1. ASSIGNMENT- XII

2. My Mother At Sixty –Six
Kamala Das
About the Poet
The poet, Kamala Das also wrote by her pen-name of
‘Madhavikutty’. She was born in Kerala and is one of
India’s first poets. Her subject – matter is basically related
to her personality- beautiful, sensitive, bold and
tormented. External factors do not reflect in her writings,
her writings bring out her true inner feelings.
Her favourite poem is ‘composition’.
In the poem ‘My mother at sixty six’, she talks
about her mother. This poem is based on mother-
daughter relation and the poet shares her feelings for her
mother.

3. My Mother At Sixty –Six
POEM IN SHORT
1. The poet is driving form her parent’s home to the Cochin airport .
2. Her mother , who is sixty-six years old ,is sitting beside her.
3. The old lady is dozing with her mouth open .
4. Her face looks pale and faded like ash .
5. It arouses pain in the poet’s heart .
6. The poet turns away her attention from her mother and looks outside .
7. The world outside is full of life and activity .
8. Trees seem running past and children seem to be enjoying while coming
out of their homes.
9. They have to undergo a security check at the airport.
10. Standing a few yards away she looks at her mother .
11. She looks faded and weak like the late winner’s moon .
12. The old familiar ache and fear of the childhood return again .
13. But she scatters smiles wishing to meet her old ‘Amma ‘ again.

4. My Mother At Sixty –Six
NEW / DIFFICULT WORDS
1. doze: a short, light sleep
2. ashen: very pale, like ash.
3. corpse: a dead body.
4. sprinting: here, shooting out of the ground.
5. spilling: here, to move out in great numbers.
6. wan: unnaturally pale, as from physical or emotional
distress dim, weak
7. ache: pain.
8. beside: alongside
9. Pale: dull, colourless
10. merry: happy

5. My Mother At Sixty –Six
Read the following extracts and answer the questions that follow :
1. “Driving from my parent’s
home to Cochin last Friday”
Explanation: The poetess explains that once when she visited her parent’s
house in Cochin. It was a Friday when she was driving back to the airport, her
mother was sitting beside her at the back of the car. The poet looked at her
mother.
Literary Devices: Assonance: Here we see the use of vowel sound that is
‘o’.(To Cochin last Friday morning)

6. My Mother At Sixty –Six
2. “doze, open mouthed, her face ashen like that
of a corpse and realised with pain”
• Explanation: She saw that her mother was sleeping and her mouth was open. She
further explains that the colour of her mother’s face was like that of ash. (This
means that there was some smoky appearance on her face). She looked like a dead
body.
• Literary Devices:
Assonance: Use of vowel sound ‘o’,’a’, ‘e’ (doze, open mouthed, her face ashen like
that
of a corpse)
• Simile: The colour of the mother’s face has been compared to that of a corpse -
ashen. use of ‘like’ (her face ashen like that of a corpse)

7. My Mother At Sixty –Six
3. “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,”
Explanation: The poetess realized that her mother had grown old. She felt pain for her.
But soon she tried to get rid of this sad thought by diverting her thoughts towards the
trees outside. The young trees although stationary seemed to be running very fast as
though they were sprinting. She also saw children running out of their houses, into the
playground. All these things were full of life and energy, contrary to her mother who sat
next to her.
Literary Devices:
Consonance: use of the sound ‘s’ and ‘t’
imagery: when the poet say trees sprinting, merry children spilling
Repetition: Repeated use of ‘looked’
4. “but after the airport’s
security check, standing a few yards
away, I looked again at her, wan, pale”
Explanation: The poet continues that when she reached the airport, she finished with
the security check and stood a few yards away from her mother. She noticed her
mother’s ageing face which looked so dull, weak and pale.

8. My Mother At Sixty –Six
5. “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......”
Explanation: The poet compares her mother to a late winter’s moon as the moon in
winters is not shiny and even her mother’s face had also lost her youth and shine. As her
mother was getting older and weak.The poet feels the fear of separation just as she
used to feel during her childhood. As a child, she could not bear the pain of separating
from her mother. But now as her mother has grown old and is about to die, the poet
feels that may be this is the last time that she is seeing her mother. She tries to hide her
fear. She then says that she would soon see her mother again. She says so because she
doesn’t want to lose her mother.
Literary Devices:
Repetition: use of ‘smile’
Rhyme scheme - The poem does not follow any rhyme or rhythm. It has been written in
free verse.
Simile: Mother’s face is compared to the late winter’s moon - both are dull and lifeless.
use of ‘as’ (as a late winter’s moon).

9. 1. Give the theme of Kamla Das’ poem ‘My Mother at
Sixty Six’?
Ans. The mother of the poet is not yet very old. She is
sixty six. But due to her illness or so, she looks pale and
ash colored like a dead body. The poet is in a hurry to
catch a flight. She is deeply concerned about her aged
murder. She is not sure of finding her alive on her next
visit. She looks out of the car at the young trees and
merry children. By contrast, the sight of the mother looks
critical. She casts a last look at her at the airport. In order
to cheer up the old mother, she smiles and smiles to hide
her own fear and promises to see the old woman again.

10. My Mother At Sixty –Six
2. Bring out the poetic devices used in the poem?
Ans. The poem captures the complex subtlety of human relationship 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
the poem. There is a single simile in the explicit comparison of her
mother’s ashen face to that of corpse. We find another simile in
comparison between the pale visage of her mother and the late
winters moon, as her face has lost its brightness.
There is the use of personification in the line “Tress sprinting”, where
tree are attributed with the quality of running swiftly, for enhancing
the poetic effect. The poet has used alliteration in the use of the
words, ‘familiar’, ‘fear’ with the repetition of the consonant sound (f).
It also suggests the poet’s familiarity with her childhood fear and
sorrow of losing her mother to death.

11. My Mother At Sixty –Six
Justify the title.
Explanation: It is about the experiences of her old
mother so the title is apt. This is written by Kamala Das. It
explains about the complexity of human relationships and
several fears we have as humans, such as fear and loss of
separation. As she approaches airport of Cochin, her
mother accompanies her. The travel made her realize that
her mother is aging makes her upset. She gets a fear of
separation from her mother, which she also faced during
her childhood. It is well written with all emotions.

12. My Mother At Sixty –Six
• Answer the following questions in about 30-40 words
each.
1. What do you think is the pain and the ache that the
poetess feels".
2. How has the poet compared the scene inside with that of
outside the car?
3. Why are the young trees described as "Sprinting"?
4. Why is the poet's mother compared to late winter's
moon?
5. Why does the poet smile and what does she say while
bidding goodbye to her mother?
6. Why has the poet brought in the image of the merry
children ‘spilling out of their homes’?