My Mother at Sixty-six by Kamala Das

Poem 1: Book: Flamingo: Class XII (Notes by Shish Pal Chauhan)

My Mother at Sixty-six by Kamala Das

The Poetess: Kamla Dass

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, and
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.

Main Points about the Poem

1.   A paradox (contradiction) of human relationship: Sometimes we are unable to express our emotions of sympathy, love and affection to our near and dear ones in an appropriate way.

 Reason may be any.

2.   The poetess tells us about the same type of her experience in this poem.

3.   Once she was driving her car form her parents’ home to the airport of Cochin. Her mother was also sitting in the car with her. Her mother was at sixty-six at that time.

4.   Suddenly, while driving, she saw her mother. She was dozing and her mouth was wide open. She also saw paleness on her mother’s face. It was the paleness which is found on the face of a dead body. The poetess got afraid. She thought that her mother was not going to live for long time. She thought that she was about to die. It was a very painful thought for the poetess.

5.   She discarded (dismissed) that painful thought at once and tried to divert her attention by looking outside the car. She looked at the young trees which seemed running fast in the opposite direction. She also saw children coming joyfully out of their houses. She describes the young trees as sprinting because they are full of energy. It makes a sharp contrast to the description of the mother. She is pale and weak.

6.   By describing the children ‘spilling out of their homes’, the poetess again wants to intensify the contrast between the pale and weak mother and the children who are full of energy and joy. Childhood period is full of joy and energy while the old age lacks in all this.

7.   Then she reaches the airport. As the poetess went through the security check, her mother was standing silently at a distance.

8.   Again she looked at her mother’s face. It looked as pale as the face of the moon in late winter season. The mother is in her old age. Her face has grown old and pale. The moon also looks pale in winter season.

9.   The thought about her mother’s death was very painful to the poetess. It was like the same painful thought which she used to experience in her childhood when she was alone and some fear overpowered her.

10.                  But the poetess, still, failed to say nothing more than the words, “See you soon, Amma”. She said this smilingly. These were the parting words.

11.                  Although the poetess felt pained to note the paleness on her mother’s face, yet she was unable to do anything. Those were the signs of old age on her face. That is the reason  she spoke only, “See you soon, Amma” The poetess hopes to meet her mother in near future. 

A.  Questions & Answers

Q1. What is the kind of pain and ache that the poet feels?

Ans. It was the same kind of pain that she used to feel in her childhood. It was caused by her fear of being separated from her mother.

Q2.Describe why the young trees are described as sprinting?

                                        Or

What does the poet want to convey to us when she describes the merry children ‘spilling out of their homes’?

Ans. The poetess describes the children ‘spilling out of their homes’. She wants to intensify the contrast between the pale and weak mother and the joyful and energetic children. Childhood period is full of joy and energy while the old age lacks in all this.

Q3. Why has the mother been compared to the ‘late winter’s moon’?

Ans. The poetess compares her mother’s face to a waning winter moon. The late winter’s moon looks pale and it suggests decay and death.

Q4. Where was the poet going? Who was with her? What did she observe about the person who was going with her in the car?

Ans. The poetess, Kamala Das was going to Cochin airport. Her mother was with her. She observed that paleness was spread on it. She also thought that her mother was not going to live for more time. She feared separation from her mother.

Q5. What were Kamala Das’ fears as a child? Why did they surface when she was going to the airport?

Ans. Kamala Das did not want to be separated from her. The idea about her mother’s separation from her always pained her. She looked at her closely and found paleness on her face. She feared that her mother would not survive for more time.

Q6. What painful thoughts come to the poet’s mind? How does she drive them off?

Ans. When the poetess noticed her mother’s face closely, she found paleness on her face. It was the same kind of paleness that is found on a dead body’s face. She immediately drove those negative thoughts by looking outside the window of the car.

Q7.  What does the poetess see when she looks outside the car while going to the Cochin airport in a car?

Ans. She looked at the young trees which seemed running fast in the opposite direction. They were young and seemed to her as if they were young children running fast in the opposite direction.  She also saw the happy children who were running out of their homes to reach some nearby playground.

 Q8. What happens when the poetess reaches the airport?

Ans. After the security check, the poet looked again at her mother’s face which was pale. After that, she felt a familiar pain that she used to experience in her childhood also. It was the pain that emerged out of the fear of losing her mother. Then she uttered hopefully “see you soon, Amma”.

Stanzas for Comprehensions:

Stanza 1.

“…but after the airport’s/ Security check, standing a few yards

Away, I looked again at her, wan,/ Pale/ As 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:

Q1.Name the poem and its poet.

Ans. The poet is Kamala Das and the title of the poem is ‘ My Other at Sixty-six’.

Q2. Who is ‘I’ in the above stanza?

Ans. The poetess/poet Kamala Das.

Q3.What was the familiar childhood ache the poet felt now?

Ans. That pain troubled her again when she thought that her mother would not survive for more time.

Q4. What were the parting words spoken by the poet. What did they suggest?

Ans. She said, “See you soon, Amma,”. These words suggested hope.

 Q5. What poetic device has been used in the line, I looked again at her, wan, Pale /As late winter’s moon’?

Ans. Simile has been used here.

Q6. Give a synonym for the word ‘wan’.

Ans. Pale

Stanza 2

“…but soon/ put that thought away, and/looked out at young/ trees sprinting, the merry children spilling/ out of their homes,…”

Q1. Which thought does the poet put away?

Ans. She puts away the thought that her mother would not survive for long time.

Q2. What poetic device does the expression ‘sprinting trees’ stand for? What do the sprinting trees add to the poet’s description of her mother?

Ans. The device used in the expression ‘sprinting trees’ is personification. This expression adds contrast to the poet’s description about her mother’s old age.

Q3. What do the “…the merry children spilling
out of their homes…” symbolize?

Ans. ‘The merry children’ symbolize energy and youth. The word ‘spilling’ signifies the flow of energy.

Q4. What do you mean by ‘sprinting’?

Ans. It means ‘running fast’

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 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.

Q1. Who is “I” in the above stanza?

Ans. “I” is the poet Kamala Das.

Q2. Who is ‘you’ in the above lines?

Ans. ‘You’ is the poet’s grandmother.

Q3, Where are both of them standing?

Ans. They are standing at the Cochin airport.

Q4. Which poetic device has been used in “wan, pale as a late winter's moon”?

Ans. Simile has been used here.

Q5. Explain the words: ”… old familiar ache, my childhood's fear…”

Ans. In her childhood, the poet used to feel some pain when her mother was away from her. Now, she suffers the fear of losing her mother as she is in her extreme old age.

Q6. What does the word ‘all’ suggest in the lines “all I said was, see you soon, Amma,/all I did was smile and smile and smile.”?

Ans. The word ‘all’ suggests that she could not express all her feelings to her mother.

Q7. Why did the poet repeat the word smile in the line ‘smile and smile and smile’?

Ans. It shows a long smile.