CBSE Class 12 English My Mother At Sixty Six Notes Set B

About The Author

Kamala Das (31 March 1934-31 May 2009) was an Indian English poet and at the same time a leading Malayalam author from Kerala, India. Kamala Das received many awards for her literary contributions like ‘Asian Poetry Prize’, ‘Kent Award for English Writing from Asian Countries’ and many more.

Summary

The poet recalls a trip back to Cochin from her holiday at her parents’ house. It was a Friday morning and that morning she was driving with her mother next to her on the front seat. She was observing her mother who had fallen asleep on the front seat with her mouth slightly open. She could see her mother’s face which was pale and resembled to the nearly white face of a dead body. She realises that her mother is no longer younger and she has started looking very old.

This became very hard for her to accept so, she was determined to shift her focus to something else. So, she turned her face away from her aged mother and started looking outside the window of the car. She started looking at the trees they crossed while driving. It seemed to her that the trees were running at full speed past her because of the moving car. It seemed that those trees would have been young if they could move at such a fast pace. She also saw children coming out of their house with their face gleaming with excitement. After crossing these sights they reached airport. Till now, her mind was busy and distracted due to those sights. But now, when they were going through the security check, she was standing a short distance away from her mother and saw her old mother. Again her mind was filled with the same thoughts. She could see her mother appeared extremely pale and lacking vigor.

The poet compared her mother’s face with the winter’s moon which is slightly faded on winter’s night. She recalled her childhood fear of losing her mother one day, that her mother would die. This fear afflicted her many times before and again this thought was tormenting her. However, she did not let that fear show itself on her face. She smiled and waved a goodbye to her mother. She gave the assurance that they would soon meet again and throughout the conversation she put a brave face even though she was agonised within.

The poet is driving from her parents home to Cochin by car, her mother by her side— sleeping –open mouthed very pale, colorless and frail-like a dead body indicating that her end was near. The poet looks at her and feels intense pain and agony to realize that soon death will cast her mother from her. Tries to divert her mind, looks outside at the young trees and happy children bursting out of their homes in a playful mood (a contrasting image) After the security check at the airport looked again at her mother’s face—pale and cold.
“Familiar ache-My childhood fear” –the poet has always had a very intimate and close relationship with her mother and she has always felt the fear of being separated from her mother hence it is familiar. The poet reassures her mother that they will meet again

Revision Notes

The poem “My Mother at Sixty Six” beautifully shows an ever unfailing relationship between a daughter and her mother. Nostalgia smeared in separation appears to be the default setting of the poem.

The poet is driving from her parents’ home to Cochin by car, her mother by her side— sleeping –open mouthed very pale, colorless and frail-like a dead body indicating that her end was near. The poet looks at her and feels intense pain and agony to realize that soon death will cast her mother from her. She tries to divert her mind, looks outside at the young trees and happy children bursting out of their homes in a playful mood (a contrasting image) and then looks towards her mother who is sleeping weak like a dead body. After the security check at the airport, she looks again at her mother’s face—pale and cold and smiles to hide her guilt and anxiety and with a hope to see her again.

“Familiar ache-My childhood fear” –the poet has always had a very intimate and close relationship with her mother and she has always felt the fear of being separated from her mother hence it is familiar. The poet reassures her mother that they will meet again
• The poet is driving from her parents home to Cochin by car, her mother by her side— sleeping –open mouthed very pale, colorless and frail-like a dead body indicating that her end was near.
• The poet looks at her and feels intense pain and agony to realize that soon death will cast her mother from her.
• Tries to divert her mind, looks outside at the young trees and happy children bursting out of their homes in a playful mood (a contrasting image)
• After the security check at the airport looked again at her mother’s face—pale and cold.
• “Familiar ache-My childhood fear” –the poet has always had a very intimate and close relationship with her mother and she has always felt the fear of being separated from her mother hence it is familiar.
• The poet reassures her mother that they will meet again.

About the Poet
Kamala Surayya (born Kamala) (1934–2009), also known by her one-time pen name Madhavikutty and Kamala Das, was an Indian English poet and littérateur besides being a leading Malayalam author from Kerala, India.Her popularity in Kerala is based chiefly on her short stories and autobiography, while her oeuvre 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.

Theme
‘My Mother at Sixty Six’ captures the fear of the narrator of losing her mother due to declining health and loss of energy which accompanies old age. The poet accepts this reality and is disturbed by her mother’s need for her on one hand, and her own duties and responsibilities on the other hand. This helplessness is poignantly brought out in this poem. The emotions experienced by the poet are essentially universal in nature. The fear of losing a loved one is a theme the reader can identify with.

Form
This poem is in the form of a narrative of fourteen lines written as a single sentence. This is called enjambment. The poem is written in a single sentence punctuated by commas. This highlights the stream of consciousness effect where one thought leads to another. The tone is reflective and the mood is one of resignation and acceptance.

Justification of the Title
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 and the fear of loss and separation associated with it.

