Flamingo - Poem 1 My Mother at Sixty-six - Kamala Das Summary, Glossary, Questions, Ans wers - Driving from my parent's home to cochin l...
Flamingo - Poem 1
My Mother at Sixty-six - Kamala Das
Summary, Glossary, Questions, Answers -
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 realised with pain,
that she was as old as she looked but soon put that thought away, and looked away,
and looked out at Young Trees sprinting, the merry children spilling out of their homes,
but after the airport's security check, standing a few yards away, I looked at her again,
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......
Summary -
The poem, "My Mother at Sixty-six" is written by a famous Indian poet, Kamala Das. Her works are known for their originality, versatility and raw flavour of the soil. She has written many novels and short stories in English and Malayalam under the pen name, "Madhavikutty". In this poem, she has a very well-picturised complex but the emotional relationship and its minute details between the aged mother and the daughter and the exact feelings of a daughter in a very simple but effective way.
Actually, the whole poem is in a single sentence, punctuated by commas that indicate how a single thread of thought can be interpreted highlighting the unavoidable facts of life and ways to compensate for them.
In the poem, the poet was heading towards Cochin airport to depart her mother and were travelling in the car. Her mother was sitting beside her and suddenly, she realises how old her mother became and looked so pale, dull just like a corpse (dead body) and with the thought she becomes very sad and felt that soon, her mother would leave her alone.
So, to divert her attention, she looks outside the window of the car, when sees travelling young trees at a fast speed and happy, joyful children spilling out of their homes feels somewhat relaxed. Here, the poet tried to personify feelings of despair and hope, and at the end of the poem, with all her possible might, she says to the mother, " see you soon, Amma, with a smile that they would meet soon in spite of the fact that ageing is a natural phenomenon and the death is an unavoidable part of the life. In this way, she succeeded in picturising daughter- mother relationship and its subtleties.
Glossary -
1. indigenous - occurring naturally in a particular place, native
2. subtleties - small but important details
3. doze - light sleep
4. ashen - very pale face due to age
5. sprinting - to run at top speed for a short distance
6. wan - pale, colourless
7. ache - pain
Think it out -
1. What is the kind of pain and ache that the poet feels?
Ans - When the poet sees her mother's face, she becomes very sad and emotional, thinking that how her mother became old, and looks very dull and pale, just like a corpse (dead body).
2. Why are the young trees described as, "sprinting"?
Ans - When the poet felt very sad about her mother, to divert attention, she started looking out the window of a moving car, and she realised that the trees are running in the opposite direction at a fast speed. Here, she tried to personify the trees as human beings, so she called the trees young and sprinting.
3. Why has the poet brought in the image of merry children spilling out of their homes?
Ans - In the poem, the poet was sitting beside her mother and they were heading toward the airport suddenly she feels sad about the overage of her mother. Here she has given the example of happy children coming out of their homes, which is a symbol of joy, happiness, innocence, and energy and by that she is trying to compensate for the feeling of despair and sadness with joy and happiness.
4. Why has the mother been compared to the winter's moon?
Ans- The poet compares her mother to a late winter's moon, as winter's moon goes on fading its brightness, charm, and shining, in the same way, her mother's life has faded away and lost all its charm and became dull and lifeless just like a corpse, also as the winter moon is cool and smoothening, her mother appears exactly like winter's moon to her, so the poet compared her mother to the winter's moon.
5. What do the parting words of the poet and her smile signify?
Ans- While departing away from her mother at the airport, she feels very about her mother and had a childhood fear to lose her mother and may not be able to meet her again in future, but courageously, with all her possible might, she says, "see you soon, Amma" meaning she was hoping that they would meet soon and at that time she was continuously smiling signifying to inspire and encourage her mother and herself as well, in spite of the fact that the cruel death is an unavoidable bitter truth of the life, and it became tough for her to accept the truth. But to keep her hope alive about the wellness of her mother, she was smiling and smiling.
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