Question

Where was the poet driving to and with whom?

Answer 1

Hint: After the security check, the poet was at Airport waiting to board the plane. The narrator, for the last time before she left, looked at her mother again to reassure herself of her mother's well-being. She tried to push away the pain she felt when she saw her old and frail mother.

Complete answer:
i) The poet was driving to the airport in Cochin from her parents' house. The mother of the poet had a comforter to send her off.
ii) She sat beside her. With her mouth open, she was dozing. The terms 'driving' and 'doze' contrast, respectively, between images of dynamic action and static passivity.
iii) The face of her mother had lost all of its shine and color. It was almost lifeless. This is why it appeared like the mask of a corpse.
iv) The poet found that, with her mouth open, her mother was asleep. Her face looked like a corpse's face. Suddenly, she knew her mother had grown really old.
v) Two opposite and opposing emotions were witnessed at the airport by the poet. Her mother's ashen and lifeless face carried with it an impression of decay and death.
vi) Yet she hid her feelings instantly. She was composing herself, trying to appear normal. She constantly smiled to assure her mother that soon they will meet again.

Note: Kamala Das, 'My Mother at Sixty-Six,' is rich in imagination. The use of similes is quite effective. Her face is referred to as 'ashen'. The ashen face is a corpse-like face. Again, a mother's 'wan, pale' face is compared with 'a late winter's moon'. The poem excels in comparisons.