Q.How does the poet describe her mother in the poem, ‘My Mother at Sixty-six’?
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🔒 Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →Concept understanding — Empathy and Observation
Empathy and Observation: The Two Eyes of Understanding
Think of the last time you saw someone trip on the street. You probably winced. That wince — that tiny, automatic reaction — is empathy in its rawest form. You did not calculate anything; you simply felt a version of their stumble in your own body.
Observation is what you did a split second before the wince: you noticed the foot catching the edge of the pavement, the arms flailing, the bag swinging. Without that observation, there would be nothing to react to.
These two abilities — noticing what is happening (observation) and feeling what it might be like (empathy) — are the foundational tools for understanding any human situation, and especially for reading literature closely. A poet or storyteller shows you a scene; your task as a reader is to observe its details precisely and then empathise with the people in it.
Observation: The Art of Noticing
Observation is far more than 'looking'. It is directed attention — actively selecting what to pay attention to instead of passively letting a scene wash over you.
When a writer describes a character, the meaning lives in the small, concrete details: a pause before speaking, a hand that hovers but does not touch, a face that has turned pale, a mouth left open in sleep. A careless reader registers only 'an old woman in a car'. A careful observer notices how she is described — the exact words the writer chose — because those words are the evidence from which understanding is built.
What good observation requires:
- Suspension of judgement. Do not decide what something means until you have gathered enough detail.
- Attention to detail. The small things — a gesture, a colour, a hesitation, a repeated word — often carry the most information.
- Patience. You cannot rush noticing; re-read, and look again.
Empathy: The Bridge from Observation to Understanding
Observation gives you the what. Empathy gives you the why.
When you have observed a character's behaviour, empathy asks: What might it feel like to be that person? Empathy is the ability to understand and share another's feelings — to feel with someone rather than merely for them (that second thing is sympathy). It is not mind-reading and it is not agreement; you can empathise with someone whose choices you would never make. It is an informed act of imagination, drawing on your own experience of being human to make sense of what you see.
A common mistake is to assume empathy needs an identical experience. You do not have to have lost a parent to empathise with someone dreading that loss. You only need to have felt loss of some kind, and to extend that understanding to their situation. The specific details differ; the underlying emotion is recognisable.
Why the Two Work Together
Observation without empathy is cold data — a list of facts with no human meaning. Empathy without observation is mere projection — assuming what someone feels without checking it against the evidence in front of you. Together they form a cycle:
- You observe the details of a scene or character carefully.
- You use empathy to form a hypothesis about what the person might be experiencing.
- You observe again to test that hypothesis — do the further details confirm or contradict your guess? …
The poet describes her mother through a series of poignant, visual observations that reveal her ageing and frailty. She first sees her mother dozing beside her in the car, her face "ashen like that of a corpse" — a startling simile that conveys lifelessness and the poet's fear of losing her. The mother's open mouth and pale, wan appearance reinforce this image of vulnerability and decay.
Later, as the poet looks back from the airport, she sees her mother standing outside, "pale as a late winter’s moon." This comparison is gentler but equally telling: the moon is old, faded, and distant, just like her mother in that moment. The poet also notes her mother's "old familiar ache" — the chronic pain of age that the poet has grown up with. Throughout, the mother is portrayed no …
The poet describes her mother through a poignant contrast between the mother’s ageing, pale face and the vibrant, youthful world outside the car window, capturing the speaker’s fear of loss and her quiet, helpless love.
Kamala Das’s poem ‘My Mother at Sixty-six’ is not a straightforward physical description of an old woman. Instead, the poet builds the portrait of her mother through a series of carefully chosen images and emotional contrasts. The poem opens with the speaker driving from her parents’ home to the airport, and in that brief car ride, she looks at her mother sitting beside her. The first image is startling: the mother’s face is described as “ashen like that of a corpse.” This is a deliberately shocking comparison — the word “ashen” suggests a loss of colour, of life, of the warmth that a living face should have. The poet does not say her mother looks old; she says she looks like a dead body. That is the raw, unfiltered perception of a daughter who suddenly sees the reality of her mother’s age and frailty.
