the poet going? Who was with her?

The poet was going to Cochin Airport. With her was her aged mother.

2. How did the mother look like? Why did the poet feel sad seeing the mother’s
appearance?
The mother was sleeping inside the car with her mouth open. Her face was colourless like
that of a dead body. Seeing this appearance of her mother, the poet was suddenly filled
with a fear of separation and loss.
3. Why does the poet relate the mother’s appearance to that of a corpse?
The poet’s mother was aged. At sixty six it was hard to tell how long she would live.
Moreover, inside the car she was sleeping, her mouth held open and her skin so colourless
like that of a dead body.
4.
Stanza 2

And realized with pain that she was as old as

She looked but soon put that thought away
And looked at young trees sprinting,
The merry children spilling out of their homes.
Meaning
o Looked – Appeared
o That thought – The thought that mother was aged
o Put that thought away – Diverted her mind
o Sprinting – Running (The illusion of movement)
o Merry – Happy
o Spilling – Run out
Notes
While the poet was deeply thinking about this separation, she happened to look at the
mother. The poet was amazed to see that her mother had really grown old. Now she had to
accept that her mother was really old. Her mind so heavy with this thought, the poet looked
out and tried to brush away her sadness. But what she saw outside didn’t cheer her up. On
the contrary she grew sadder looking out. What she saw there sharply contrasted with what
she had with her. The young trees were running cheerfully. Young children were in their jolly
mood, playing fun and frolic. Everything looked cheerful and lively outside while the mother
remained almost lifeless and the poet sad.

Questions and Answers

1. What did the poet realize with pain?

The poet realized with pain that her mother had grown terribly old, a thought that she never
had in her mind before.
2. Why was the realization painful?
The realization, that the mother was approaching death, was painful to the poet. The poet
was supposed to stay away from her mother for a long duration, far away. They might not
even meet again.
3.
4. Why did the poet put that thought away?
The poet was thinking about a long separation from her aged mother. She even feared that
the mother and daughter would not meet again. Suddenly she noticed that her mother had
been reading her mind. In an attempt to disguise her line of thoughts, the poet looked out of
the car and pretended to be cheerful.
5. What did the poet see outside of the car?
The poet saw cheerful life outside the car. There were young trees running back in a lively
mood and children playing around their houses.
6. How does the poet strike a contrast between what travelled with her and what moved
outside?
The mother was sleeping inside the car with her mouth open. She was similar to a dead
 body. She was cheerless and approaching death. But outside the car was life in its
freshness and vivacity. There were young trees running cheerfully. There were children
playing and running merrily. This was a life-death contrast.
Next – Stanza 3

Stanza 3

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…
Meaning

o Wan – Pale; pallid

o Late winter’s moon – Dim moon shrouded by clouds
o
Notes
The security check-in was completed. The daughter was left with a few seconds to see her
aged mother. She turned back at the mother who stood a few feet away.

The poet now looks at the mother’s aged face. The two words, wan and pale, well describe
the mother’s appearance. The late winter’s moon is dim. It is always under the threat of dark
clouds of fog and mist. Any moment the moon in the late winter can be hidden by these
clouds. Similarly the poet’s mother is approached by death. Any time she could be swept
away by death.

uestions and Answers

1. How did the mother look like at the airport?

The mother appeared to be lifeless and colourless, like a late winter’s moon that was dim
and supposed to be hidden by the fog.

2. How do ‘wan’ and ‘pale’ describe the mother?

The mother was aged and weak beyond her age. She appeared wan and pale. Wan and
pale suggest weakness and lifelessness.

3. What is a late winter’s moon?

In the late winter, the sky is filled with fog and mist. The moon at that season cannot shine
brightly. It appears to be dim and most of the time rests behind these clouds. No one can
predict how long the moon could stay and what time the clouds would hide it.

4. Why does the poet compare her mother to a late winter’s moon?
The mother was quite aged. She was cheerless and gloomy. Like the late winter’s moon
that could any moment be overshadowed by the fog, the mother remained a victim to
imminent death.

Stanza 4
 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.
In the childhood, the poet had to separate from her mother innumerable times. It was quite
painful for the poet to separate from her mother those days. She used to fear these
occasions as she thought they would never meet again.

The poet is attempting to ease the situation by a long smile that meant consolation to her
mother. She smiled with the expectation that her mother would translate it that the daughter
was not worried about anything and therefore there was no need to worry about their union.
They will definitely meet.

The poet was overcome by the intense pain of separation. She could not speak many words
at this time. Controlling her overwhelming emotions she managed to bid her mother
farewell. She had the least hope of meeting her mother again. Yet she struck a note of
optimism by saying they both would meet again soon.

Meaning

o Ache – Pain
o My childhood’s fear – Fear of losing mother
o Amma – Mother
o
Questions and Answers

1. What is the poet’s old, familiar ache? How did that ache return at the airport?
The poet used to separate from her mother in her childhood. Those separations were
painful to her. After so many separations this pain and separations were familiar to the poet.
At the airport she faced another separation from her mother and it reminded her of the
number of separations in the past.
2. The poet had the fear of separation from her mother in her childhood. How was that
fear different at the airport?
The poet was about to separate from her aged mother at the airport. The mother and
daughter had many times stayed separated in the past but this was going to be different
from all. The childhood separations were brief and less painful. But today, the poet was
flying to a distant land for a long stay there. She could not say if the two would ever meet
again.
3. Why did the poet promise her mother of a meeting in the near future?
The poet was doubtful of her seeing her mother again. She knew that the mother was also
aware of the same as she was. Yet, to encourage her mother, to leave a hope in her mind,
to make herself strengthened, the poet promised a futile reunion in the future.

4. The poet’s repeated smile seems out of place in a way. In which way is that
appropriate?
The poet had no reason to smile at the time of separation from her aged mother. She was
deeply distressed and pained to separate her mother at such a very old age of the mother.
Yet, to make the mother feel ‘there is nothing to worry,’ the poet attempted to be glad,
cheerful and reassured by her extended smile.
 Exam Pack Questions
… and realized with pain
that she was as old as she looked
but soon put that thought away…

1. What did the poet realize with pain? (1 mark)

Why did the poet put ‘that thought’ away? (2 marks)
Figure of speech – Alliteration (She was as…)
2.
“Standing a few yards
away, I looked again at her, wan, pale
As a late winter’s moon, and felt
that familiar ache, my childhood’s fear…”
1. Who looked at whom? (1 m)
How did the poet’s mother appear at the airport? (1 m)
Why is the mother compared to a late winter’s moon? (2 m)
What was the poet’s childhood fear? How did this fear become a familiar ache for the
poet? (2 m)
How far is the simile in the second line apt? (2 mark)
Which pain has become a familiar ache for the poet? (Indirect question. 2 marks)

… 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…
1. What did the poet realize with pain? What was painful about the realization? (2 marks)
2. How did the poet put ‘that thought’ away? Do you think that the poet was able to
successfully put ‘that thought’ away? Why do you think so? (2 mark)
3. Bring out the effect of contrast (a poetic device) in the stanza. (2 marks)