KAMALA DAS( 31 March 1934-31 May 2009), a renowned Indian author was bilingual and wrote in her mother tongue, Malayalam, and in English. Her works are known for their originality, versatility and the indigenous flavour of the soil. In her initial writing stage, she published many short stories and novels under the name Madhavikutty. She is well known for capturing the complex subtleties of human relationships in lyrical idiom. My Mother at Sixty -Six is a perfect example.
The poem My Mother at Sixty-Six by Kamala Das describes the filial bond between a mother and daughter, smeared in the backdrop of nostalgia and fear, nostalgia of the past ( the time spent with her mother) and the fear of the future ( without her mother). It is a confessional poem where the poet expresses her fear of losing her old mother. The poem focuses on the universal truth, with ageing comes decaying and death. The poem is written like a single sentence without a full stop, indicating the continuous overflowing of the poet’s thoughts and emotions.
After paying a visit to her parent’s home, Kamala Das, along with her mother is travelling in a car to Cochin airport to take her return flight. During her car journey, she notices her mother, who is dozing sitting beside her. Her mother is sleeping with her mouth open and her face appears pale as a corpse. The poet realizes with pain her mother’s approaching death may separate them soon forever.
To put these disturbing thoughts away, the poet looks outside the window. She looks at the green trees running past their speeding car. She is filled with joy at the sight of young children coming out of their homes to play. The world outside appears to be lively, young and energetic. It forms a contrast to the dull, inactive and passive state of her mother. The life outside the car distracts the poet for the rest of her journey.
At the airport after completing her security check formalities, when the poet turns to bid goodbye to her mother, she gets disturbed by her mother’s pale-looking face. She compares her mother’s old look to hazy winter’s moon that has lost all its luster. Much like winter, her mother too, is in the last stage of her life. The poet is once again reminded of the mother’s imminent demise. Her childhood fear of getting separated from or losing her mother returns. As a child, she knew the fear was temporary but as a grown-up now, she can no more deny the truth that this time her loss will be a permanent one. However, she suppresses her fear and concludes the poem on an optimistic note with a smile, saying,” See you soon, Amma”. Her smile is a deliberate effort to conceal her pain, fear and helplessness.
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Textual Questions:
Q1. What is the kind of pain and ache that the Poet feels?
Ans: When the poet sees her mother’s pale and corpse-like face, she is filled with pain and ache that she admits as her childhood fears. she painfully realises that her mother has aged and within a few years, she is going to lose her mother. Aging makes decaying and death inevitable.
Q2. Why are the young trees described as ‘sprinting’?
Ans: The poet drives from her parent’s home to the Cochin airport. Disturbed by her mother’s old appearance, she looks outside to distract herself and finds the young trees sprinting. Against the speeding car, these trees seem to be running past them. The poet brings in this image to present a contrast between her old dozing mother and the sprinting young trees. The dozing mother symbolises decaying, inactive and passive life whereas sprinting trees symbolise liveliness, activeness, vitality and energy.
Q3. Why has the poet brought in the image of the merry children ‘spilling out of their homes’?
Ans: To bring in the contrast- two faces of life. the poet’s aged mother is pale, lifeless and inactive. She stands for an image of ageing, decay and passivity. In contrast, the children represent happiness and merriness. They are full of energy, enthusiasm and vitality.
Q4. Why has the mother been compared to the ‘Late winter’s moon’?
Ans: The poet’s mother at the age of sixty-six lost the shine and strength of her youth. Like the late winter moon is hazy, obscure, hidden behind fog and mist lacks its usual luster and brightness,the poet’s mother also looked pale and wan due to her old age.
Q5: What do the parting words of the poet and her smile signify?
Ans: When the poet looks at her mother, she is filled with her childhood fear that with ageing comes decay and death. she fears that she may not see her mother alive on her next visit. But she puts on a smile as a deliberate attempt to hide her true feelings and says,” see you soon, Amma”, giving an assurance of life to her mother. Her continuous smile reflects her helplessness and her attempt to overcome her fear and ache.
Some Important Questions:
1.’Put that thought away’- Explain
Ans: When the poet sees her mother dozing with her mouth, she realises her mother looks lifeless as a corpse, her decayed condition clearly indicates her approaching end. Her mother is an image of passivity, decay and death. These thoughts trouble her and to distract herself, she looks outside the car and finds life lively, happy active and energetic.
2. Why does the poet feel her childhood old familiar ache and fear?
Ans: Getting separated from her mother had been the poet’s greatest fear in her childhood. The deteriorating condition of her mother evokes that familiar ache and childhood fear in her heart. She is filled with pain at her mother’s ageing and decaying. She fears she may soon lose her mother.