But the poem does not dwell on this grim image. The speaker immediately turns her gaze away, out of the car window, and sees the world outside: “young trees sprinting,” “merry children spilling out of their homes.” This is not a random description of scenery. The poet is deliberately contrasting the vitality of nature and childhood with the stillness and decay she sees in her mother. The trees are “sprinting” — full of energy, movement, growth. The children are “merry” — carefree, alive, full of future. Against this backdrop, the mother’s stillness becomes even more pronounced. The poet is, in effect, saying: Look at how alive the world is, and look at how my mother is slipping away from it.
The description then returns to the mother’s face, but this time with a softer, more intimate image. The poet says her mother’s face is “wan, pale as a late winter’s moon.” The winter moon is a beautiful but cold, distant, and fading object — it is still there, still shining, but its light is weak and it will soon disappear. This is a gentler comparison than the corpse, but it carries the same underlying fear: the mother is nearing the end of her life. The word “late” is crucial — it suggests not just the season, but also the idea of something that is almost over. …
Showing the 12 most recent of 18 on this concept.
- CBSE 2026Set 1/1/11 markMCQQ.What emotion does the speaker reveal in the opening lines of the extract? (A) curiosity (B) bitterness (C) indifference (D) detachment (A Roadside Stand)
›Reveal solutionSolution
The opening lines of A Roadside Stand reveal the speaker's bitterness — a sorrowful anger at the way the wealthy, speeding city world ignores the poor who put up the stand. The answer is (B).
Frost begins with the image of a small, poor roadside stand set up in the hope that passing cars will stop and buy something. The way he describes it — the little old house, the shed, the almost pitiful pleading of the stall — is charged with feeling. The speaker is clearly not a detached onlooker.
Weighing the options:
- (A) curiosity suggests a neutral, questioning attitude, but the speaker is not merely wondering about the scene; he is troubled by it.
- (C) indifference is the opposite of what he feels; he is deeply affected. …
- CBSE 2026Set 1/1/11 markQ.What does the speaker imply when he says that the hurt to the scenery would not be his complaint? (A Roadside Stand)
›Reveal solutionSolution
The speaker implies that his primary concern is not the aesthetic disruption caused by the roadside stand, but rather the profound economic hardship and unfulfilled hopes of its owners.
Robert Frost's "A Roadside Stand" is a poignant exploration of the stark contrast between the lives of city dwellers and the impoverished rural folk. The poem sets the scene with a small, crudely built stand by the side of a country road, an earnest attempt by its owners to attract the attention of passing city cars and sell their humble goods. These city folk, often speeding by in their expensive vehicles, represent a world of prosperity and opportunity that remains largely inaccessible to the villagers.
When the speaker says that "the hurt to the scenery would not be his complaint," he is drawing a crucial distinction between superficial concerns and deeper human suffering. Many urbanites, accustomed to picturesque landscapes and often detached from the realities of rural poverty, might indeed perceive such a stand as an eyesore, a blemish on the natural beauty of the countryside. Their complaint, if they had one, would likely stem from an aesthetic perspective, a perceived degradation of the environment.
However, the speaker's perspective is far more empathetic and profound. He understands that the stand, despite its humble appearance, represents the desperate efforts of its owners to earn a livelihood. His concern is not with the visual impact on the landscape, but with the human cost involved. He sees beyond the physical structure to the "childish longing in vain" – the earnest hope of the villagers for a small share of the prosperity that passes them by, a hope that is consistently ignored.
His true complaint, therefore, lies in:
- The economic disparity: The vast gap between the wealth of the city and the poverty of the countryside, where basic necessities are a struggle.
- The unfulfilled hopes: The villagers' yearning for a better life, for some financial relief, for a chance to participate in the economic mainstream, which remains largely out of reach.
- The urban indifference: The lack of empathy, understanding, and genuine connection from those who could easily offer a little help, but choose instead to speed past, often with disdain or disinterest. …
- CBSE 2025Set 1/4/11 markMCQQ.Which of the following does the imagery in the given extract NOT represent? (A) energy (B) liveliness (C) shade (D) vitality (My Mother at Sixty-six)
›Reveal solutionSolution
The imagery of "trees sprinting" and "merry children" in "My Mother at Sixty-six" primarily represents youth, energy, and vitality, contrasting with the mother's aging. It does NOT represent shade.
