Driving from my parent’s home to Cochin last Friday morning, I saw my mother, beside me,
In the morning of Friday, the author was travelling in a car. She was travelling from her parent’s home to Cochin. Her mother was also in the car. She was sitting near her mother. She looks at her mother.
doze, open mouthed, her face ashen like that of a corpse
Mother was sleeping. Face of mother had become yellow. The colour was same as that of a dead body.
and realised with pain that she was as old as she looked but soon put that thought away,
I realized that she had become very old. I felt the pain of losing her. Very soon kept this thought away from my mind.
and looked out at Young Trees sprinting, the merry children spilling out of their homes,
Now I looked at the trees that were young. They appeared to be running. (When we move in a train or a car, tress at distance seem to be moving in opposite direction). Happy children were coming out of their homes to play.
but after the airport’s security check, standing a few yards away,
I completed the security check at the airport. After that I stood some distance away from it.
I looked again at her, wan, pale as a late winter’s moon and felt that old familiar ache, my childhood’s fear,
I looked at her (my mother) once again. She was looking sick. Her face was yellow like moon in winter season. (The face was not shining) I felt the pain of losing her. This pain was similar to my feelings during childhood when my mother used to move away from me.
but all I said was, see you soon, Amma, all I did was smile and smile and smile......
But I could not say anything to my mother. I only said that mother, I will meet you very soon. Then I smiled at her.
Question answers from stanzas Stanza 1Driving 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 but soon put that thought away,
Questions: 1. Name the poem and the poet. Ans. The name of the poem is ‘My Mother at 66’ and the name of the poet is Kamala Das. 2 Where was the narrator going and when? Ans. The narrator was going from Cochin on a Friday morning. 3. What did the narrator see beside her? Ans. The narrator saw her mother beside her on the seat. 4. What was she doing? Ans. She was dozing with her mouth open. 5. Who is ‘I’ in these lines? Ans. ‘I’ in the above line is the narrator’s mother. Q. Whom does th poetesss compare her mother? Ans. The poetess compares her mothet to a corpse. Q. What does the poetess show in this stanxa? Ans. the poet shows the typical love and affection which is present in a mother-daughter relation. 6. How did the face of the poet’s mother look like? Ans. Her mother's face look like that of a corpse. 7. Why did the face of the poet’s mother look like a corpse? Ans. The face of the poet’s mother looked like a corpse because he had grown old. 8. How did the poet feel when she looked at her mother? Ans. She felt pain when she looked at her mother. 9. What did the poet realize with pain? Ans. She realized that her mother had grown old and she was heading towards the end of her life. 10. How has the face of the poet’s mother been described? Ans. Her mother's face is not lively and appears like a corpse with mouth open. 11. What did the poet do after she looked at her mother’s face? Ans. She withdrew her thoughts from my mother and looked outside. 12. What thought did the poet put away? Ans. The poet put away the thought of her ageing mother from her mind.
Stanza 2……………………..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
Questions: 1. What did the poet notice in the outside world? Ans. She noticed that the young trees seem to be running fast and the happy children were coming out of their house. 2. When did the poetess look at her mother again? Ans. She looked at her after going through the security check. 3. How did the mother look? Ans. Her mother looked pale and weak. 4. What did the poet do after the security check? Ans. After the security check, the poetess stood a few yards away from her mother and looked at her face again. 5. How were the young trees sprinting? Ans. As the car moved on, the young trees growing outside, went past as they were sprinting. 6. What did the poet see children doing? Ans. The poet saw the children coming out of their houses. 7. What do the young sprinting trees signify? Ans. The young sprinting trees signify the energetic actions of the youth. 8 What are the merry children spilling out of their houses’ symbolic of? ‘The merry children spilling out of their houses’ are symbolic of happiness, energy and playfulness. They are in stark contrast to the old and dozing mother.
Stanza 3as 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: 1. What looked as a late winter's moon? Ans. The face of the poet's mother looked like a late winter’s moon. 2. What comparison does the poet make in these lines? Ans. She compares her mother’s pale and white face with the late winter's moon. 3. What does the poet say and to whom? Ans. She felt an old familiar ache at the thought that her mother looked very old and she would not live long. 4. What do you think that the poet feel about her action? Ans. I think that the poetess must not be happy about her action. She has smiled only to comfort her mother. 5. Who is wan, pale and why? Ans. The poet’s mother is wan and pale because she has grown old. 6. What was the childhood fear? The fear of aging and ultimate death or separation was childhood fear. 7. Why did the poet compare her mother's face to late winter’s moon? Ans. The late winter’s moon lacks brightness as well as strength. The pale and colourless face of the mother also resembles the late winter's moon. 8. How do the parting words of the poet and her smile present a contrast to her real feeling? Ans. The parting words of the poet reveal both hope and fear. At the age of 66 anything can happen to the mother. But she hides her real fears and hopes that they will meet again. 9 Why did the poet smile and smile? Ans. The body language of the mother worries the poetess. But she has to hide her real feelings from her mother. She only smiled and smiled in the hope that they would meet again.
Summary
“My Mother at Sixty-six” is a well-known poem by Kamala Das. It revolves around the beautiful relationship between the poet and her mother. The theme of the poem is advancing age of the mother of the author and the fear of separation.
The poet is traveling from her parents' home towards Cochin airport with her elderly mother sitting in the car besides her. She observes how her mother is pale and lifeless like a corpse. She notices that her mother has now dozed off, with her mouth open.
In order to come out of the gloom, the poet looked out of the car’s window. There she saw young trees sprinting and little children coming out of their houses. These things were contrary to the ageing face of her mother. They symbolized energy, life and happiness.
As they reached the airport and the poet was about to leave for the aeroplane, she glanced at her mother one more time. Her mother appeared weak and pale just like the moon in the winter season which seems to have lost all its strength. The poet felt the pain and fear of losing her mother. She was reminded of her childhood when she used to fear losing her mother. As a child she could not bear to be separated from her mother even for a few moments. Now the loss would be permanent as her mother was about to die and she would lose her forever. The poet did not express her feelings. She smiled and said “see you soon, Amma” because she wanted that her mother should live and they could meet again.
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