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My Mother at Sixty-Six - Flamingo - Class 12 - CBSE English
My Mother at Sixty-Six, Class 12, Flamingo, CBSE is a powerful poem by Kamala Das that explores the bittersweet emotions of watching a loved one age. Get summaries, line by line explanations, videos, and quizzes for My Mother at Sixty-Six and see how the poem captures the beauty of life and the inevitability of death.
Summary - My Mother at Sixty-Six | Flamingo | Class 12 Literature | CBSE English
The poetess Kamala Das was going back after having met her mother. She had to board a flight to Cochin and she was going with her mother in the journey to the airport. She noticed that her mother was in deep sleep. She noticed that her mother was aging and this brought back her fear of losing her mother.
She tries to let go of this thought by trying to distract herself by looking out of the car. In this poem poetess has used various poetic devices like simile in lines like face ashen like that of a corpse and pale as a late winter’s moon. She has even used repetition like thought—thought away whereby she had tried to show her chains of thoughts and even in smile and smile and smile. The repetition of the word indicates a rather long smile which as quite artificial.
All these poetic devices bring out her anxiety and tension with regards to her mother. It's a beautiful portrayal of a daughter's emotions when her mother has turned sixty-six.

My Mother at Sixty-Six - Questions and Answers | Flamingo | Class 12 Literature | CBSE English
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Driving from my parent’s home to Cochin last Friday morning, I saw my mother, beside me doze, open mouthed, her face Ashen like that of a corpse and realized with pain that she was as old as she looked but soon put that thought away, and looked out at young trees sprinting, the merry children spilling out of their homes, a. Where was the poetess driving to? b. What did she notice while her mother sat beside her? c. Why was her mother’s face like that of a corpse? d. What did the poet do then? e. How were the young trees sprinting? f. What did she see the children doing? g. Find words from the passage which mean: i. Felt ii. Sleep lightly iii. Dead body iv. Happy v. running fast
a. The poetess was driving from the parent’s home to airport for Cochin. b. She noticed that her mother was in a fitful sleep and had her mouth was open while she was sleeping. c. The mother’s face looked like a corpse as she looked pale and lifeless. She had grown old and no more carried the charisma of youth on her face. d. The poet could not bear the thought of losing her mother. She distracted her thoughts from her mother and tried to look at the sprightly things that could be seen around her. e. The young trees seemed to be speeding fast in the opposite direction when the car was moving fast. f. She saw the children filled with exuberance were moving out of their home to either go to school or play. g. Realized, doze, corpse, merry, sprinting
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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…………. a. What did the poetess do after the security check? b. Why did the poetess compare her mother’s face to a late winter’s moon? c. What is her childhood’s fear? d. Find word from the passage which mean: colourless.
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Where was the poetess going and who was with her?
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What does the poet’s mother look like? What kind of image has the poet used to signify her aging decay?
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What does the poetess realize with pain? Why does the poetess "put that thought away" and look outside?
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Why does the poetess look outside? What does she see happening outside?
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How has the poetess contrasted the scene inside the car with the activities going outside?
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What does the poetess do after the security check?
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What is the poet's familiar ache and why does it return?
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Why does the poet smile and what does she say while bidding good bye to her mother?
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What poetic devices have been used by Kamala Das in 'My Mother at sixty-six?
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How is the world inside the car different from the outside world?
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Bring out the significance of the title ‘My Mother at Sixty six’.
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What is the kind of pain and ache that the poet feels?
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Why are the young tree described as ‘sprinting’?
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Why had the poet brought in the image of the merry children ‘spilling out of their homes’?
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Why has the mother been compared to the ‘late winter’s moon’?
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What do the parting words of the poet and her smile signify?
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Quiz - My Mother at Sixty-Six | Flamingo | Class 12 Literature | CBSE English
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