The poem "My Mother at Sixty-six" by Kamala Das uses vivid imagery to convey the poet's feelings about her aging mother. A key technique employed is the use of contrasting images. While the mother is depicted as frail and pale, the world outside the car window is shown as vibrant and full of life. The question asks what this contrasting imagery does NOT represent.
The intuition here is to understand the purpose of these specific images. The poet deliberately chooses "trees sprinting" and "merry children spilling out of their homes" to highlight a stark difference. These images are not just descriptive; they are symbolic. They represent everything the aging mother is losing or has lost: youth, vigor, and unbridled life.
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Identify the relevant imagery: The question refers to the imagery used in the poem, specifically the contrasting images seen outside the car window. These are "trees sprinting" and "merry children spilling out of their homes."
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Analyze the connotations of the imagery:
- "Trees sprinting": Trees are typically static, but here they are personified as "sprinting," implying rapid movement, speed, and a dynamic quality. This suggests energy and life.
- "Merry children spilling out of their homes": Children are inherently associated with youth, joy, and boundless energy. "Merry" emphasizes happiness and cheerfulness, while "spilling out" suggests an overflowing, uncontrolled burst of activity and life.
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Evaluate option (A) energy: Both "sprinting" trees and "merry children spilling" strongly convey a sense of energy. Sprinting is an energetic action, and children at play are full of energy. Therefore, the imagery does represent energy.
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Evaluate option (B) liveliness: "Merry children" directly implies liveliness and cheerfulness. The dynamic action of "sprinting" trees also contributes to a sense of being alive and active. Therefore, the imagery does represent liveliness. …
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- CBSE 2025Set 1/4/11 markMCQQ.Select the correct option from those given in the brackets to fill in the blank. The given phrase illustrates the poet's _____________. (irony/imagery) (My Mother at Sixty-six)
›Reveal solutionSolution
The phrase from My Mother at Sixty-six uses vivid sensory description to paint a picture of the ageing mother, making this a case of imagery.
When we talk about literary devices, the distinction between irony and imagery comes down to purpose and technique. Imagery appeals to the senses—sight, sound, touch, taste, smell—to create a mental picture or evoke a feeling. Irony, on the other hand, involves a contrast between expectation and reality, or between what is said and what is meant.
Kamala Das's poem My Mother at Sixty-six is built almost entirely on visual observation. The poet looks at her mother and records what she sees with striking clarity.
Let me walk through the key moments:
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The opening description: The poet describes her mother's face as "ashen like that of a corpse"—a simile that creates a powerful visual image of pallor and lifelessness. This is pure imagery: we see the grey, drained colour.
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The comparison to late winter's moon: The mother's face is compared to "late winter's moon"—pale, wan, lacking warmth. Again, this is a visual metaphor that helps us picture the mother's appearance and, by extension, her frailty.
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The contrast with the world outside: The poet looks out at "young trees sprinting" and "merry children spilling out of their homes." These images of vitality and movement stand in sharp contrast to the stillness and decay she sees in her mother. The technique here is still imagery—creating pictures that work through juxtaposition. …
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- CBSE 2025Set 1/4/11 markMCQQ.Choose the correct option: The poet is unable to bear the sight of her ageing mother, because ______________. (A) her mother had refused to accompany her (B) she is upset with her mother dozing off (C) it upsets her to see the ageing face of her mother (D) she is in a hurry to reach the airport (My Mother at Sixty-six)
›Reveal solutionSolution
In Kamala Das's My Mother at Sixty-six, the poet's pain comes from seeing her mother's "ashen", corpse-like face — the visible signs of ageing that force her to confront her mother's mortality. The correct option is (C).
The moment in the poem
Driving from her parents' home to the Cochin airport, the poet glances at her mother dozing beside her, "open mouthed, her face ashen like that of a corpse". The comparison to a corpse and, later, to "a late winter's moon" — pale, waning, near its end — makes the mother's frailty impossible to ignore. What wells up in the poet is her "old familiar ache", the childhood fear of losing her mother. That is why the sight is unbearable: it is grief and dread at ageing, not any surface irritation.
