1.

TEXT BOOK SOLVED EXERCISE

2. QUESTION AND ANSWERS

[A] Long Answer Type Questions

3. VALUE-BASED QUESTIONS

4. ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONS

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1. What is the kind of pain and ache that the poet feels ?
Ans: The poet (here poetess) is deeply attached to her mother who is pretty aged, weak
and pale. She is troubled to think that the old mom might depart in her absence.
2. Why are the young trees described as ‘sprinting’ ?
Ans: The young trees running spiritedly stand in sharp contrast to the aged and pale looking
mother. The trees symbolise youth and life, whereas the old mother is slipping towards
the grave.
3. Why has the poet brought in the image of the merry children spilling out of their homes ?
Ans: The little children are full of life, hope and cheerfulness. They have just begun life
and have a long way to go. The old and weak mother of the poetess, however, is
fast losing hold on life. She could breath her last any day in near future. The image
of cheerful children makes the sight of the mother all the more painful.
4. Why has the mother been compared to the ‘late winter’s moon’ ?
Ans: The old mother is pale and cheerless. The moon also in late winter loses its shine or
brightness. So she has been compared to the winter’s moon.
5. What do the parting words of the poet and her smile signify ?
Ans: The poetess is taking leave of her mother. She is going to fly to some distant place.
She is not sure of meeting the old lady again. But she hides her fears, smiles and
assures mother that they would meet again.

Short Answer Type Questions

1. How does Kamala Das try to put away the thoughts of her ageing mother?
Ans: Kamala Das finds it hard 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 outside the car at the sights passing by.
2. What was the poet’s childhood fear?
Or
What were the poet’s feelings at the airport? How did she hide them?
Or
What were Kamala Das’fears as a child? Why do they come back when she is going
to the airport?
Ans. During her childhood, Kamala Das was insecure about losing her mother just as all
young children often are. The same old feelings come back to haunt her when she sees
her mother’s pale and lifeless face. She is tortured by the fact that she may not see
her alive again. She hides her feelings by smiling.
3. What do the parting words of Kamala Das and her smile signify?
Ans The parting words of the poet reflect the poet’s feeling that she wants to meet her
mother again. But she wears a smile on her face to mask her pain and to give hope,
happiness and reassurance to her mother.

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4. Why has the poet’s mother been compared to the ‘late winter’s moon?
Ans:Just as a ‘late winter’s moon’ looks hazy and appears to lack brightness and lustre
due to mist and fog, similarly, the poet’s mother, who is now old, looks pale and
devoid of exuberance. Her face looks dull and colorless due to old age.
5. Why are the young trees described as’sprinting1?
Ans: The car was moving when the poet looked outside at trees. They appeared to be
‘sprinting’ because the car was speeding past in the opposite direction. The ‘young’
trees represented life in contrast to her mother’s approaching death.
6. What do the parting words of the poet and her smile signify?
Ans: The poet’s parting words, ‘See you soon, Amma’, signify hope and assurance, not only
to her but to her mother also, that they will meet again.
7. Why has the poet brought in the image of the merry children Spilling out of their
homes?
Ans. The poet has used this imagery to bring out the contrast between children, who
ard’energetic and full of life, and her mother, who is old, pale and lifeless.
8. What is the kind of pain and ache that the poet feels?
Ans. The poet is pained to see her mother’s dull and colorless face. She is hurt to see that
her mother’s face looks like that of a dead body. She is afraid of the fact that she
may not see her alive next time.
9. Ageing is a natural process; have you ever thought what our elderly parents expect
from us?
Ans. 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 the Kamala Das’s poem My Mother at Sixty Six.
Ans. 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 woman. 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 a at
the airport. In order to cheer up the old mother, she smiles and smiles to hide her own
n -s and promises to see the old woman again.
11. All I did was smile and smile and smile. Why does the poetess repeat the word smile
thrice ?
Ans. The smile of the poetess at the time of parting from her emanciated mother only
hides her tears. She is not certain of meeting the old woman again. The mother is
already ash-coloured like a dead body.
12. What is the significance of the parting word of the poet and her smile, in “My mother
at Sixty-six?” ?
Ans: See answer in Textbook Questions (Page 226).

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Long Answer Type Questions

1. Bring out the significance of the smile of the poet as she bade farewell to her mother.
Ans: The poet smiles as she bids farewell to her mother and assures her that they would
meet again. As she looks at her mother, who looks pale and weak due to old age, her
heart is pained to think that her mother might not live long. She smiles, but her smile is
only an effort to cover up the hidden fear and pain in her heart.

It is a smile put on deliberately to hide her tears. Her situation is quite ironical. Though
she tells her mother that she’ll see her soon, she doubts if she will ever see her alive
again. The repetition of the word ‘smile’ shows that it is a long and cheerful one. The
smile is also significant because it must have comforted both the mother and the daugh-
ter and kindled in them the hope that the mother would survive long enough for the two
to meet again.

2. Bring out the poetic devices used in the poem.

Ans. The poem ‘My Mother at Sixty-Six’ captures the complex subtleties of human relation
ships in a texture of symbols, imagery and other poetic devices.

The entire poem is structured in the frame of a single sentence, punctuated by commas.
It indicates a single string of thought that runs throughout. There is a simile in the explicit
comparison of the ashen face of her mother to that of a corpse. We find another simile
in the comparison between the pale visage of her mother and the late winter’s moon,
as her face has lost its brightness.

There is the use of personification in the line “Trees sprinting’, where trees are attribut-
ed with the quality of running swiftly, for enhancing the poetic effect. The poet has
used alliteration in the use of the words ‘familiar’ and ‘fear’ with the repetition of the
consonant sound |f|. It also suggests the poet’s familiarity with her childhood fear and
the sorrow of losing her mother to death.