Message
Ageing is a natural process and it will affect each one of us. The complexity of life is that children are perturbed by the condition of their parents and wish to be with them.However, they have to leave their parents behind and move on with their commitments. The question arises how to strike a balance between looking after the ageing parents and attending to our duties and responsibilities.

Summary
Declining health and loss of energy accompanies old age. The narrator accepts this reality and is disturbed by her mother’s need for her on the one hand, and her own duties.
In the poem the narrator is driving to the airport. The mother is with her. She realizes that her mother is old when the latter dozes off. The mother is pale and looks like a corpse. This disturbs the narrator, so she looks out of the window. She sees trees which seem to be running (when seen from a moving car) and children running out to play. These images of energy and vitality are a contrast to her mother who is dozing.
On reaching the airport, the narrator stood a few yards away and looked at her mother’s face again. The mother is old, pale and looks like the obscure winter moon. The narrator is pained at having to leave her frail and aged mother behind.
Kamala Das has beautifully balanced the contrast between old age and childhood or youth in the poem. Old age is shown as ‘ashen’ and compared to a corpse. This is contrasted with words and ideas expressing vitality, energy and movement. For example, ‘Trees sprinting’ and ‘children spilling out’. Old age is like a winter’s moon and the mother is ‘pale’ and ‘wan’. The narrator is pained, yet with a smile says, ‘See you soon.’ The separation is not merely of a daughter leaving, but there is pain and a fear of death, a permanent separation, yet the narrator must leave – probably to fulfil her commitments.The poem ends with a tone of resignation. The narrator accepts the reality. She smiles as she parts from her mother. The repetition of the word ‘smile’ reiterates the façade the daughter puts up for the sake of the mother – the brave act, the cheerful parting – the resignation and finally the acceptance as she goes away that she may never see her mother alive again.

Poetic Devices
Simile

1. Her face ashen like that of a corpse: poet sees her mother dozing off with her mouth open, almost like a corpse – it seems to have lost all the vitality – the grey colour of ash is usually associated with a dead body - triggers the pain of losing her mother who is close to death.

2. Wan, pale as a late winter’s moon: reinforces the idea that the mother’s face was pale and lifeless like that of a fading winter moon. Winter is symbolic of the last cycle of season – hence waning moon-mother’s frail health misted by age is indicative of imminent death.
Poet resorts to escapism to avoid the harsh realities that stares her in the face-dispels the horrifying thoughts by diverting her attention to the images of the young trees and merry children.

Imagery
The imagery used in the poem is suggestive of both death and youth. The image within the car contrasted with images outside car.
Merry children spilling out of their home: represent youth and exuberance. This is a contrast to the morbid atmosphere inside the car where the old mother is weak, frail, inactive.

Personification
Young trees sprinting - the sprinting movement of the trees rushing past signify youth, life or passage of time. The mother, travelling in the car is decayed by age. The narrator’s instinctive awareness leads to the familiar ache-painful realization of helplessness cannot share her fears with her mother-fear stemmed out of unknown and she didn’t she want to face her fear of separation—the childhood fear-(inherent in all children) of losing one’s loved ones—the fear of death.

Repetition
Smile and smile and smile: emphases on the fact that she made a desperate effort to cover up her pain, anxiety and agonizing thought of her mother’s impending death by smiling while bidding her a cheerful goodbye.

Metaphor
Children spilling

POEM IN A NUTSHELL
- Genre: Poetry (Through Narration)

Universality of the Theme
Theme of inescapable decay, presentiment of emotional susceptibility of fear of death, separationisolation. The imagery used in the poem is suggestive of both death and youth. The daughter’s feelings and concern are portrayed in a sensitive manner. The image within the car is contrasted with images outside the car. One of the many childhood fears that distressed her was the fear of her mother’s death.

Stanza 1
Poem enumerates:
1. pain and anguish felt by the poet.
2. on seeing her ageing mother sitting in the car.
3. on her way – airport.
4. dozing – mouth open – visage pale, ashen, lifeless like that of a corpse
5. dismay – insecurity – triggered childhood fear.

Stanza 2
Escapism-looks outside-car to put–dreadful thought away–y
1. contrast between her mother’s weakness and frailty.
2. blossoming life-exuberance-young trees sprinting-racing past-grim reminder of lapse of time.
3. children sprinting-new hope-happiness-youthpoet drifted back to days of idyllic youth when mother – young-energetic.
4. grim reminder of lost youth-twilight-inching towards death.

Stanza 3
After security check-standing few yards away
1. looks - mother’s face.
2. wan like winter moon - resembles foggy – misty - end of cycle.
3. feels twitch in heart-old familiar ache-childhood fear seizes her.
4. fear of loss & separation.
5. beset with sorrow-insecurity-agonizing thought of mother’s impending death.
6. bids goodbye-hides fear by smiling-telling ‘see you soon Amma’.
7. hiding her own grief she smiled and smiled and smiled-assurance.