Gujarat Board GSEB Class 12 English Textbook Solutions Flamingo Poem 1 My Mother at Sixty-six Textbook Exercise Important Questions and Answers, Notes Pdf.
Gujarat Board Textbook Solutions Class 12 English Flamingo Poem 1 My Mother at Sixty-six
GSEB Class 12 English My Mother at Sixty-six Text Book Questions and Answers
Think it Out:
Question 1.
What is the kind of pain and ache that the poet feels?
Answer:
When the poet sees the pale and corpselike face of her mother, her old familiar pain or the ache returns. Perhaps she has entertained this fear since her childhood. Ageing is a natural process. Time and ageing spare none. Time and ageing have not spared the poet’s mother and may not spare her as well. With this ageing, separa¬tion and death become inevitable.
Question 2.
Why are the young trees described as ‘sprinting’?
Answer:
The poet is driving to the Cochin airport. When she looks outside, the young trees seem to be walking past them as in a race. With the speed of the car they seem to be running fast or sprinting. The poet presents a contrast-her ‘dozing’ old mother and the ‘sprinting’ young trees.
Question 3.
Why has the poet brought in the image of the merry children ‘spilling out of their homes?
Answer:
The poet has brought in the image of merry children ‘spilling out of their homes’ to present a contrast. The merry children coming out of their homes in large numbers present an image of happiness and spontaneous overflow of life. This image is in stark contrast to the ‘dozing’ old mother, whose ‘ashen’ face looks lifeless and pale like a corpse. She is an image of ageing, decay and passivity. The contrast of the two images enhances the poetic effect.
Question 4.
Why has the mother been compared to the ‘late winter’s moon’?
Answer:
The poet’s mother is sixty-six years old. Her shrunken ‘ashen’ face resembles a corpse. She has lost her shine and strength of youth. Similarly, the late winter’s moon looks hazy and obscure. It too lacks shine and strength. The comparison is quite natural and appropriate. The simile used here is apt as well as effective.
Question 5.
What do the parting words of the poet and her smile signify?
Answer:
The poet’s parting words of assurance and her smiles provide a stark contrast to the old familiar ache or fear of the childhood. Her words and smiles are a deliberate attempt to hide her real feelings. The parting words: “See you soon, Amma” give an assurance to the old lady whose ‘ashen face’ looks like a corpse. Similarly, her continuous smiles are an attempt to overcome the ache and fear inside her heart.
GSEB Class 12 English My Mother at Sixty-six Additional Important Questions and Answers
Answer the following questions in four to Five sentences each:
Question 1.
Where was the poet going and who was with her?
Answer:
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. he was dozing with her mouth open. The words -living and ‘doze’ provide a contrast between ages of dynamic activity and static passivity respectively.
Question 2.
What was the poet’s childhood fear?
Answer:
The child is always in fear of being rated from his parents. In the same way, the poet’s fear as a child was that of losing her mother or her company.
Question 3.
What does the poet’s mother look like? What kind of images has the poet used to signify her ageing decay?
Answer:
The poet’s mother is sixty-six years old. She is sitting beside the poet and dozing with her mouth open. This is a sign of old age. Usually, old people keep their mouths open to overcome breathing problems. Her face looked pale and faded like ash. Actually, she is an image of death as her ‘ashen’ face looks like that of a corpse.
Question 4.
What does the poet realise with pain? Why does the poet ‘put that thought away’ and look outside?
Answer:
The lifeless and faded face of the poet’s mother pains her heart. She looks lifeless like a corpse. She provides an image of passivity, decay and death. The old lady seems to be lost in her thoughts. The poet needs a distraction, a change. She puts that thought away and looks outside. There she gets a picture of life, happiness and activity.
Question 5.
Describe the world inside the car and compare it to the activities taking place outside.
Answer:
The pale and faded face of the poet’s mother looks lifeless like a corpse. Her dozing with mouth wide open suggests passivity, decay and death. Outside the car, the poet watches young trees speeding past them. They seem to be running fast or sprinting. Happy children are moving out of their homes cheerfully. They present an image of life, dynamism and activity.
Question 6.