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Value Based Type Questions

1. Analyse the concept of losing our dear ones on account of old age in the context of the poem.
Ans. The poem ‘My Mother at Sixty-Six’ brings out the natural complexities of the human
mind and the natural fear of losing our parents, which is common to the hearts of all
humans. Ageing is an indispensable part of human life which we have to accept, irrespective
of the pain it cultivates in our hearts. The poet speaks about her mother who is growing
old and has a pale and weak face.

Her mother sleeps while travelling, as we realize that she requires rest. The poet recalls
how even as a child she has experienced the fear of losing her mother. Now her fear
has changed into the fear of losing her mother to death. Her attention is arrested by
her mother’s failing health and yet she smiles, only with the hope of meeting her soon.

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ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONS

I. 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 realized with pain
that she was as old as she looked …”

1. Name the poem and the poet.

Ans:The name of the poem is, ‘My Mother at Sixty-Six’ and the poet is Kamala Das.

2. Where was the poet driving to?

Ans:The poet was driving from her parents’ home to Cochin airport on a Friday morning.

3. What did she notice about her mother?

Ans:The poet noticed that her mother was sleeping with her mouth open and the mother’s
face was the colour of ash, just like that of a dead body.

4. Why was her mother’s face looking like that of a corpse?

Ans: Her mother’s face had lost all its glow and colour of youth due to ageing.
It looked pale, faded and nearly lifeless. That was why it was looking like a corpse’s
face.

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II. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.

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, …………

1. What worried the poet when she looked at her mother?

Ans: Her mother looked pale and faded, just like a corpse, which worried the poet. This
indicated that her mother may die very soon. .

2. Why was there pain in her realisation?

Ans: The poet felt pain in the realisation that she would not see her mother again, as she
may die soon.

3. Why did she put that thought away?

Ans:The poet put that thought away because she got distracted from driving the car by
thinking about her mother’s impending death.

4. Identify the figure of speech used in these lines.

Ans. Simile is used in these lines when the colour of her mother’s face is ashen, like that of a
corpse.

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III. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.
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, ……….
1. How can the trees sprint?
Ans: The car was moving when the poet looked out so the trees appeared to be running in
the opposite direction. Thus, the trees have been described as ‘sprinting’.
2. Why did the poet look at her mother again?
Ans. The poet looked at her mother again to bid her goodbye.
3. What did she observe?
Ans. She observed that her mother looked lifeless and dull like a late winter’s moon.
4. Identify the figure of speech used in these lines.
Ans. The figure of speech used in these lines is simile; her mother’s pale appearance is
compared to that of a late winter’s moon.
IV. Read the extract 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,…
1. What thought did the poet drive away from her mind?
Ans. The poet realised that her mother had become very old and her mother was pale
and lifeless like a dead body. She drove this disturbing thought away from her mind.
2. What did she see when she looked out of the car?
Ans. The poet saw the trees moving past the moving car and also saw the children rushing
out of their homes to play. Both the trees and children were full of life in comparison
to her mother, who was pale and lifeless beside her.
3. How do you know that the joyful scene didn’t help her drive away the painful
thought from her mind?
Ans. We know that the joyful scene didn’t help her drive away the painful thought from
her mind because soon afterwards, at the airport, when she looked at her mother,
the painful thought came back again.
4. What does the phrase trees sprinting signify?
Ans. The phrase ‘trees sprinting’ signifies time, which has passed at a fast pace.

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V. 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, ……………

1. Who is ‘her?
Ans. ‘Her’ refers to the mother.

2. Why did the poet look at’her’again?

Ans. The poet looked at ‘her’ again because of the insecurity of losing her mother.

3. What was the poet’s childhood fear?

Ans. The childhood fear was that of losing her mother.

4. Identify the figure of speech used in these lines.

Ans. The figure of speech used in these lines is simile; her mother’s pale appearance is
compared to that of a late winter’s moon.

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VI. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.

“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.”

1. Who went for security check and who is ‘her’ in the above lines?
Ans. The poet, Kamala Das, went for security check at the airport. ‘Her’ in the above lines
refers to the poet’s mother.

2. What does the poet compare her mother’s face to and why?
Ans. The poet compares her mother’s face to a late winter’s moon. Just as a ‘late winter’s
moon’ looks colourless and dull because of mist and fog, the poet’s mother’s face
looks pale and lacks brightness due to old age.

3. Explain ‘late winter’s moon’.

Ans. ‘Late winter’s moon’ refers to the moon dining the late winter season, which appears
pale and lusterless because of mist and fog. The poet has compared her mother’s
face to the late winter’s moon because it seems to have lost all its sheen.

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VII. 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 did .
familiar ache, my childhood’s fear,
but all I said was see you soon, Amma,
all I did was smile and smile and smile
1. What was the poets child hood fear?
Ans: The poet’s childhood fear was the insecurity about losing her mother. Looking at her
mother’s pale and dull face when leaving her, the poet was again gripped by the
same insecurity.
2. What were the poets parting words?
Ans. The poet’s parting words were, “See you soon, Amma”, suggesting hope to herself
and her mother that they will meet again.
3. What is the poetic device used in these lines?
Ans. The poetic device used in these lines is simile; her mother’s wan, pale face is com
pared to a late winter’s moon.
4. Explain, ‘late winter’s moon’.
Ans. The poet has compared her mother’s face colour to the colour of a late winter’s
moon, which is pale, as her skin has lost all its sheen and looks pale.

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