Flamingo Vidyamandir Classes

[b] POETRY
I. MY MOTHER AT SIXTY SIX

By Kamala Das (1934 - 2009)

(pseudonym : Madhavikutty)

Kamala Das was a Malayam author from Kerala. She is known for her short stories,
autobiography and poems. Her English works include : (i) Novel : Alphabet of Lust
(ii) Collection of short stories : Padmavati the Harlot and Other Stories

“My Mother at Sixty Six”

 The poet is going back home from her parent’s place. She is on her way to the airport. Her
mother is sitting next to her.
 Use of similes to show the contrast.
Mother: “doze, open mouthed” : sleeping
“face ashen like that of a corpse” : similie : her face is pale; it seems as if she is
about to die.
“wan, pale” : colourless
“as a late winter’s moon” : similie
‘winter’  symbolises old age, cold, dull
moon  symbolises silence, pale, solitude.

Contrast with
“Tree sprinting”  Literally : The trees appear to be in motion because of the movement
of the car.
 Metaphorically : sprinting indicates passage of time
 To spirnt : means to run with full speed. This indicates energy and
activity.
 Personification (of trees).

Board Notes/English 29 Class XII

 Vidyamandir Classes Flamingo

“Merry children spilling” : Symbolises youth, vitality, energy, happiness, vivacity of life.
Here the poet is making a contrast between her mother, and the world she sees outside. She
looks at her mother and outside the window. She realises the stark difference between the
two. Her mother is sleepy, old, dull, pale, wheras, the trees and the children outside represent
freshness, youth, vitality, life, colour, energy and happiness.
 “Realised with pairs”, “old familiar ache”, “my childhood fear” indicates the fear and pain
she had since childhood about the thought of her mother’s death. She realises that her
mother is old now and will die soon. She recollects her old childhood thoughts and emotions
when she looks at her mother, but she soon tries to distract herself, “put that thought
away”, by looking outside the car window.
 Yet when she leaves her mother to go back home, she says : “see you soon” : an optimistic
thinking. The posibility that when she visites them next time, her mother would be still
alive.

 “All I did was smile” : Smile is used as means to hide her pain. It is an optimistic reassurance
to her mother. Smile gives a feeling of warmth and a certainty to the other individual that
all will be good.
 The poem is in a single sentence, punctuated with commas. It is a stream of continuous
thoughts interspersed (insterted here and there) with the world around and an individual,
the reality and the hope, nature and human.

 The peom ends in ‘. . . . .’ these are ellipses. They indicate continuity. This again reinstates
the poet’s hope that she will see her mother soon.


IMPORTANT QUESTIONS BASED ON THE CHAPTER
STANZA - I :
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 thought away . . . .

(a) Where was the poet coming from? Where was she going?
The poet had gone to her parent’s home to visit them. She was now going to Cochin from where she had to
board an aeroplane for her journey back home.

(b) Where was the poet’s mother ?

The poet’s mother was sitting beside her in the car. She was travelling with the poet to Cochin to see her
off at the airport.

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 Flamingo Vidyamandir Classes

(c) How poet the poet describe her mother ?

The poet described her mother as old and pale. As she dozed off beside her, the mother looked almost like a
corpse, for her face was colourless and seemed to have lost the fervour of life.

(d) Who does ‘she’ refer to in the last line ?

‘She’ here refers to the poet’s mother.

STANZA - II :
. . . . and looked but soon put that thought away, and looked out at young trees sprinting, the merry children spilling
out of their homes . . . . .

(a) What was the poet ‘looking’ at ? What did she notice ?
The poet was looking at her mother. She noticed the mother’s ashen and almost lifeless face distraught with
pain.

(b) What thought did she try to drive away ?

The poet must have been moved to tears to see her aged mother. A fear of separation from her mother and
a sense of guilt for having neglected her must have crossed the poet’s mind but the compulsions of her own
life made her drive that thought away form her mind.

(c) Why did the poet start ‘looking out’ ? What does her gesture suggest ?
The poet started looking out of the window because she wanted to drive away the pain and agony she
experienced on seeing her aged mother. She wanted to drive away her helplessness in the wake of her
mother’s ageing and approaching death.

(d) What did the poet see from the window of the car ?
The poet saw young trees running past her car and merry children sprinting out of their homes to play.

(e) What do the images of ‘young trees’ and ‘merry children’ symbolise ?
Trees and children symbolise the spring of life, its strength, vigour and happiness which contrasts with the
lifelessness and helplessness that sets in with age.

STANZA - III :
. . . . .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 . . . . .
(a) Where was the poet standing ?
The poet was at the Cochin airport waiting to board the plane after the security check.

(b) Who does ‘her’ refer to here ? How did she look like ?
‘Her’ here refers to the poet’s mother. She was an aged lady and hence looked pale and colourless.

Board Notes/English 31 Class XII

 Vidyamandir Classes Flamingo

(c) Why does the narrator ‘look at her again’ ?

The narrator looked at her mother once again for the last time before she left to reassure herself about the
well being of her mother. She had tried to drive away the pain she had felt on seeing her weak and aged
mother. One last time she looked at her to wish her goodbye.

(d) Explain : “wan, pale as a late winter’s moon.”

In this simile, the poet compares the mother’s pale and withered face with the winter’s moon. The moon
seems to lose its brightness in the winter season as it is veiled behind fog and mist. The mother’s face also
seemed to have losts its radiance which was now misted by age. Winter symbolises death and the waning
moon symbolises decay.

STANZA - IV :
. . . . .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 . . . . .
(a) What ‘familiar ache’ did the poet feel ?
The ‘familiar ache’refers to the poet’s painful realization that she has not cared and cannot care for her
ageing mother. It is an ache of helplessness. It is also a fear of separation from the mother or the mother’s
death.

(b) What could have been the poet’s childhood fears’ ?

I think the poet’s childhood fear was that she would lose her mother or be separated from her and that death
would consume her mother.

(c) Did the poet share her thoughts with her mother ?
The poet did not share her fears and agony with her mother. She only bid a formal adieu to her with the hope
of seeing her soon.

(d) Why do you think, the poet did not share her thoughts with her mother ?
I think the poet did not share her thoughts with her mother because they were caused by her fear of the
unknown. Sharing them with the mother would have worried the frail old woman to death.

(e) Why did the poet only ‘smile’ ?

The poet only smiled to hide her guilt, anxiety and fear of the unknown. Also, she wanted to bid a cheerful
farewell to her mother before boarding the flight.

Board Notes/English 32 Class XII