Why does the poet look outside ? What does she see happening outside?
Answer:
The thought of the ageing mother ^at sixty-six and her pale and ‘ashen’ face looking like a corpse becomes too heavy for the poet to bear. She needs a distraction, a diversion and therefore she looks outside. She watches young trees. These trees speed past them and appear to be sprinting. Then she sees happy children moving out of their houses and making merry.
Question 7.
How has the poet contrasted the scene inside the car with the activities going on outside ?
Answer:
The poet has used beautiful images to highlight the stark contrast between the scene inside the car and the activities going on outside. The ‘ashen’ face of the poet’s mother is pale and lifeless. It looks like that of a corpse. She is dozing and lost to herself. The image of the ‘dozing’ mother is contrasted with the ‘spilling’ of children. The ‘ashen’ and ‘corpselike’ face is contrasted with the young trees seen sprinting outside the car’s window.
Question 8.
Why is the poet’s mother compared to the late winter’s moon?
Answer:
The poet’s mother has been compared to the late winter’s moon to bring out the similarity of ageing and decay. The late winter moon looks hazy and obscure. It lacks shine and strength.
The poet’s mother has an ‘ashen’ face resembling a corpse. She has lost her shine and strength of youth. The comparison reinforces the impact.
Question 9.
What is the poet’s familiar ache and why does it return?
Answer:
The poet is pained at the ageing and decaying of her mother. The fear is that with ageing comes decay and death. The sight of her old mother’s ‘ashen’ and corpse-like face arouses “that old familiar ache” in her heart. Her childhood fear returns. She is also pained and frightened by the idea that she may have to face all these things herself.
Question 10.
How does Kamala Das try to put away the thoughts of her ageing mother?
Answer:
Kamala Das was in much trouble after seeing the lifeless and faded face of her mother. The old lady seemed to be lost in her own thoughts. The poetess turned away her attention from her mother and looked outside. The outside world was full of life and activity. The young trees seemed to be running fast. The children looked happy while moving out of their homes.
Question 11.
Why does the poet smile and what does she say while bidding goodbye to her mother ?
OR
With fear and ache inside her heart and words of assurance on lips and smile on the face, the poet presents two opposite and contrasting experiences. Why does the poet put on a smile?
Answer:
The ‘wan’, ‘pale’, face of the poet’s mother at sixty-six brings an image of decay and death. It brings that old familiar fear of separation back. She fears the ultimate fate of human beings. But she has to put on a brave face. She regains self control. She composes herself and tries to look normal. She utters the words of assurance tha they will meet again soon. She tries to hide hr ache and fear by smiling continuously.
Question 12.
What poetic devices have been us by Kamala Das in ‘My Mother at Sixty-six’
Answer:
The poem ‘My Mother at Sixty- is rich in imagery. Kamala Das uses the dev of comparison and contrast. The use of similar very effective. The face of the poet’s old most described as ‘ashen’. This ashen face is ‘like that of a corpse’. The poet uses another simile. The ‘wan, pale face of the mother is compared to ‘a late winter’s moon’.
The poem excels in contrasts. The old ‘dozing’ lady inside is contrasted with the young trees ‘sprinting’ and merry children ‘spilling’ out of their homes.
Figures of Speech
Choose the Figures of Speech in the following lines:
Question 1.
‘…….. her face ashen like that of a corpse ……..’
A. Metaphor
B. Exaggeration
C. Simile
D. Personification
Answer:
C. Simile
Question 2.
‘…….that she was as old as she looked…….’
A. Repetition
B. Comparison
C. Simile
D. Both ‘A’ and ‘B’
Answer:
D. Both ‘A’ and ‘B’
Question 3.
‘Trees sprinting, the merry children spilling’.
A. Internal Rhyme
B. Personification
C. Metaphor
D. Both ‘A’ and ‘B’
Answer:
D. Both ‘A’ and ‘B’
Question 4.
‘……..wan, pale as a date winter’s moon………’
A. Simile
B. Personification
C. Exaggeration
D. Synecdoche
Answer:
A. Simile
Question 5.
