My Mother at Sixty-SIx (English Core) CLASS 12 I.A. AND

My Mother at Sixty-six
-By Kamala Das

About the Poet
The poet, Kamala Das also wrote by her pen-name of

‘Madhavikutty’. She was born in Kerala and is one of India’s
first poets. Her subject – matter is basically related to her
personality- beautiful, sensitive, bold and tormented.
External factors do not reflect in her writings, her writings
bring out her true inner feelings.
Her favorite poem is ‘composition’.
In the poem ‘My mother at sixty-six’, she talks about her
mother. This poem is based on mother-daughter relation and
the poet shares her feelings for her mother.
Central Idea
Aging is an important phase of human life. A person enters
his childhood, experiences youth when he is full of energy
and dreams to have luxury of life. Finally, he approaches his
old age and encounters death. Relationship between people
becomes stronger at every aspect of life and they can’t bear
separation due to aging. This is a touching poem written by
Indian poet Kamla Das who wrote under the pen name of
‘Madhavikutty’. In this poem, she describes her feeling of
love and attachment towards her ageing mother
In this poem, the poet relates a personal experience. She
brings out a common paradox of human relationships and
portrays a sensational separation of a mother and a daughter.
She has been able to capture almost all the emotions which a
daughter is filled with, on bidding farewell to her beloved
mother. Sometimes we do feel deep sympathy for someone but we
fail to express it in a proper manner.
Summary
One last Friday morning, the poetess was driving from her
parents’ home to the Cochin airport. Her mother was sitting
beside her in the car. She suddenly had a look at her mother.
She found that her mother was dozing with her open mouth. Her
face was as pale as that of a corpse. The poet painfully
realized that her mother is not going to live long. This
painful thought haunted her. But soon she tried to put it off
by looking out of the car window. She saw the young trees
running past them. She looked at the merry children coming
out of their homes. As she saw life and vitality in the
outside world, the painful thought passed away from her mind.
After reaching the airport, she went through the security

check. Her mother was standing outside a few yards away. After
the security check, she looked at her mother again. Her face
was pale white like a late winter’s moon. She felt the old
familiar ache of childhood in her heart which is usually felt
by a child due to the fear of separation from his/ her mother.
But she contained herself and kept on smiling in order to
conceal her emotions. She spoke no word to her mother. All
that she said was, “See you soon, Amma” and bade good bye to
her mother with a hope to see her again.
Explanation
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.
Main points
 Poetess travelling to Cochin airport with her mother in a
car.
 Looks at the wan, pale face of her dozing mother.
 Old fear of losing her mother returns.
 Sprinting trees and merry children provide the contrast and
relief.
 After the security check the old familiar ache returns.
 Tries to hide her emotions by smiling.
 Bids good bye to her mother with a hope to see her again.
Question and Answer
1. What is the kind of pain and ache that the poet feels?
Answer - The emotional pain and ache that the poet feels is due to
the realization that her mother has gone old and has become frail
and pale like a corpse. She is dependent on her children. The ache
also refers to the old familiar ache of the childhood that revisits
the poet due to the mother’s old age and her approaching end.
2. Why are the young trees described as 'sprinting'?

Answer - The young trees are personified in the poem. They seem to
be running in the opposite direction when seen through the window
of the moving car. The movement is juxtaposed with the expressing
on the mother’s face i.e. ashen like a corpse. The movement of the
children and the trees is in stark contrast with the stillness
associated with the mother.
3. Why has the poet brought in the image of the merry children
‘spilling out of their homes’?
Answer - 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.
4. Why has the mother been compared to the ‘late winter’s moon’?
Answer - 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.
5. What do the parting words of the poet and her smile signify?
Answer- 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......”
Question.6. Read the extract given below and answer the questions
that follow.
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
(a) What was the poet’s childhood fear?

(b) What were the poet’s parting words?
(c) What is the poetic device used in these lines?
(d) Why did the poet smile and smile?
Answer. (a) In her childhood, the poet was insecure about losing
her mother, just as all young children often are.
(b) The poet’s parting words were, “See you soon, Amma”, which are
suggestive of the hope that they will meet again.
(c) The poetic device used in these lines is simile, where the
mother’s dull and lifeless face is compared to a late winter’s
moon.
(d) The poet smiled and smiled (meaning that she smiled
continuously) because she was trying to hide her real feelings.
She feared the fact that she might not see her mother again, which
left her almost in tears.
……….but soon
put that thought away and
looked out at young
trees sprinting, the merry children spilling
out of their homes……………
(a) What thought did the poet drive away from her mind?
(b) What did she see when she looked out of the car?
(c) How do you know that the joyful scene didn’t help her drive
away the painful thought from her mind?
(d) What are the merry children symbolic of?
(a) The poet drove away the painful thought of the distressing
reality that her mother was getting old and she might die anytime.
(b) When she looked out of the car, she saw young trees on the
roadside, which appeared to be moving. She also saw a group of
children, merrily rushing out of their homes to play.
(c) As the poet passed through security check at the airport and
happened to look at her mother, she was again haunted by the same
fear of losing her to death. This shows that the joyful scene
earlier didn’t help drive away the painful thought from her mind.
(d) The merry children are symbolic of the exuberance of youth.
The energetic and lively children present a contrast to the poet’s
mother who has grown old and pale.

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My Mother at Sixty-six

-By Kamala Das

The poet, Kamala Das also wrote by her pen-name of

After reaching the airport, she went through the security

She compares her with a corpse. (simile is a figure of speech to

She is at the airport to take a flight. It indicates departure and

It is a short poem, without a full stop, the poem is like a long

2. Why are the young trees described as 'sprinting'?

Answer - The poet draws a comparison between what is travelling

(a) What was the poet’s childhood fear?

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