H.S 2ND POEM-1 MY MOTHER AT SIXTY-SIX

 

  Poetess name:- Kamala Das

                             DETAILED ANALYSIS OF THE POEM (IN ENGLISH)

In this poem, the poet relates a personal experience. Through it, she brings out a common paradox of human relationships. Sometimes, we do feel deep sympathy for someone but we fail to express it in a proper manner.

It was a Friday morning. The poet was driving from her parent’s home to the Cochin airport. Her mother was setting beside her in the car. The mother was then sixty-six years old. While going, the poet turned to look at her mother. She found that the mother was dozing and her mouth was open. Her face was as pale as that of a dead person. The poet painfully realised that her mother was not going to live long. But soon she drove this painful thought away from her mind. She started looking at the young trees on the roadside that seemed to be running fast. She saw children running out of their homes in joy.

After reaching the airport, the poet went through the security check. Her mother was standing outside a few yards away. After the security check, the poet again looked at her mother from that distance. The mother’s face was pale white. It was as pale as the face of the moon in late winter. The poet felt an old familiar ache in her body. It was like she used to feel in her childhood when some fear overpowered her. Yet she spoke no words to her mother. All that she said was, “see you soon, Amma.” The only thing the poet did was smile and smile and smile.

कविता  की  विस्तृत  व्याख्या (हिन्दी में)

इस कविता में कवि एक व्यक्तिगत अनुभव करती है। इसके माध्यम से, वह मानवीय रिश्तों का एक सामान्य विरोधाभास सामने लाती है। कभी-कभी, हम किसी के लिए गहरी सहानुभूति महसूस करते हैं लेकिन हम इसे उचित तरीके से व्यक्त करने में सफल नहीं होते हैं।

शुक्रवार की सुबह थी। कवि अपने माता-पिता के घर से कोचीन हवाई अड्डे के लिए जा रही थी । उसकी मां कार में उसके बगल में बैठी थी। उसकी माँ की  उम्र छियासठ वर्ष थी। जाते समय, कवि ने अपनी माँ की ओर देखा। उसने पाया कि मां ऊंघ  थी और उसका मुंह खुला हुआ था। उसका चेहरा एक मृत व्यक्ति की तरह पीला हो गयी थी। कवि को दर्द का एहसास हुआ कि उसकी माँ लंबे समय तक रहने उसकी माँ अब लम्बे वर्ष तक जीवित नहीं रहेगी । लेकिन जल्द ही उसने अपने दर्दनाक विचार को अपने दिमाग से निकाल दिया । वह सड़क किनारे उन युवा पेड़ों को देखने लगी जो तेजी से भाग रहे थे। उसने देखा कि बच्चे खुशी में अपने घरों से बाहर भाग रहे हैं।

एयरपोर्ट पहुंचने के बाद कवि सुरक्षा जांच करवाई। उसकी माँ उससे कुछ गज दुरी पर खड़ी थी। सुरक्षा जांच के बाद, कवि ने फिर से अपनी मां को उसी दूरी से देखा। ऐसा पीला था जैसा सर्दी के मौसम में चाँद का चेहरा हो जाता हैI काबियात्री  को अपने सरीर में एक पुराणी जानी-पहचानी पीरा सी महसूस हुई यह उसी तरह की थी जैसी वह अपने बचपन में महसूस किया करती थी जब उस पर कोई भय छा जाता थाI फिर भी उसने अपनी माँ से कोई बात नहीं की। सिर्फ इतना ही उसने कहा  की "जल्द ही मिलते हैं, अम्मा।" केवल एक चीज जो कबित्री ने की वह थी  मुस्कुराई और मुस्कुराई और वह से चली गयी I

Very-Short Answer type Questions:-

Q.1. Where was the poetess going?     2012

Ans:- The poetess was going to cochin Airport.

Q.2. How did the poet’s mother look?

Ans:- She looked as pale as death.

Q.3. What did the poet realize with pain? Why was there pain in her realization?     2012

Ans:- The poet’s realized that her mother won’t live long.

Q.4. What was the childhood fear that now troubled the poet?     2015

Ans:- In her childhood, the poet’s heart was filled with fear when her mother was not with her.

Q.5. What do the poet’s parting words suggest?      2015

Ans:- These words suggest that younger ones do feel for their elders though they may not communicate their feelings openly.

Q.6. Why did the poet smile and smile?      2015

Ans:-  The poet couldn’t find appropriate words to say to her mother. Therefore, she only smiled and smiled.

Q.7. Who looked out at young trees?  2014

Ans:- The poetess.   

Q.8. Which thought did she put away?

Ans:- The thought of her mother pale and aged face.

Q.9. What do young sprinting trees signify?      2014

Ans:- They signify the vitality of youth.

