12th std My Mother at Sixty-six

 

                 My Mother at Sixty-six

            Extract Based Questions

a) 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 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……

Question 1. Mention any one instance of metaphor used in the poem.

Ans. face ashen (colour of the face is similar to the colour of ash)

Question 2. Which word means sleeping?

Ans. Doze

Question 3. State true or False

The trees were not sprinting

Ans. True

Question 4. What is yard?

a. Unit of measuring time

b. Unit of measuring distance

c. Unit of measuring weight

d. Unit of measuring speed

Ans. b

Question 5. Which figure of speech is used in the last line?

Ans. Repetition (to emphasize)

Question 6. Mention the instances of imagery.

Ans. Young trees sprinting

Merry children spilling out of their homes

Question 7. Which of the following figures of speech can be seen throughout the poem?

a. Personification

b. Enjambment

c. Rhyme

d. Repetition

Ans. b

Question 8. What is the theme of the poem?

a. Aging

b. Nostalgia

c. loss and separation

d. All of these

Ans. d

Question 9. The poet was going to Cochin by ____

a. Car

b. Train

c. aeroplane

d. Can’t say

Ans. c

Question 10. What was the poet’s childhood fear?

Ans. Her childhood fear was the fear of getting separated from her mother.

                 Short Answer Types

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

Answer:When the poet sees the corpse-like and pale face of her mother, her ache or the old familiar pain returns. Perhaps this fear was entertained by her since her childhood. Ageing is a process which occurs naturally. Ageing and time spare none. Ageing and time have not spared the mother of the poet and may not spare her as well. By ageing, death and separation become inevitable.

2. Why are the young trees described as ‘sprinting’? 

Answer:While driving to the Cochin airport, she observed outside the young trees which seemed to be walking across them. They seem to be sprinting or running fast with the speed of the car. The poet provides a contrast – the ‘sprinting’ young trees and her ‘dozing’ old mother.

3. Why has the poet brought in the image of the merry children ‘spilling out of their homes’? 

Answer:To present a contrast, the poet brought in the image of the merry children ‘spilling out of their homes’. The merry children who are coming out of their houses in huge numbers explain the spontaneous flow and happiness of life. It is different from the old mother ‘dozing’, whose ‘ashen’ face looks pale and lifeless, similar to a corpse. The description of the poet’s mother highly indicates passivity, decay and ageing in the poem. The contrast between these two images strengthens the effect of the poem.

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

Answer:The mother of the poet is sixty-six years old. Her ‘ashen’ face which is shrunken, is similar to that of a corpse. She has lost the strength of youth and her shine. The late moon in the winter looks obscure and hazy. It also lacks strength and shine. This comparison is appropriate and quite natural. The simile used here is effective and apt.

5. What do the parting words of the poet and her smile signify?

Answer: The parting words of the poet, her smile and her assurance present a sharp contrast to the fear of childhood or the old familiar ache. Her smiles and words are a conscious attempt to hide her feelings. The parting words – “See you soon, Amma” provides an assurance to the old woman whose ‘ashen face’ is similar to a corpse. In the same way, her continuous smile is an attempt to overcome the fear and ache which is present in her heart.

6. What is the main idea expressed in the poem My mother at sixty-six? How do the images of the real world which occur in the poem connect to this idea?

Answer: The principle thought communicated in this poem is that all that has bloomed will sag one day. The pictures of this present reality, like that of the kids pouring out of their homes and the running trees, stand out as life from death.

7. Why do you feel the mother has been compared to the ‘late winter’s moon’?

Answer: In the poem My Mother At Sixty-six, the mother of the poet has been compared to the ‘late winter’s moon’ because the moon in the winter becomes dull and dim which makes it appear lifeless. The late winter’s moon is also devoid of its natural glow as layers of fog often cover it up. 

Similarly, due to ageing, the poet’s mother has also become pale and her colour has become just like the ash colour of the moon. She has lost her youth and looks like a corpse.

8. How is the mother described in the poem?

Answer: The poet portrays her mother as an older woman who has become pale, frail, and exhausted. She regularly sleeps and stays oblivious with regards to herself as a dead body.

9. Ageing is a natural process; have you ever thought what our elderly parents expect from us?

Answer: Aged people usually undergo pangs of loneliness and need companionship. They long only for our love, care and attention. They expect their children to share the happenings in their lives with them and take their suggestions for making significant decisions. This will encourage them to live life enthusiastically.

10. Give the sum and substance of Kamala Das’s poem My Mother at Sixty-Six.

Answer: The mother of the poetess is not yet very old. She is sixty-six. But some how because of illness or so, she looks pale and ash-coloured like a dead body. The poetess is in a hurry to catch her flight. She is deeply concerned about the aged mother. She can’t be sure to find her alive on her next visit. She looks out of the car at the young trees & children. 

By contrast, the sight of the mother looks critical. She casts a last look at the airport. In order to cheer up the old mother, she smiles and smiles to hide her own and promises to see the beloved mother again.