My Mother at Sixty-six
IMPORTANT STANZAS FOR COMPREHENSION
Read the stanzas given below and answer the questions that follow each:
1. Driving from my parents home to Cochin last Friday morning,
I saw my mother, beside me,
doze, open mouthed, her face ashen
like that of a corpse and realised with pain
that she was as old as she looked but soon
Questions
(a)Where was the poet driving to? Who was sitting beside her?
(b)What did the poet notice about her mother?
(c)Why was her mother’s face looked like that of a corpse?
(d)Find words from the passage which mean :
(i) sleep lightly (ii) dead body (iii) felt.
Answers:
(a)The poet was driving from her parent’s home to the Cochin airport. Her mother
was sitting beside her.
(b)She noticed that her mother was dozing with her mouth open.
(c)Her mother’s face looked pale, faded and lifeless like a dead body because she
had grown old.
(d)(i) doze (ii) corpse (iii) realised.
2.………….She
looked but soon
put that thought away, and
looked out at Young
Trees sprinting, the merry children spilling
out of their homes,
Questions
(a)What did the poet realise? How did she feel
(b) What did she do then?
(c)What did she notice in the world outside?
(d)Find words from the passage which mean: (ii) running fast (ii) happy (iii)
moving out.
Answers:
(a) She realised that her mother has grown quite old. It pained her.
(b)The poet withdrew her thoughts from her mother and looked outside.
(c)The young trees growing outside went past as if they were sprinting. Happy
children were coming out of their houses.
(d)(i) sprinting (ii) merry (iii) spilling.
3………………but after the airport’s
security check, standing a few yards away, I looked again at her, wan, pale
as a late winter’s moon and felt that old
familiar ache, my childhood’s fear, but all I said was, see you soon,
Amma,
all I did was smile and smile and
smile
Questions
(a)What did the poet do after the security check?
(b)Why did the poet compare her mother’s face to a late winter’s moon?
(c)What is her childhood fear ?
(d)How do the parting words of the poet and her smile present a contrast to
her real feelings?
Answers:
(a)After the security check, the poet stood a few yards away from her mother and
looked at her face again.
(b)The late winter moon lacks brightness as well as strength. The pale and
colourless face of the mother resembles the late winter moon.
(c)The fear of losing her mother.
(d)The poet’s parting words of assurance and her smiles present a stark contrast to
the old familiar ache or childhood fear. Her words and smiles are a deliberate
attempt to hide her sadness which is going on inside.
SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS (Word Limit: 30-40 words)
Q1. Where was the poet going and who was with her?
Ans: The poet was driving from her parent’s home to the Cochin airport. The poet’s
mother had come to see her off. She was sitting beside her. She was dozing with her
mouth open. The words ‘driving’ and ‘doze’ provide a contrast between images of
dynamic activity and static passivity respectively.
Q2. What was the poet’s childhood fear?
Ans: The child is always in fear of being separated from his parents. In the same
way, the poet’s fear as a child was that of losing her mother or her company.
Q3. What does the poet’s mother look like? What kind of images has the poet
used to signify her ageing decay?
Ans: The poet’s mother is sixty-six years old. She is sitting beside the poet and
dozing with her mouth open. This is a sign of old age. Usually old people keep their
mouth open to overcome breathing problems. Her face looked pale and faded like
ash. She is an image of death as her ‘ashen’ face looks like that of a corpse.
Q4. What does the poet realise with pain? Why does the poet ‘put that thought
away’ and look outside?
Ans: The lifeless and faded face of the poet’s mother pains her heart. She looks
lifeless like a corpse. She provides an image of passivity, decay and death. The old
lady seems to be lost in her thoughts. The poet needs a distraction, a change. She
puts that thought away and looks outside. There she gets a picture of life, happiness,
vigour and activity.
Q5. Describe the world inside the car and compare it to the activities taking
place outside?
Ans: The pale and faded face of the poet’s mother looks lifeless like a corpse. Her
dozing with mouth wide open suggests passivity, decay and death. Outside the car,
the poet watches young trees speeding past them. They seem to be running fast or
sprinting. Happy children are moving out of their homes cheerfully. They present an
image of life, dynamism and activity.
Q6. Why does the poet look outside? What does she see happening outside?
Ans: The thought of the ageing mother at sixty-six and her pale and ashen face
looking like a corpse becomes too heavy for the poet to bear. She needs a
distraction, a diversion and therefore she looks outside. She watches young trees.
These trees speed past them and appear to be sprinting. Then she sees happy
children moving out of their houses and making merry.
Q7. What does the poet do after the security check-up? What does she notice?
Ans: They have to pass through a security check-up at the airport. After it, the poet
stands a few yards away. Before saying parting words to her mother, she looks at
her mother again. Her face looks pale and colourless like the late winter’s moon. She
presents a picture of ageing and decay.
Q8. What is the poet’s familiar ache and why does it return?
Ans: The poet is pained at the ageing and decaying of her mother. The fear is that
with ageing comes decay and death. The sight of her old mother’s ‘ashen’ and
corpse-like face arouses “that old familiar ache” in her heart. Her childhood fear
returns. She is also pained and frightened by the idea that she may have to face all
these things herself.