Q.10. Why did she put that thought away?

Ans:- She put that thought away because it was a painful thought.

Q.11. Which thought did she put away?     2014

Ans:- it was the thought that the poet’s mother might not live long now.

Q.12. What are the merry children spilling out of their homes’ symbolic of?

Ans:- The merry children spilling out of their homes’ are symbolic of carefree childhood when all time is playtime.

Q.13. How can the trees sprint?

Ans:- Trees can’t sprint, they only seem to be sprinting when we pass by them in a fast-moving vehicle.

Q.14. why did the poet look at her mother again?

Ans:- The poet was going away from her mother. She feared that her mother was not going to live long. This painful thought made her look at her mother again.

Q.15. What did she observe?

Ans:- She observed that her mother’s face looked pale white like the face of late winter’s moon.

Q.16. What did the poet see the children doing?

Ans:-  The poet sees that “the children out of their homes in joy’’.

Short-answer type Questions:-                                          

Q.1. What is the kind of pain and ache that the poet feels?  2010, 2014

Ans:- The poet sees that her mother grown very pale and weak. She looks as pale as death. She realizes that her mother is not going to live long. This thought gives her much pain.

Q.2. Explain the statement: “I Saw my mother………….her faces ashen like that of a corps.” 2014

Ans:- The poetess is driving to the airport. When she turn to looked at the mother she found that her mother was dozing and her mouth was open. Her face was as the ashen like that of a corps, the poetess painfully realized that her mother was not going to live long.

Q.3. Why has the poet’s mother been compared to the late winter moon?  2012, 2014, 2017

Ans:- Winter, like old age, is a time of inactivity. Old age is the last phase of human life, just as winter is the last face of the year. And in old age, a man grows pale like death, just as the moon in late winter look pale white.

Q.4. Why are the young trees described as ‘sprinting’?  2012, 2017

Ans:- The poetess is driving to the airport. She looks outside and finds the trees coming fast towards her. They seem to be running fast. In fact, it is only the car that is running, not the trees.

Q.5. Why has the poet brought in the image of the merry children ‘spilling out of their homes’? 2013, 2016

Ans:- This image helps to bring out the contrast between childhood and old age. While childhood is a period of carefree merry-making, old age is a period of death-like sadness. With childhood, the journey of life begins, and with old age, the journey ends.

Q.6. What do the parting words of the poet and her smile signify?  2008, 2015, 2019

Ans:- The poetess says to her other “see you soon, Amma.” These are just formal words of parting. And her words and her smile show that she has no idea of her mother mental state. While her mother is looking as pale as death, the poet can do nothing but smile and smile and smile.

Q.7. What were Kamala das fears as a child? Why do they surface when she is going to the airport? 2011

Ans:- In her childhood, Kamala Das fears were that her mother would leave her. Those were a child’s fears of insecurity. But now the fear was not of insecurity. It was the fear of being left alone without her mother.

Q.8. What was the poet’s childhood fear?  2014

Ans:- In her childhood, the poet used to fear that her mother would leave her one day. It is a fear of insecurity that every child feels when its mother is not around.

Q.9. What do the poet’s parting words to her mother signify?  2009, 2010

Ans:- As her parting words, the poetess says just this to her mother, “see you soon, Amma.” These words signify that younger do feel for their elders but they don’t communicate their feelings in a manner that can soothe the troubled heart of their elders.

Q.10. What were poet feeling at the airport? How did she hide them?  2012

Ans:- The mother’s pale face gave her ache. It was like she used to feel in her childhood when some fear overpowered her. But she hides her feeling by saying, “see you soon, Amma.” The only thing the poet did was smile and smile and smile.

Q.11. How does the poet feel when she looks at her mother during her drive to the airport?

OR, What painful thought cones to the poet’s mind and how does she drive it away?

Ans:- When the poet turns to look at her mother, she finds her mother was dozing. The mother mouth is open. She looks as pale as death. A painful thought come to the poet’s mind. But soon she drives this thought away.

Q.12. What happen when the poet reaches the airport?

Ans:- First off all, the poetess goes through the security check. Then she again looks at her mother who is a few yards away. The mother’s pale weak face gives her pain. But she says only this, “see you soon, Amma.” And then she does nothing but smile and smile.

Q.13. What does the poet see when she looks outside during her drive to the airport?

Ans:- The poet sees young trees on the roadside. These trees seem to be running fast towards her. In fact, it is the car that is running, not the trees. Then she sees children running out of their homes in joy.

Q.14. What is the merry children spilling out of their homes symbolic of? 2018

Ans:- the poetess was driving from her parents home to cochin airport with her mother and when she looked outside she saw children running out of their homes in joy which The merry children spilling out of their homes’ are symbolic of carefree childhood when all time is playtime.