My Mother at Sixty-six

- Kamala Das
Kamala Surayya (born Kamala) (1934-2009), also known by her one-time pen name Madhavikutty
and Kamala Das, was an Indian English poet and litterateur besides being a leading Malayalam
author from Kerala, India. Her popularity in Kerala is based chiefly on her short stories and
autobiography, while her literature in English, written under the name Kamala Das, is noted for the
poems and explicit autobiography. She was also a widely read columnist and wrote on diverse topics
including women’s issues, child care and politics among others.

The title is apt as the poem is about the narrator’s realisation that time has flown by and old age has
crept up on her mother. The poem revolves around the theme of advancing age, the fear associated
with it, and loss and separation.

Theme: Fear of loss or separation from the old aging mother. It talks about the
anguish of the daughter over her mother's advancing age and the fear of permanent
separation from her.
Poetic Devices in My Mother at Sixty Six -Rhyme scheme: The poet does not use any
identifiable rhyme scheme in this poem. It’s a blank verse. Rhetorical/Poetic devices:
Tautology:
“I looked again at her, wan, pale”

Simile: This rhetorical device is used when an overt comparison is made between two
different things. In this poem, the poet uses the device of simile on two instances. When
she compares her mother’s face with that of a corpse and also uses the word “like” while
making that comparison. She again compares her mother with the moon in wintertime
and also uses the word “as” while making this comparison.

Personification: This rhetorical device is used to bestow human qualities on something

that is not human. In this poem, the poet uses the device of personification with respect to
trees. She imagines the trees to be figures that are running alongside her car.

Apostrophe: This rhetorical device is used when a poet addresses his or her poem to an
absent audience. In this poem, the poet uses the device of apostrophe, when she speaks
directly to her mother, addressing her as “Amma”, even though we never see the mother
replying to the poet.

METAPHOR: This rhetorical device is used when a word or phrase is applied to an

object or action to which it is not literally applicable. In this poem, the poet uses the
device of metaphor in line when she speaks ‘Trees sprinting, the merry children spilling
out of their homes’ to show the contrary image of her mother’s age and approaching end.
REPETITION: This rhetorical device is used when a word or phrase is repeated. In this
poem, the poet uses the device of repetition in last line ‘all I did was smile and smile and
smile……’ when she had to subdue her feelings and tried not to show her emotion to her
mother. She says she believes that she will meet her mother again.

SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS                                                    

1. What is the kind of pain and ache that the narrator feels?
Ans. The emotional pain and ache that the narrator feels is the realization that her mother
has grown old and is frail and pale like a corpse.
2. Why are the young trees described as sprinting?
Ans. The young trees are personified in the poem. They seem to be running in the
opposite direction when seen through the window of the moving car. The movement is
juxtaposed with the expression on the mother’s face i.e. ashen like a corpse.
3. Why has the narrator brought in the image of the merry children ‘spilling out of
their homes’?
Ans. The narrator highlights the helplessness and frailty of old age with the help of
contrasts. The listless mother dozes off open-mouthed, whereas the children spill out of
their homes signifying movement and energy, which the old people are bereft of. The
image of the children spilling out of their homes and trees sprinting provides a contrast to
the lack of vitality in the mother.
4. Why has the mother been compared to ‘late winter’s moon’?
 Ans. The mother has been compared to the late winter’s moon which is dull and
shrouded. It symbolizes the ebbing away of life. The moon brings to the narrator’s mind,
the night or the approaching end of life.
5. What do the parting words of the narrator and her smile signify?
Ans. The parting words ‘see you soon Amma’ are used by the narrator to reassure the
mother and to infuse optimism in the narrator herself. She accepts the reality of her
mother’s approaching death, yet keeps up the facade of a smiling, happy face in order to
put up a brave front. It requires a lot of effort and hence the poet has used the poetic
device of repetition to emphasize this.
6. What childhood fears do you think the narrator is referring to in the poem ‘My
Mother at Sixty Six’?
Ans. The narrator refers to the fears a child has of losing a parent or getting lost
somewhere and thus getting separated from them or even one’s own process of ageing.
The narrator felt this kind of fear while looking at her mother’s aged and pale face. She
was afraid that she might never see her alive again.
7. What does the narrator mean by ‘all I did was smile and smile and smile…’?
Ans. The narrator realizes the pain and aches she would feel at separating from her
mother. It was her childhood fear that she was experiencing once again. She was trying to
hide her true emotions from herself and her mother by smiling and smiling.
8. What does the narrator’s mother look like? What kind of images has been used to
signify her ageing?
Ans. The narrator’s mother is sixty-six years old, looks pale like a corpse. The imagery of
death has been created by this comparison.
9. What were the activities that the narrator saw outside the car window?
Ans. The narrator saw young trees speeding past which seemed as if they were sprinting
or running fast. Happy, enthusiastic and energetic children could be seen running out of
their homes. They present an image of youth and energy in comparison to the lack of
energy of the narrator’s mother.
10. Why does the narrator look outside? What does she perceive?
Ans. The very thought of separation from her mother upsets and depresses the narrator.
She experiences the fear that she may never meet her mother again. In order to drive
away such negative thoughts, she looks out of the window and her mind gets diverted
when she sees trees moving rapidly and children playing merrily.
11. What does the narrator do after the security check-up? What does she notice?
Ans. Immediately after the security check-up at the airport, and standing a few yards
away from her mother, the narrator observes her mother once again and compares her to
the pale, colourless winter’s moon, marking the last phase of her life, i.e., her old age.
She is pained to see her in such a condition and the fear of separation returns in her, once
again.
12. What is the narrator’s familiar ache and why does it return?
Ans. The narrator is pained to see her mother old and pale. This arouses the ‘familiar
ache’ in her heart which she used to experience in her childhood.
13. Why does the narrator smile and what does she say while bidding goodbye to
her mother?
Ans. The narrator smiles in order to put up a brave front so that her mother does not
observe her pained and frightened look. She smiles in order to reassure her mother and
says that she would see her again soon.
14. What poetic devices has the poet used in ‘My Mother at Sixty-six’?
Ans. The poem is rich in imagery. Devices of comparisons and contrasts are also used by
the poet to draw out the difference between youth and old age. She describes the mother’s
face using similes ‘ashen like a corpse’, and ‘late winter’s moon’. The merry children
playing happily are contrasted with the old, weak and pale mother.
15. What kind of pain does Kamala Das feel in ‘My Mother at Sixty Six’? [Delhi
2017]
 Ans. The pain that Kamala Das feels is the pain of separation from her mother by death.
She had also felt it in her childhood.
16. Why are the youngsters described as springing? (My Mother at Sixty-six) [Delhi
2017]
Ans. The poetess is in the car on her way home to the Cochin airport. She looks outside
some young children were running and playing. The poetess seems to contrasts her
ageing mother with the youngsters’ full of life.
17. Why does Kamala Das compare her mother to ‘a pale winter’s moon’? [Delhi
2017]
 Ans. The late winter’s moon is calm and hazy with a dim lustre; it loses its vitality and
power. So the poetess compares her mother’s calm, colourless and withered face to the
late winter’s moon. She has become weak and was due to her age of sixty-six.
18. Having looked at her mother, why does Kamala Das look at the young children?
[All India 2017]
Ans. While driving her car, the mother was sitting with her. She was dozing with mouth
open. Her face was pale and ashen. She looked like a corpse. She was deeply depressed
and pain started troubling her mind. In order to put these troubled thoughts away, she
looked at the outside world which was full of life, activity and energy. This distraction
made her feel happy.
19. What was Kamala Das’s childhood fear? [All India 2017]
 Ans. After seeing her mother at sixty-six in a pale like a corpse face, her childhood fear
of separation from her mother returns. She is deeply pained lest she should not find her
mother alive after her return. These thoughts are painful and distressing to her.
20. In the last line of the poem, ‘My Mother at Sixty-six’, why does the poet use the
word ‘smile’ repeatedly? [All India 2017]
Ans. In the last line, the poet repeats the word ‘smile’. This repetition brings out the
poet’s need to hide her pain from the mother and even herself and to pretend that all was
well and they would meet again. The smile heightens the contrast between her inner pain
and outward behaviour.
21. How does Kamala Das try to put away the thoughts of her ageing mother?
Ans. In order to put away the thoughts of her ageing mother, the poetess started looking
out of the window of the car at young trees sprinting, the merry children spilling out of
their homes.
22. What is the kind of pain and ache that the poet feels?
 Ans. Whenever the poet looks at the colourless and pale face of her mother, her old
familiar pain realising that her mother was ageing and would die soon.
23. Why are the young trees described as ‘sprinting’?[Delhi 2010]
Ans. The young trees are described as “sprinting” because when we look at them from a
moving car, they seem to be running fast in the opposite direction.
24. Why has the poet brought in the image of the merry children ‘spilling out of
these home’? [Textual)
Ans. The image of the merry children ‘spilling out of their home’ is to suggest the idea of
youth and beauty in contrast to the ashen-like pale wan face of her ageing mother. This
image emphasises the fact that the old mother has lost the vitality, energy, charm, beauty
and youth.
25. Why has the mother been compared to the late winter’s moon?
Ans. The mother has been compared to the late winter’s moon as she is very old and her
face is ashen, pale and withered. She looks very dull and lifeless like the late winter’s
moon.
26. What do the parting words of the poet and her smile signify?
Ans. The parting words express the poet’s optimism. These words console the mother
that she would soon visit her again. She smiles to conceal her fear and pain of separation
from her mother and gives her ageing mother an assurance of survival.
27. What was Kamala Das fear as a child? Why do they surface when she is going to
the airport?
Ans. As a child, the poet always had a fear of getting separated from her mother. There
was a sense of insecurity and fear of losing her mother. The childhood fear reappeared
when, while going to the airport, she looked at the pale and withered face of her mother
and realised that her mother was ageing and she might lose her soon.
28. What were the poet’s feelings at the airport? How did she hide them?
Ans. The poet was full of pain and fear of being separated from her ageing mother. The
fear of losing her mother gripped her. But she bade her mother goodbye with a smile to
give her hope of survival and meeting again.
Answer the following questions                                                    
 Q1. In today’s fast life, children neglect their ageing parents. What do you think
children can do to have an involved and inclusive relationship with their elderly
parents?
 Ans. Children are caught up in their own world of stress and ambition. They sometimes
ignore their parents. However, if they live in the same city, they should take out some
time for them. If they are in another city, the children must ring them up regularly.
Birthdays and festivals are a good time to spend with their elderly parents and make them
feel wanted. If children accompany their parents for the medical check-up, the parents
will feel reassured. Last but not least, children must let them know how much they are
loved. This is the best gift children and grandchildren can endow to the elderly parents.
 Q2. The poem, ‘My Mother At Sixty Six’, brings home the theme that ageing is a
natural process and is going to envelop one and all. Comment.
 Ans. The narrator sees her mother dozing looking pale as a corpse. The mother’s pale
face arouses the narrator’s childhood fears of losing her mother but she cannot stay on.
She accepts her mother’s ageing as a natural process. She hides her pain and guilt under a
smile. The narrator delves on the complexities of life in which we have to strike a balance
and sometimes part with our dear ones as we have other commitments.
QUESTIONS FROM TEXTBOOK SOLVED
Q1. What is the kind of pain and ache that the poet feels?
Ans: When the poet sees the pale and corpse-like face of her mother, her old familiar
pain or the ache returns. Perhaps she has entertained this fear since her childhood.
Ageing is a natural process. Time and ageing spare none. Time and ageing have not
spared the poet’s mother and may not spare her as well. With this ageing, separation
and death become inevitable.

