Q.What were the poet's thoughts and feelings as she watched her mother dozing beside her in the car? (Answer in 30–40 words.)

Kamala Das reaches back to a fear almost every child has known: the fear of being parted from one's mother, of one day finding her gone. For a child the mother is the whole world — protector and source of security — and the thought of her absence is unbearable. This is the 'childhood's fear' the poet names.

In the poem she is driving to the Cochin airport with her mother beside her. Looking at her mother dozing, her face pale and 'ashen like that of a corpse', she is suddenly jolted into realising how old and frail her mother has become. That sight revives the very fear she carried as a little girl — but now it is no longer a vague, imagined dread. Her mother truly is ageing, and the separation the child once feared is now a real and approaching possibility.

She tries to push the fear away by looking out at the young trees and the children spilling out of their homes — images of life and energy that contrast painfully with her mother's stillness. Yet the ache remains, and at the airport, seeing her mother 'wan, pale as a late winter's moon', she can only hide her fear behind a repeated smile and the hopeful words 'see you soon, Amma.'

The poem 'My Mother at Sixty-six' by Kamala Das explores the complex emotions of a daughter witnessing her mother's aging and confronting the fear of separation. The phrase 'she realised with pain' marks a pivotal moment of stark recognition for the poet. As she drives her mother to the Cochin airport, she glances at her mother, who is dozing beside her.

What the poet observes is deeply disturbing: her mother's face is 'ashen like that of a corpse', 'open-mouthed', and 'dozing'. This vivid imagery immediately brings to the poet's mind the stark reality of old age and the proximity of death. The mother's frail, pale appearance, resembling a lifeless body, triggers a powerful emotional response in the poet.

The 'pain' she realises is not a physical ache, but a profound emotional anguish stemming from several interconnected fears:

• Fear of Loss: The most prominent fear is that of losing her mother. The sight of her mother's aged and weakened state makes the poet acutely aware that her mother is nearing the end of her life. This realization brings a deep sense of impending loss and separation.
• Childhood Fear: This fear is often described as a 'familiar ache' or 'childhood fear'. It harks back to the primal anxiety a child feels at the thought of being separated from or losing a parent. Even as an adult, this deep-seated fear resurfaces with overwhelming intensity.
• Helplessness: There is also a sense of helplessness. The poet understands that time is an unstoppable force, and she cannot prevent her mother from aging or eventually succumbing to death. This inability to alter the course of nature contributes to her pain.

To cope with this overwhelming realization and the associated pain, the poet consciously tries to distract herself by looking out of the car window at the 'young trees sprinting' and 'merry children spilling out of their homes'. This act of looking outside serves as a temporary escape from the grim reality inside the car, contrasting the vitality of youth with the decay of old age. However, the fear and pain linger, resurfacing later at the airport.

In My Mother at Sixty-Six, Kamala Das looks at her elderly mother dozing in the car and is reminded of a fear she has carried since childhood: the dread that her mother might be taken from her. As a child this was the simple terror of separation; seeing her mother now so pale and worn brings the same familiar ache rushing back, because the visible signs of age make the possibility of loss feel real and close.

The poet tries to escape the feeling by looking out at the young trees and the children spilling out of their homes - images of life and energy that contrast with her mother's frailty. Yet the fear stays with her, and she can only cover it with a smile as she parts from her mother at the airport.