My Mother at Sixty-Six

Extract Based Questions

Question.1. 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.
Question.2. Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that
follow.
……….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? (Compartment 2014; Modified)
or
(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?
(d) Why does the poet make use of the images of ‘young trees sprinting’ and
‘merry children spilling’? (Delhi 2014; Modified)
or
(a) Who looked out at the young trees?
(b) Which thought did she put away?
(c) What do young sprinting trees signify?
(d) Why are the trees described as sprinting? (Delhi 2008)
Answer. (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.
or
Answer. (a) The poet put away the thought of the-distressing reality of her mother
getting old and of her impending death.
(b) The ‘sprinting trees’ signify time that has passed at a fast pace.
(c) The merry children epitomise bubbly youth. They represent the exuberance and
liveliness of young age.
(d) The poet makes use of these images to emphasise the contrast between old age
and youth.
or
Answer. (a) The poet Kamala Das looked out at young trees.
(b) Seeing her aged mother, she felt insecure about the fact that she might be
separated from her mother. The poet was also feeling guilty for neglecting her. She
wondered if she would see her mother alive next time. However, she soon put
these thoughts away.
(c) The young sprinting trees symbolise happiness, strength and vigour which are
the characteristics of youth in contrast to the dullness of old age.
(d) As the poet looked outside the window of her moving car, the trees appeared to
be moving fast in the opposite direction. So, they are described as sprinting.
Question.3. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that
follow.
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 …
(a) Where was the poet driving to?
(b) Why was her mother’s face looking like that of a corpse?
(c) What did the poet notice about her mother?
(d) Why was the realisation painful?
Answer. (a) The poet was driving to Cochin airport from her parent’s home.
(b) Her mother’s face had lost all its glow and colour. It was nearly lifeless. That is
why it was looking like a corpse’s face.
(c) The poet noticed that her mother was sleeping with her mouth open. Her face
looked like that of a corpse. She suddenly realised that her mother had become
very old.
(d) The realisation that her mother had grown very old was painful because it
brought with it the distressing thought that she was also nearing her death, whose
cruel hands would separate the poet from her mother.
Question.4. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that
follow.
…….and
looked but soon
put that thought away and
looked out at young
trees sprinting,
the merry children spilling
out of their homes,………..
(a) Name the poem and the poet.
(b) What did the poet realise? How did she feel?
(c) What did she do then?
(d) What did she notice in the world outside?
Answer. (a) The name of the poem is ‘My Mother at Sixty-Six’ and the poet is
Kamala Das.
(b) The poet realised that her mother was getting old and was nearing her
impending death. She felt afraid of losing her mother, the same fear which she
used to face in her childhood.
(c) The poet at once turned her face away from the harsh reality and looked out of
the window to divert her mind.
(d) The poet.saw green trees sprinting by. She also saw a group of children who
were exuberant, enthusiastic and were merrily coming out of their houses.
Question.5. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that
follow.
…………….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 childhood fear that now troubled the poet?
(b) What do the poet’s parting words suggest?
(c) Why did the poet smile and smile?
(d) Explain, “that old familiar ache.”
Answer. (a) As a child the poet was insecure about losing her mother and the same
fear has come again now when her mother has grown old.
(b) The poet, while parting, smiled and said to her mother that she would see her
soon. This expression of her suggests that though she was aware that her mother
was quite old and weak, yet she could not do anything about it. She could not even
communicate her true feelings to her mother.
(c) The poet smiled and smiled only because she wanted to hide her fears from her
mother. She was reassuring herself and also her mother that they would meet
again.
(d) “That old familiar ache” refers to the agony and pain of separation from her
mother that the poet felt in her childhood, as she feared that she might iose her
mother.
Short Answer Type Questions
Question.1. How does Kamala Das try to put away the thoughts of her ageing
mother?
Answer. Kamala Das finds the thoughts of her ageing mother very painful and
disturbing. It is hard for her to accept the fact of her mother growing old, as it
brings back to her mind her childhood fear of losing her mother. She makes a
deliberate effort to drive or put away such thoughts by looking out of the moving
car, at the trees ‘sprinting’ and the joyful young children rushing out of their
homes.
Question.2. What was the poet’s childhood fear? or
What were Kamala Das, fears as a child? Why do they surface when she is
going to the airport?
Answer. As a child Kamala Das was insecure about losing her mother just as all
young children often are. The same feelings are evoked inside her while she is on
the way to the airport, as she sees her mother’s pale face, which is a sign of her old
age and impending death.
Question.3. What do the parting words of Kamala Das and her smile signify?
or
What do the parting words of the poet and her smile signify?
Answer. The poet’s parting words and her smile are a facade to hide her feelings
of insecurity. The pale and senile appearance of her mother brings back her
childhood fear of losing her mother. She can definitely experience the pangs of
separation, yet she bids her farewell in a pleasant manner. She reassures her mother
that all will be well and they would meet again.
Question.4. Why has the poet’s mother been compared to the “late winter’s
moon”?
or
Why has Kamala Das compared her mother to a “late winter’s moon”?
Answer. The poet has used this simile as ‘the late winter’s moon’ looks too hazy
and lacks brightness and lustre. Similarly, the mother, who is now sixty-six, is pale
and has a shrunken and ashen face. She is devoid of the effervescence and
exhilaration of youth.
Question.5. Why are the young trees described as ‘sprinting’?
Answer. The poet is travelling in a speeding car and the roadside trees seem
speeding past or sprinting in the opposite direction. The poet has contrasted the
‘young trees’ which are moving fast to her mother, who is old and slow.
Question.6. What were the poet’s feelings at the airport? How did she hide
them?
Answer. The poet was torn apart by the feeling whether she would see her mother
alive the next time or not. She hid her feelings by smiling reassuringly at her
mother.
Question.7. What do the parting words of the poet Kamala Das to her mother
signify?
Answer. The parting words of Kamala Das to her mother signify her anxiety and
fear about her mother’s frail health. They also express the hope that her mother
would survive till they meet again. .
Question.8. Why has the poet brought in the image of the merry children
spilling out of their homes?
Answer. The young children spilling out of their homes represent the exuberance
and vigour of youth. They are in complete contrast to the poet’s mother. Perhaps
the poet has used the image to bring out the pangs of old age.