CLASS XII

MY MOTHER AT 66 (Poetry) KAMALA DAS

Summary
This poem by the Indian poet Kamala Das presents a daughters anguish at the realization that
her mother was growing old and that one day she would die. It is a poem on separation. It is a
poem on death. While going to the airport to board a flight to a distant country, with her mother
in the car, the poet suddenly grows aware of her mothers ageing and death in her absence.
Way to the airport
The poet was going to the Cochin International Airport. It is certain that she was going to a
distant place for a long stay there. She was accompanied by her aged mother. The mother was
very old, older than her age. During the journey the mother slipped into a doze. Her mouth
remained open like that of a dead body. Moreover her face had lost the colourr of life. Her face
was colourless, ashen.
Pain of separation
While the poet was deeply thinking about this separation, the possibility of their meeting again,
the possible demise of the aged mother, she happened to look at the mother.
An attempt to encourage the mother
Now that the poet knew that her mother had been reading her troubled mind, the poet wanted to
convince the mother that she had not been thinking about her death. To have that expression on
her face, the poet looked out and tried to brush away her sadness.
An attempt to forget pain
In an attempt to look cheerful, the poet now looked out of the car. But what she saw outside
didnt cheer her up. On the contrary she grew sadder looking out. What she saw there sharply
contrasted with what she had with her. The young trees were running cheerfully. Young children
were in their jolly mood, playing and having fun and frolic. Everything looked cheerful and
lively outside while the mother remained almost lifeless and the poet sad. The security check-in
was completed. The daughter was left with a few seconds to see her aged mother. She turned
back at the mother who stood a few feet away.
Late winters moon
The poet now looks at the mothers aged face. The two words, wan and pale, well describe the
mothers appearance. The late winters moon is dim. It is always under the threat of dark clouds
of fog and mist. Any moment the moon in the late winter can be hidden by these clouds.
Similarly the poets mother is approached by death. Any time she could be swept away by death.

Childhood fears return

In the childhood, the poet had to separate from her mother innumerable times. It was quite
painful for the poet to separate from her mother those days. She used to fear these occasions as
she thought they would never meet again.
Smiles that mean pain
The poet was overcome by the intense pain of separation. She could not speak many words at
this time. Controlling her overwhelming emotions she managed to bid her mother farewell. She
had the least hope of meeting her mother again. Yet she struck a note of optimism by saying they
both would meet again soon.
See you soon, mother
The poet is attempting to ease the situation by a long smile that meant consolation to her mother.
She smiled with the expectation that her mother would translate it that the daughter was not
worried about anything and therefore there was no need to worry about their union. They would
definitely meet.
Reference to Contexts (Solved):
Driving from my parents home to Cochin,
last Friday morning, I saw my mother beside me
Doze, open mouthed, her face ashen like that of a corpse.
1. Where was the poet going? Who was with her?
The poet was going to Cochin Airport. With her was her aged mother.
2. How did the mother look like? Why did the poet feel sad seeing the mothers appearance?
The mother was sleeping inside the car with her mouth open. Her face was colourless like
that of a dead body.
3. Why does the poet relate the mothers appearance to that of a corpse?
The poets mother was aged. At sixty six it was hard to tell how long she would live.
Moreover, inside the car she was sleeping, her mouth open and her skin so colourless like
that of a dead body.
And realized with pain that she was as old as
She looked but soon put that thought away
And looked at young trees sprinting,
The merry children spilling out of their homes.
1. What did the poet realize with pain?
The poet realized with pain that her mother had grown terribly old, a thought that she
never had in her mind before.
2. Why was the realization painful?
The realization, that the mother was approaching death, was painful to the poet. The poet