Why the other options fail
- (A) her mother had refused to accompany her — No refusal occurs anywhere in the poem; the mother is right there in the car, travelling with her to the airport.
- (B) she is upset with her mother dozing off — The dozing is only the trigger, not the grievance. The poet is not annoyed at the sleeping; she is pained by what the sleeping face reveals — pallor, age, the nearness of death. …
- CBSE 2025Set 1/4/11 markMCQQ.Read the assertion and the reason below, with reference to the given extract. Assertion: The mother was accompanying her daughter to the airport. Reason: The daughter was leaving her mother behind and flying off. Choose the correct option regarding their relationship: (A) Both the assertion and the reason are true and the reason is the correct explanation of the assertion. (B) Both the assertion and the reason are true, but the reason is not the correct explanation of the assertion. (C) The assertion is true, but the reason is false. (D) The assertion is false, but the reason is true. (My Mother at Sixty-six)
›Reveal solutionSolution
Both the assertion and the reason are true, and the reason correctly explains why the mother was accompanying her daughter to the airport. The correct option is (A).
Assertion-Reason questions test your understanding of two statements individually and then the logical connection between them. You must first determine if each statement is true or false based on the given context (here, the poem "My Mother at Sixty-six"). After that, if both are true, you assess if the Reason provides a correct explanation for the Assertion.
The poem "My Mother at Sixty-six" by Kamala Das explores the poet's feelings of aging and loss as she drives her elderly mother to the airport. The central theme revolves around the daughter's fear of separation and her mother's impending death.
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Analyze the Assertion:
The Assertion states: "The mother was accompanying her daughter to the airport."
From the poem, the opening lines clearly state, "I drove from my parent's home to Cochin last Friday morning, my mother beside me..." and later, "after the airport's security check, standing a few yards away, I looked again at her..." These lines confirm that the daughter was driving her mother to the airport, meaning the mother was indeed accompanying her daughter there.
Therefore, the Assertion is True.
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Analyze the Reason:
The Reason states: "The daughter was leaving her mother behind and flying off." …
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- CBSE 2024Set 1/3/11 markMCQQ.The poet realised that the mother is: (A) frustrated (B) depressed (C) dead (D) weak (My Mother at Sixty-six)
›Reveal solutionSolution
The poet realises that her mother is growing old and nearing death, not merely frustrated, depressed, or weak. The correct answer is (C) dead — a metaphorical realisation of mortality.
The poem “My Mother at Sixty-six” by Kamala Das captures a moment of painful awareness. The poet is driving to the airport with her ageing mother, and in that brief, quiet observation, she sees the unmistakable signs of decay. The mother’s face is “ashen like that of a corpse,” her breathing is “pale,” and she looks “wan” — all words that point not to an emotional state but to physical decline and the proximity of death.
The key line is: “her face ashen like that of a corpse.” That simile is deliberate and stark. The poet isn’t saying her mother is frustrated or depressed; she is saying that in that moment, the mother’s appearance reminds her of death itself. The realisation is not about mood — it is about mortality.
Let’s walk through the options:
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Frustrated — The mother shows no sign of irritation or anger. She is simply sitting, looking old and frail. Frustration is an active emotion; the poem describes passive, quiet decay.
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Depressed — While the mother may feel sad, the poet’s realisation is not about her mother’s mental state. The poem focuses on physical ageing and the fear of loss. Depression is a psychological condition; the poet’s fear is existential.
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Dead — This is the correct interpretation. The poet realises that her mother is as good as dead — not literally dead at that moment, but that death is imminent. The word “corpse” makes this explicit. The realisation is that the mother is no longer the vibrant person she once was; she is fading, and the poet must accept her mortality. …
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- CBSE 2024Set 1/3/11 markMCQQ.Which of the following themes is best represented in the given extract? (A) Life is short and one must enjoy it (B) Ageing and Mortality (C) Sleeping and Playing (D) Art of Parenting (My Mother at Sixty-six)
›Reveal solutionSolution
The poem "My Mother at Sixty-six" primarily explores the inevitable process of ageing and the associated fear of mortality, making (B) Ageing and Mortality the best-represented theme.
