Poem 1: My Mother at Sixty-six
Poet: Kamala Das
📝 Poem Summary
In this short poem, Kamala Das captures the sudden realization of her mother's aging and mortality. While driving from her parents' home to Cochin airport, she notices her mother dozing beside her, looking pale and corpse-like. To drive away the painful thought, she looks outside at young trees sprinting and merry children. At the airport, she hides her fear with a smile and bids her mother farewell.
📚 Part 1: Complete NCERT Solutions
Includes "Think As You Read" questions.
Q1: What is the kind of pain and ache that the poet feels?
Ans: The poet feels the painful realization of her mother's aging and the fear of impending separation or death. Seeing her mother's "ashen" face, like a corpse, triggers her childhood fear of losing her mother.
Q2: Why are the young trees described as 'sprinting'?
Ans: The 'sprinting' trees are a literary device (personification) used to create a contrast. While the mother is still, aging, and decaying inside the car, the trees outside seem to be running fast, symbolizing energy, life, and the rapid passage of time.
Q3: Why has the poet brought in the image of the merry children 'spilling out of their homes'?
Ans: The image of merry children represents youth, vitality, and life. The poet uses this image to contrast with the "wan, pale" face of her aging mother, highlighting the cycle of life where youth and old age exist side by side.
Q4: Why has the mother been compared to the 'late winter's moon'?
Ans: A late winter's moon looks hazy, obscure, and lacks brightness. Similarly, the mother's face has lost the radiance and vitality of youth. It looks pale, wan, and lifeless due to old age, making the simile appropriate.
Q5: What do the parting words of the poet and her smile signify?
Ans: Her parting words, "See you soon, Amma," signify hope and reassurance that they will meet again. Her continuous smiling is a mask to hide her inner fear and pain from her mother, ensuring her mother does not feel sad at the separation.
⚡ Part 2: Extra Practice & PYQs
Q1: What was the poet's childhood fear?
Ans: The poet's childhood fear was the fear of losing her mother (separation) or her mother dying. This fear resurfaced when she saw her mother's aged, corpse-like face in the car.
Q2: "I looked again at her, wan, pale / as a late winter’s moon." Explain the poetic device.
Ans: The poetic device used here is a Simile. The mother's face is compared to a 'late winter's moon' using the word 'as' to highlight her lack of energy and pale appearance.
Q3: How does the poet try to put away the thought of her ageing mother?
Ans: To put away the disturbing thought of her mother's approaching death, the poet looks out of the car window at the world outside—specifically at the young trees sprinting and the happy children running out of their homes.
Q4: Why is the poem written in a single sentence?
Ans: The poem consists of a single sentence punctuated by commas. This structure reflects the continuous flow of thought, the stream of consciousness, and the overwhelming nature of the poet's emotions, which cannot be broken into separate parts.
Q5: Explain the contrast between the scene inside and outside the car.
Ans:
- Inside: There is stillness, old age, decay, and the fear of death (the mother dozing).
- Outside: There is movement, youth, vitality, and life (sprinting trees, merry children).
📖 Part 3: Word Meanings
| Word | Meaning in Context |
|---|---|
| Dozing | Sleeping lightly for a short time. |
| Ashen | Very pale, like the color of ash (suggesting illness or death). |
| Corpse | A dead body. |
| Sprinting | Running very fast (used for the trees moving backward). |
| Spilling | Moving out in large numbers (children coming out of homes). |
| Wan | Pale and giving the impression of illness or exhaustion. |
| Ache | A continuous or prolonged dull pain (emotional pain here). |