A. TEXTUAL QUESTION AND ANSWERS :
1. What is the kind of pain and ache that the poet feels ?
Ans - The poetess looks at her mother and finds that she has grown absolutely pale and frail , she compares the paleness to that of death . It gives her immense pain to think that her mother is not going to live for long .
2. Why are the young trees described as ' sprinting ' ?
Ans - While driving towards the airport in her car , the poetess looks outside and sees as if the trees are coming very fast towards her , she felt as if the trees were running fast . But in reality only the car was running fast , not the trees .
3. Why has the poet brought in the image of the merry children ' spilling out of their homes ' ?
Ans - When the poet notices the children in merry making condition , she was already thinking over her mother's old age and her pale , sad and weak condition . On the other hand , the childhood is a time when young ones makes fun , enjoy and are free from troubles . They are energetic and bright . So , the poetess tries to bring out his difference between the old age and childhood period .
4. Why has the mother been compared to the ' late winter's moon ' ?
Ans - Winter is a season of end , lethargy , it is the end of a year . Similarly , old age can be said to be the last phase of a human being when he becomes weak , pale and inactive . Besides , the moon of the winter season is seen to be white as an old person looks . This is why the mother is being compared to the ' late winter's moon '.
5. What do the parting words of the poet and her smile signify ?
Ans - While parting , the poetess says , " see you soon , Amma , " to any mother , these are merely words of parting , the actual feelings of none are shown or seen thus . But the pale and sad face of the mother gives pain to the daughter although she can do nothing for her , so she just smiles and keeps smiling .
B. ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS AND ASNWERS :
1. " 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 "
(a) Who is the poet and what is the poem ?
Ans - The poem is " My Mother at Sixty - Six ", and the poet of the poem is Kamala Das .
(b) Where is the poet driving to ?
Ans - The poetess is driving to the Cochin airport .
(c) What did she see ?
Ans - She sees her mother's pale and weak face .
(d) What gives her the pain ?
Ans - The realisation gives her the pain that her mother has grown old and sad and would not live long .
2. " 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 "
(a) What thought did she put away and why ?
Ans - She put the thought away that her mother had grown old and won't live long . She did so because the thought gave her pain .
(b) Why did she looked out at young trees and merry children ?
Ans - She did so that she could keep away the realisation that her mother was coming to the end of her life .
(c) What do the trees and the children stand for ?
Ans - The trees are seen moving fast and the children are happy in their playful activities, they are away from anything like inaction , weakness and immediate decay . The poet's mother on the contrary , is an absolute contrast to them .
(d) What do you think the poet's repeated gaze at her mother signify ?
Ans - After the security check , the poet again looks at her mother standing some yards away to have another look of the mother whose old age troubles her .
3. 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 ...
(a) Name the poem and the poet ?
Ans - The poem is " My Mother at Sixty - Six " composed by Kamala Das .
(b) What is the familiar ache ?
Ans - By the familiar ache the poetess refers to her old childhood fear which troubled her whenever she could not find her mother around her . She is haunted by the same fear today .
(c) Explain " all I said was see you soon , Amma " ?
Ans - The poetess means that her mother's old pale face troubled her but she would do just nothing at all to change that . So , she only did her mother good- bye and hoped to meet soon .
(d) Why is the word 'smile ' repeated in the last line ?
Ans - The smile means something felt and expressed from the core of the heart . The poetess probably tries to hide from her mother her trouble and helplessness . It is an inexplicable emotion of a daughter towards her mother .
4. What thoughts come to the poet's mind when she saw that fast moving trees ?
Ans - Actually it was the car that was moving not the trees . But by looking at those trees the poetess thinks about the lack of movement , speed and mobility of her nothing during the old age .
5. The children can be regarded as the poet's implied comparison with her mother . How ?
Ans - The children are busy in merry making . They are very young , bright and energetic ; they are happy and are only in the beginning of their lives. But the poet's mother is old , weak and pale , her life is coming to the last phase and she lacks enthusiasm . This is what the poetess implies .
