Previous Year: Short Questions With Answers (Part- 2) - My Mother at Sixty Six

Q.1. Why does the poet's smile in the poem, 'My Mother at Sixty-Six' show? [Delhi/Outside Delhi 2018] 
Ans: - Reassuring herself and her mother and
- Masking/hiding/covering her fear of separation, fear of mother's death, hiding her fear of not
- Masking/hiding/covering her fear of separation, fear of mother's death, hiding her fear of not being able to see her mother alive again, hiding her guilt/sorrow at leaving her mother at that critical juncture.
Detailed Answer : The poet's smile shows that she is trying to mask her true feelings. She feels guilty about leaving her mother at this critical juncture and is anxious about their separation. She smiles to reassure both herself and her mother, and to hide her fear of not seeing her mother again.

Q. 2. How did Kamala Das's mother look during the drive to Cochin? [Comptt., Outside Delhi Set-I, 2013] 
Ans: Kamala Das's mother looked pale and wan, like a corpse during the drive to Cochin.

Q. 3. How does Kamala Das try to put away the thoughts of her ageing mother? [Delhi Set-I, 2014] 
OR 
How did Kamala Das put away the thought of her mother's old age? [CBSE, SQP I, 2012, Comptt. Delhi, 2010] 
Ans. Value Points : Looks out of the car window at young trees sprinting/the merry children running out of their homes/by not looking at her mother's old, ashen face/by distracting herself.
Detailed Answer : Kamala Das tries to put away thoughts of her ageing mother by looking out of the car window at young trees and cheerful children. Their vigour and vitality distract her, and for a while she is able to forget her mother's old, ashen face.

Q. 4. How are the young trees described as 'sprinting'? [Delhi Set-I, II & III, 2012] 
OR 
Why are the young trees described as sprinting? [Delhi Set-II, 2017]
OR 
Why are the young trees described as 'sprinting' in the poem 'My Mother at Sixty-Six'? [Comptt., Delhi Set-II, 2017] 
Ans. Value Points : - Image of youthfulness
- energy
- vitality
- full of life
- contrast to mother's pale/old face.
Detailed Answer : The young trees are described as 'sprinting' to create a vivid image of youthfulness, energy and speed. This image stands in sharp contrast to the poetess' aged and pale-looking mother. The trees symbolise life and movement, emphasising the quick passage of time that has brought old age to her mother.

Q. 5. What were the poet's feelings as she drove to Kochi Airport? [Comptt., 2015] 
OR 
What were the poetess's feelings at the airport? How did she hide them? [Outside Delhi Set-I, II & III, 2012] 
Ans. Value Points : Fear of separation/worried about her ageing mother/fear of losing her mother/ anxiety.
Detailed Answer : The poetess felt fear and anxiety as she drove to Kochi Airport because her mother looked weak and frail and she feared losing her. She hid this fear by smiling and giving reassuring parting words, so that her mother would not see her true distress.

Q. 6. Why has the mother been compared to the 'late winter moon'? [Delhi Set-I, II & III, 2013] [Comptt., Delhi Set-I, II & III, 2011] (NCERT) [Comptt., Outside Delhi Set-I, 2017] 
Ans. Value Points : Pale wan colour/mother had lost her glow on her face.
Detailed Answer : The mother is compared to the 'late winter moon' because she appears pale and wan, lacking warmth or glow. The simile evokes dullness and a chill, suggesting that she has lost the brightness and vitality of earlier years.

Q. 7. What was the poet's childhood fear? [Outside Delhi Set-I, 2014] [Comptt., Outside Delhi Set-II, 2017] 
Ans. Value Points : - Mother was growing old
- fear of separation / death.
Detailed Answer : As a child, Kamala Das feared that her mother was growing old and that she might lose her. She felt sad and anxious at the thought of separation and worried that her mother might not be alive the next time she returned.

Q. 8. What childhood fear did Kamala Das refer to in her poem? How did she hide it? [Comptt., Delhi, Set-I, II & III, 2012] 
Ans: The childhood fear that Kamala Das refers to in her poem is that whether she would see her mother alive the next time when she came back. She hid this recurrent, nagging fear in smiles.

Q. 9. What childhood fear does Kamala Das have? Why? [Comptt., Outside Delhi, Set-I, II & III, 2012] 

OR 
What familiar ache and childhood fear did Kamala Das feel? [Comptt., Delhi Set-I/III, 2017] 
Ans. Value Points : Separation from mother / loss of mother.
Detailed Answer : As a child, Kamala Das feared separation from her mother and the possibility of losing her. This familiar ache made her sad whenever they parted, because she worried that her mother might not be alive when she returned.

Q.10. What is the significance of the parting words of the poetess and her smile, in 'My Mother at Sixty- Six'. [CBSE, SQP 2012] [Outside Delhi Set-I, 2010] (NCERT) 
Ans. Value Points : - Optimism
- a hope to see her mother again
- reassuring her mother
- hiding her anxiety and fear
- emotions hidden behind the smile
- true feelings of loss and pain of separation.
Detailed Answer : The parting words and the smile express optimism and a promise of reunion. They are meant to reassure her mother and to hide the poetess' anxiety and grief. By smiling and speaking cheerfully, she conceals her true feelings of loss and pain so that her mother remains calm.

Q. 11. What kind of pain does Kamala Das feel in 'My Mother at Sixty-Six'? [Delhi Set-I, 2017] 
Ans. Value Points : - Pain of separation
- losing her mother
- childhood fear-mother getting old.
Detailed Answer : Kamala Das feels the pain of separation and the fear of losing her mother. This is a deep, familiar ache dating from childhood - the distress at seeing her mother grow old and the dread that she may die soon.

Q. 12. Having looked at her mother, why does Kamala Das look at the young children? [Outside Delhi Set-I, 2017] 
Ans. Value Points : - To drive away pain
- fear of separation from her mother
- children symbolic of life/energy/dynamism/ happiness
- to distract from thoughts of her ageing mother.
Detailed Answer : Kamala Das looks at the young children to distract herself from fear and pain. The children symbolise life, energy and happiness, offering a sharp contrast to her mother's frailty and helping her to momentarily push away thoughts of ageing and loss.

Q. 13. What did Kamala Das think when she looked at her mother? [Comptt., Outside Delhi Set-III, 2017] 
Ans. Value Points : - Dozing like a corpse/ as old as she looked
- fear that may not meet her mother.
Detailed Answer : Kamala Das saw her mother dozing in the car with a pale, lifeless face that reminded her of a corpse. She feared that her mother might not live much longer and felt the painful thought that she might never meet her again.