Q2. Why are the young trees described as ‘sprinting’?

Ans:  The poet is driving to the Cochin airport. When she looks outside, the young trees
seem to be walking past them. With the speed of the car they seem to be running fast or
sprinting. The poet presents a contrast—her ‘dozing’ old mother and the ‘sprinting’
young trees.

Q3. Why has the poet brought in the image of the merry children ‘spilling out of
their homes’ ?
Ans: The poet has brought in the image of merry children ‘spilling out of their homes’ to
present a contrast. The merry children coming out of their homes in large numbers
present an image of happiness and spontaneous overflow of life. This image is in stark
contrast to the ‘dozing’ old mother, whose ‘ashen’ face looks lifeless and pale like a
corpse. She is an image of ageing, decay and passivity. The contrast of the two images
enhances the poetic effect.

Q4. Why has the mother been compared to the ‘late winter’s moon’ ?
Ans: The poet’s mother is sixty-six years old. Her shrunken ‘ashen’ face resembles a
corpse. She has lost her shine and strength of youth. Similarly the late winter’s moon
looks hazy and obscure. It too lacks shine and strength. The comparison is quite natural
and appropriate. The simile used here is apt as well as effective.

Q5. What do the parting words of the poet and her smile signify?
Ans: The poet’s parting words of assurance and her smiles provide a stark contrast to the old
familiar ache or fear of the childhood. Her words and smiles are a deliberate attempt to hide her
real feelings. The parting words: “See you soon, Amma” give an assurance to the old lady
whose ‘ashen face’ looks like a corpse. Similarly, her continuous smiles are an attempt to
overcome the ache and fear inside her heart.