Kamala Das (1934-2009) was born in Malabar, Kerala.
She is recognised as one of India’s foremost poets. Her works are known for their originality, versatility and the indigenous flavour of the soil. Kamala Das has published many novels and short stories in English and Malayalam under the name ‘Madhavikutty’. Some of her works in English include the novel Alphabet of Lust (1977), a collection of short stories Padmavati the Harlot and Other Stories (1992), in addition to five books of poetry. She is a sensitive writer who captures the complex subtleties of human relationships in lyrical idiom, My Mother at Sixty-six is an example.
Before you read
Ageing is a natural process; have you ever thought what our elderly parents expect from us?
Driving from my parent’s home to Cochin last Friday morning, I saw my mother, beside me, doze, open mouthed, her face shen like that of a corpse and realised 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, 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......
More Important Questions For CBSE Class 12 English Poetry My Mother at Sixty six........
1. I saw my mother
beside me,
doze, open mouthed, her face
ashen like that
of a corpse and realised with pain ……
(a) Who is ‘I’?
(b) What did ‘I’ realise with pain?
(c) Why was the realisation painful?
(d) Identify and name the figure of speech used in these lines.
Ans.(a) ‘I’ in the above extract is the poet narrating the incident from a daughter’s point of view.
(b) The poet realised with pain that her mother is nearing old age.
(c) The poet is pained by the realisation because her mother now looked as old as she was, her bodily infirmities that have come, show that she was approaching her death and it was a hard fact to accept for the poet.
(d) The figure of speech used is simile and the line is, ‘ashen like that of a corps’.
2. ……… but soon
put that thought away and looked out at young trees sprinting, the merry children spilling out of their homes,
(a) Which thought did the poet put away?
(b) What do the ‘sprinting trees’ signify?
(c) What are ‘the merry children spilling
out of their homes’, symbolic of?
Ans. (a) The poet put away the thought of her aging mother and her gradual declining health. It pained her to think about losing her mother to death soon and the invertible final separation.
(b) ‘Sprinting trees’ signify energy, youth and activity. The poet wants to contrast young trees with her old mother.
(c) The merry children spilling out of their homes’ is symbolic of happiness, energy and playfulness. It can also be symbolic of poet’s sad thoughts being
contrasted with ‘merry children’.
3. What were the poet’s feelings as she drove to Cochin airport?
Ans. As she drove to Cochin airport, the thought that her mother looked old and withered, disturbed the poet. Her childhood fears haunted her again.
Please refer to attached file for NCERT Class 12 English Poetry My Mother at Sixty-six
