MY MOTHER AT SIXTY SIX (Flamingo)

ABOUT THE POET

Kamala Das, Malayalam pen name Madhavikutty, Muslim name Kamala Surayya, (born March 31, 1934, Thrissur, Malabar Coast [now in Kerala], British India—died May 31, 2009, Pune, India), Indian author who wrote openly and frankly about feelings and emotions of women and the experience of being an Indian woman. Kamala Das was an Indian writers whose work centered on personal rather than colonial experiences, and her short stories, poetry, memoirs, and essays brought her respect and notoriety in equal measures. Das wrote both in English (mostly poetry) and, under the pen name Madhavikutty, in the Malayalam language of southern India. 

1. Where was the poet going and who was with her?
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 and was dozing with her mouth open. The words driving and dozing provide a contrast between images of dynamic activity and static passivity respectively.
2. What was the poet’s childhood fear?
A child is always in fear of being separated from their parents. In the same way the poet’s fear as a child was that of losing her mother or her company.
3. What is the kind of pain and ache that the poet feels?

The emotional pain and ache that the poet feels is due to the realization that her mother has gone old and has become frail and pale like a corpse. She is dependent on her children. The ache refers to the old familiar ache of the childhood, which revisits the poet due to the mother’s old age and her approaching end. 

4. Why are the young trees described as ‘sprinting’? 

The young trees are described as sprinting because the poet is driving to Cochin airport. While driving to the airport in an effort to distract herself from the thoughts of her ageing mother, the poet looks at the trees that seem to be running past the moving car. 

5. Why has the poet brought in the image of the merry children ‘spilling out of their homes’?

The poet has brought in the image of the merry children ‘spilling out of their homes’ because this image helps to bring out the contrast between childhood and old age. They represent happiness and vitality a contrast to the ashen visage of the poet’s ageing mother. The poet realizes that she may soon lose her mother. This reveals a contrast in the mood of the poet. 

6. Why has the mother been compared to the ‘late winter’s moon’? 

The poet’s mother has been compared to the late winter’s moon because winter like old age is a timely inactivity. Old age is the last phase of human life just as winter is the last month of the year. “Late winter’s moon” which is dull and shrouded. It is because dull moon is the symbol of ebbing way of life. 

7. What do the parting words of the poet and her smile signify? 

The parting words and the smile of the poet signifies that she is hopeful that she will meet with her mother very soon. She wants to say goodbye to her mother with a smile so that they can meet again. There is a repetition of the word ‘smile and smile and smile’ because the poet tries to hide her pain and fear. 

8. How does the poetess try to dispel such horrifying thoughts? What are the poetic devices used to ‘convey this idea’?

The poet makes a deliberate effort to drive out her thought and fear of separation from her mother. She tries to look out at the trees that seem to be scurrying away from the moving car and the children rushing out of their homes. The joyous children epitomize vitality, youth and happiness. “Young trees sprinting” is a personification. “The merry children spilling out of their homes” is a metaphor.

Click here to view the video narration for the poem.