‘…………………….. but all I said was, see you soon, Amma’
A. Apostrophe
B. Alliteration
C. Internal Rhyme
D. Both ‘A’ and ‘B’
Answer:
B. Alliteration
Question 6.
‘………….all I did was smile and smile and smile …………………..’
A. Alliteration
B. Repetition
C. Internal Rhyme
D. Both ‘A’ and ‘B’
Answer:
D. Both ‘A’ and ‘B’
Reading Comprehension (Textual)
Read the following stanzas and answer the questions given below them:
Question 1.
Driving from my parents 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…’
Questions:
(1) Where was the poetess driving to? Who was sitting beside her?
(2) Why was the face of the poetess’s mother looked like that of a corpse?
Answer:
1. The poetess was driving from her parent’s home to the Cochin airport. Her mother was sitting beside her.
2. The face of the poetess’s mother looked pale, faded and lifeless like a dead body because she had grown old.
Question 2.
‘…she looked but soon put that thought away, and looked out at Young Trees sprinting, the merry children spilling out of their homes, …….’
Questions :
(1) What did the poetess realise? How did she feel?
(2) What did she notice in the world outside?
Answer:
1. The poetess realised that her mother was lost somewhere else in thoughts. It pained her.
2. The poetess noticed that the young trees growing outside went past as if they were sprinting, happy children were coming out of their houses.
Question 3.
……… 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
Questions:
(1) What did the poetess do after the security check?
(2) Why did the poetess compare her mother’s face to a late winter’s moon?
(3) What is her childhood fear? ,
(4) How do the parting words of the poet and her smile present a contrast to her real feelings?
Answer:
(1) After the security check, the poetess stood a few yards away from her mother and looked at her face again.
(2) The poetess compares her mother’s face to a late winter’s moon as the late winter moon lacks brightness as well as strength. The pale and colourless face of the mother resembles the late winter moon.
(3) The fear of ageing and ultimate death/separation.
(4) The poetess’s parting words of assurance and her smiles present a stark contrast to the old familiar ache or childhood fear. Her words and smiles are a deliberate attempt to hide what is going on inside her mind.
My Mother at Sixty-six Summary in English
My Mother at Sixty-six Introduction:
Kamala Surayya (born; 31 March 1934-31 May 2009), popularly known by her one-time pen name Madhavikutty and Kamala Das, was an Indian English poet as well as a leading Malayalam author from Kerala, India. Her popularity in Kerala is based chiefly on her short stories and autobiography, while her oeuvre in English, written under the name Kamala Das, is noted for the poems and explicit autobiography.
She was also a widely read columnist and wrote on diverse topics including women’s issues, child care, politics among others. She was born in a conservative Hindu Nair (Nalapat) family having royal ancestry. She converted to Islam on December 11, 1999, at the age of 65 and assumed the name Kamala Surayya.
My Mother at Sixty-six Summary:
This is a touching poem written by Indian poet Kamla Das who wrote under the pen name of ‘Madhavikutty’. In this poem, she describes her feeling of love and attachment towards her ageing mother.
Once the poet went to visit her mother. She was on her way back to the airport to return to Cochin. She looked at her mother who was seated beside her in the car. Her mother had dozed off to sleep and her ageing face was smoky in colour like ash. Her mouth was open and she resembled a dead body. The poet realized that her mother was old. She felt pain and sympathy for her. Her mother needed love, affection and care.
In order to come out of the gloom, the poet shifted her glance and looked out of the car’s window. There she saw young trees pass by speedily. Little children were running out of their houses into the playgrounds. These things were contrary to the ageing face of her mother. They symbolised energy, life and happiness.
As they reached the airport and the poet was about to leave for the aeroplane, she glanced at her mother one more time. Her mother appeared weak and pale just like the moon in the winter season which seems to have lost all its strength. The poet felt the pain and fear of losing her mother. She was reminded of her childhood when she used to fear losing her mother.
As a child, she could not bear to be separated from her mother even for a few moments. Now the loss would be permanent as her mother was about to die and she would lose her forever. The poet did not express her feelings. She smiled and said, “See you soon, Amma” because she wanted that her mother should live and they could meet again.