My Mother at Sixty-six

My Mother at Sixty-six

by

Kamala Das 

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STANZA - 1

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

Questions:

1. Where was the poet driving to? Who was sitting beside her?
2. What did the poet notice about her mother?
3. Why was her mother’s face looked like that of a corpse?
4. Find words from the passage which mean : (i) sleep lightly (ii) dead body (iii) felt.

Answers:

1. The poet was driving from her parent’s home to the Cochin airport. Her mother was sitting beside her.
2. She noticed that her mother was dozing with her mouth open.
3. Her mother’s face looked pale, faded and lifeless like a dead body because she had grown old.
4. (i) doze (ii) corpse (iii) realised.

STANZA - 2

.................. and realized 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, 

Questions

1. What did the poet realise? How did she feel
2. What did she do then?
3. What did she notice in the world outside?
4. Find words from the passage which mean: (ii) running fast (ii) happy (iii) moving out.

Answers:

1. Her mother was lost somewhere else in thoughts. It pained her.
2. The poet withdrew her thoughts from her mother and looked outside.
3. The young trees growing outside went past as if they were sprinting. Happy children were coming out of their houses.
4. (i) sprinting (ii) merry (iii) spilling.

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......

Questions

1. What did the poet do after the security check?
2. Why did the poet compare her mother’s face to a late winter’s moon?
3. What is her childhood fear ?
4. How do the parting words of the poet and her smile present a contrast to her real feelings?

Answers:

1. After the security check, the poet stood a few yards away from her mother and looked at her face again.
2. The late winter moon lacks brightness as well as strength. The pale and colourless face of the mother resembles the late winter moon.
3. The fear of ageing and ultimate death/separation.
4. The poet’s parting words of assurance and her smiles present a stark contrast to the old familiar ache or childhood fear. Her words and smiles are a deliberate attempt to hide what is going on inside.