Concept and Intuition
In literature, a theme is the central idea or underlying message that an author explores in their work. It's not just the subject matter, but the deeper insight or universal truth about that subject. To identify the best-represented theme, we need to look beyond the surface events and consider:
- What is the author trying to communicate?
- What universal human experience or idea is being examined?
- How do the characters, imagery, and plot contribute to this message?
For a poem like "My Mother at Sixty-six," the intuition is to pay close attention to the poet's observations, emotions, and the contrasts presented. The poem describes a specific moment, but its power lies in evoking a universal feeling about time, family, and loss. We must discern the dominant message, as poems often touch upon multiple ideas, but one usually stands out as the core theme.
Step-by-Step Analysis
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Understand the Poem's Core Narrative: The poem describes the poet, Kamala Das, driving from her parents' home to the airport. Her mother, sitting beside her, is sixty-six years old. The poet observes her mother's appearance closely.
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Analyze Key Imagery and Observations:
- "doze, open-mouthed, her face ashen like that of a corpse": This vivid imagery immediately brings forth the idea of physical decline, weakness, and a resemblance to death. The mother's age is explicitly stated as sixty-six, reinforcing the context of old age.
- "pain," "old familiar ache," "fear": These words directly convey the poet's emotional response to her mother's appearance. The "old familiar ache" suggests a long-standing, deep-seated anxiety about her mother's health and eventual demise.
- "young trees sprinting," "merry children spilling out of their homes": These are contrasting images. The vibrant, active youth and nature stand in stark opposition to the mother's frail, passive state. This contrast highlights the passage of time and the stark reality of ageing versus youth.
- "wan, pale as a late winter's moon": This simile further emphasizes the mother's lack of vitality and fading life, much like the dim light of a winter moon.
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Connect Imagery and Emotions to Deeper Meanings:
- The mother's physical state (dozing, ashen face, corpse-like) directly points to the effects of ageing and the proximity of mortality. The poet is confronted with the harsh reality of her mother's declining health and the inevitability of death.
- The poet's "pain" and "fear" are rooted in the apprehension of losing her mother, a direct consequence of her mother's ageing and impending mortality.
- The contrast with "young trees sprinting" and "merry children" serves to underscore the relentless march of time and the stark difference between the vigour of youth and the decay of old age, reinforcing the theme of ageing.
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Evaluate the Given Options:
- (A) Life is short and one must enjoy it: While the poem implicitly acknowledges life's brevity through the mother's age, its focus is not on the enjoyment of life but on the pain and fear associated with its end. The tone is melancholic, not celebratory. …
- CBSE 2024Set 1/3/11 markMCQQ.Pick the option that uses the word 'spilling' in the same sense as in the extract. (A) Rahul was responsible for spilling the beans by telling everyone the secret. (B) He opened the bag, spilling all its contents on the table. (C) Try to keep that crowd from spilling onto the main street. (D) The cat spilled all the milk. (My Mother at Sixty-six)
›Reveal solutionSolution
In My Mother at Sixty-six, "spilling" pictures the merry children pouring out of their homes — people flowing from a contained space into the open. Only option (C), a crowd "spilling onto the main street", uses the word in that same sense. The correct option is (C).
The word in the poem
Kamala Das writes of "young trees sprinting, the merry children spilling / out of their homes". Here "spilling" is figurative: a mass of people streaming outward from an enclosed space into open space, in an eager, uncontained flow. The image is one of overflowing life and energy — deliberately contrasted with the ageing, corpse-pale mother inside the car.
Matching each option
- (A) "spilling the beans by telling everyone the secret" — An idiom meaning to reveal a secret. Nothing physically flows outward; the sense is entirely figurative in a different direction (disclosure), so it does not match.
- (B) "opened the bag, spilling all its contents on the table" — Objects tumbling out accidentally onto a surface. Literal and accidental, involving things rather than people surging into open space.
