Question

What did the poet notice about her mother?

Answer 1

Hint: The above question is from the poem ‘My Mother at Sixty-six’, written by Kamala Das who is a Keralite and her works are known for their originality, versatility and the indigenous flavour of the soil. In this poem, the poet relates a personal experience that is, the emotional pain and ache which the poet feels is due to the realization that her mother has gone old and has become frail and pale.

Complete answer:
The scenario of the situation is that the poet is driving from her parent's home to the Cochin airport. The poet's mother had come to see her off and now she is sitting beside her.

In the poem, it is said that while sitting beside the poet in the car, the poet's mother was dozing open-mouthed and she looked 'ashen like that of a corpse'. The poet, with heartache, realized that her mother was actually as old as she looked and is now dependent on her children.

Her face was pale and unhealthy having lost the spark of life and there was also an expression of pain on her wrinkled face caused by the worries and anxieties of life. This sight of the greyish pale face of her mother triggers the poet's fear about her mother's last years of life and the upcoming destiny of death.
But at the end, the poet smiles again and again in an effort to reassure herself that she will meet her mother soon. Her words and smiles are a deliberate attempt to hide her inner feelings of fear for her mother.

Note: The poem my mother at sixty six which is a confessional poem of the poet is one of the finest examples of human bonding, especially that of a mother and daughter. It describes the heartache and fear of the poet - of losing her mother due to death, the harsh reality of life. In this poem, the poet uses the metaphorical devices in the 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. Throughout the poem, the poet is seen as open and uninhibited.