was supposed to stay away from her mother for a long duration, far away. They might not
even meet again.
3. Why did the poet put that thought away?
The poet was thinking about a long separation from her aged mother. She even feared that
the mother and daughter would not meet again. In an attempt to disguise her line of
thoughts, the poet looked out of the car and pretended to be cheerful.
4. What did the poet see outside of the car?
The poet saw cheerful life outside the car. There were young trees running back in a
lively mood and children playing around their houses.
5. How does the poet strike a contrast between what travelled with her and what moved
outside?
The mother was sleeping inside the car with her mouth open. She was similar to a dead
body. She was cheerless and approaching death. But outside the car was life in its
freshness and vivacity. There were young trees running cheerfully. There were children
playing and running merrily. This was a life-death contrast.
But after the airports security check,
Standing a few yards away I looked again at her,
Wan, pale, as a late winters moon
1. How did the mother look like at the airport?
The mother stood a few yards away from the poet who was about to disappear beyond the
check-in and then to a distant land for a long stay there. She appeared to be lifeless and
colourless, like a late winters moon that was dim and supposed to be hidden by the fog.
2. How do wan and pale describe the mother?
The mother was aged and weak beyond her age. She appeared wan and pale. Wan and
pale suggest weakness and lifelessness.
3. What is a late winters moon?
In the late winter the sky is filled with fog and mist. The moon at that season cannot shine
brightly. It appears to be dim and most of the time rests behind these clouds. No one can
predict how long the moon could stay and what time the clouds would hide it.
4. Why does the poet compare her mother to a late winters moon?
The mother was quite aged. She was cheerless and gloomy. Like the late winters moon
that could any moment be overshadowed by the fog, the mother remained a victim to
imminent death.
And felt that old familiar ache, my childhoods fear,
But all I said was, See you soon, Amma
All I did was smile and smile and smile.
1. What is the poets old, familiar ache?
The familiar ache refers to the poets painful realization that she has not cared and cant
care for her ageing mother. It is an ache of helplessness. It is also a fear of separation
from the mother or the mothers death.
2. The poet had the fear of separation from her mother in her childhood. How was that fear
different at the airport?

The poet was about to separate from her aged mother at the airport. The mother and
daughter had many times stayed separated in the past but this was going to be different
from all. The childhood separations were brief and less painful. But today, the poet was
flying to a distant land for a long stay there. She could not say if the two would ever meet
again.
3. Why did the poet promise her mother of a meeting in the near future?
The poet was doubtful of her seeing her mother again. She knew that the mother was also
aware of the same as she was. Yet, to encourage her mother, to leave a hope in her mind,
to make herself strengthened, the poet promised a futile reunion in the future.
4. The poets repeated smile seems out of place in a way. What does the smile signify?
The poet had no reason to smile at the time of separation from her aged mother. She was
deeply distressed and pained to separate her mother at such a very old age of the mother.
Yet, to make the mother feel there is nothing to worry, the poet attempted to be glad,
cheerful and reassured by her extended smile.

The poets parting words are expressive of the dilemma and confusion in her mind while
her smile is superficial and expresses her helplessness. Both the words and her smile not
only hide her anxiety and fear about her mothers rather frail health but also a faint hope
that the old mother would survive long enough for the two to meet again.
Additional Questions:
5. What does, I saw my mother beside me tell about the poets intimacy with her?
6. What reminded the poet of the mothers ageing?
7. What did the poet do to forget the pain of the thought that her mother was terribly
ageing?
8. What do young trees and merry children convey? How does this sight run a contrast with
the scene inside the car in which the poet and her mother travelled?
9. Was the poet an escapist? What was she trying to escape from?
10. Why is the mother compared to a late winters moon?
11. Bring out the poets unusual behavior at the airport?
12. Why did the poet look out of the moving vehicle?
13. What is the significance of the mothers being sixty six?
14. Bring out the ironies in the poets behavior during the parting moments at the airport and
on the way. Why was the poets sadness at the airport similar to her childhoods fear?
15. The poem, My Mother at Sixty Six is much notable for its absence of a full stop. What
effect does the poet try to bring out with this style of writing?
16. How does the poet realize that her mother was a dying woman?
17. What reminded the poet of the mothers ageing?
18. What did the poet do to forget the pain of the thought that her mother was terribly
ageing?