- (C) "keep that crowd from spilling onto the main street" — A mass of people overflowing from a contained area into a larger open one — precisely the poem's sense of children spilling out of their homes. …
- CBSE 2024Set 1/3/11 markMCQQ.The phrases 'Young Trees' and 'merry children' symbolise: (A) Youth (B) Old age (C) Disease (D) Travel (My Mother at Sixty-six)
›Reveal solutionSolution
The phrases “Young Trees” and “merry children” in Kamala Das’s poem “My Mother at Sixty-six” symbolise youth — the vitality and life that stand in stark contrast to the speaker’s ageing mother. The correct option is (A) Youth.
Concept and Intuition
This question tests your ability to interpret symbolism in poetry — specifically, how a poet uses concrete images to represent abstract ideas. In “My Mother at Sixty-six,” Kamala Das contrasts two worlds: the frail, ageing mother beside her in the car, and the vibrant, growing world outside the window. The “Young Trees” and “merry children” are not just scenery; they are deliberate symbols of life, energy, and the passage of time that the speaker herself is moving away from as she confronts her mother’s mortality.
The key insight is contrast. The poet places these images of youth right after describing her mother’s pale, ashen face. The trees “sprinting” and children “spilling out of their homes” represent everything the mother is losing — speed, growth, joy, and future. They are not literally about travel or disease; they are emotional markers of the speaker’s fear of separation and ageing.
Watch outA common mistake is to take these phrases literally — “Young Trees” are just trees, “merry children” are just children. But in the poem’s context, they function as symbols, not descriptions of the actual landscape. The poet is not reporting a drive; she is expressing a feeling of loss.
Step-by-Step Reasoning
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Locate the phrases in the poem’s emotional arc.
The speaker is driving to the airport, glancing at her mother dozing beside her. She notices her mother’s face is “ashen like that of a corpse.” Immediately after, she looks out the window and sees “Young Trees sprinting” and “merry children spilling out of their homes.” The juxtaposition is deliberate — the mother is static, fading, and old; the trees and children are moving, bursting, and young.
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Identify what the images share.
“Young Trees” are growing, reaching upward, full of sap and life. “Merry children” are active, laughing, and carefree. Both are associated with vigour, growth, and the future. They are the opposite of the mother’s stillness and decay.
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Connect to the poem’s central theme. …
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- CBSE 2023Set 1/1/11 markMCQQ.The poem My Mother at Sixty-Six captures the __________ of the narrator. I. happiness II. fear III. dismay IV. anxiety Choose the most appropriate option:(a) Only I(b) I and IV(c) II and IV(d) Only III (My Mother at Sixty-Six)
›Reveal solutionSolution
The poem captures the narrator’s fear and anxiety about her mother’s ageing and mortality.
The poem My Mother at Sixty-Six by Kamala Das is a deeply personal and poignant reflection on the passage of time and the fragility of life. The narrator is driving her ageing mother to the airport, and during the journey, she glances at her mother dozing beside her. That single look triggers a rush of emotions — not happiness or dismay, but a quiet, aching fear and a low hum of anxiety.
The mother’s face is described as “ashen like that of a corpse,” which immediately signals the narrator’s subconscious dread of losing her. The simile is stark and unsettling, and it reveals the narrator’s underlying fear of death and separation. This is not a moment of joy or even simple sadness; it is a moment of raw vulnerability. The narrator is afraid — afraid of the inevitable, afraid of the day her mother will no longer be there. …
- CBSE 2023Set 1/1/11 markQ.Identify the phrase from the extract that suggests the following: She was overwhelmed with emotion and could not speak much. (My Mother at Sixty-Six)
›Reveal solutionSolution
The phrase "and all I did was smile and smile and smile..." shows the poet so overwhelmed with emotion at parting that she can only smile, unable to speak much.
In Kamala Das's "My Mother at Sixty-Six," the poet drives her elderly mother to the airport and, on the way, is struck by her mother's pale, ageing face. This stirs "that old familiar ache" — the childhood fear of losing her. At the moment of farewell, the poet is flooded with feeling, but she does not, and cannot, express it in words.
The question asks for the phrase suggesting she was overwhelmed and could not speak much. The clearest such phrase is the poet's own reaction as she says goodbye: "all I said was, see you soon, Amma, / and all I did was smile and smile and smile..." The few, ordinary words of parting and the repeated, almost helpless smiling show a mind too full of emotion to say what it really feels. …
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