My Mother at 66

My Mother At Sixty-Six
By: Kamala das
Date : April 27, 2020

(Ms.Ananya Chugh)
About The Author :KAMALA DAS
 Kamala Das was born in , Thrissur

District in Kerala, on March 31, 1934,
to V. M. Nair, a former
managing editor of the widely-
circulated Malayalam
daily Mathrubhumi, and Nalappatt
Balamani Amma, a
renowned Malayali poetess.
 On 31 May 2009, aged 75, she died at

a hospital in Pune. Her body was
flown to her home state of Kerala. She
was buried at the PalayamJuma
Masjid at Thiruvanathapuram with full
state honour.
 She adopted the name Kamala

Surraiah after she embraced Islam.
CAREER
 Das' first book, Summer In
Calcutta was a promising start. She
wrote chiefly of love, its betrayal, and
the consequent anguish.
 At the age of 42, she published her

autobiography, My Story, which was
later translated into many foreign
languages
 Kamala Das wrote on a diverse range

of topics, often disparate- from the
story of a poor old servant, about the
sexual disposition of upper middle
class women living near a
metropolitan city or in the middle of
the ghetto.
POEM
Driving from my parent’s home
to Cochin last Friday morning,..
•Kamala Das had gone to

her parent’s house .
•She is now going to

Cochin Airport from
where she had to board
an airplane for her
journey back home.
…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…
The poetess describes
her mother as old and
pale
She looked almost like

a corpse, her face was
colourless and seemed
to have lost the
fervour of life
trees sprinting, the merry
children spilling out of their
homes…
 To drive away the pain
and agony Kamala Das
looked out of the
window.
Trees symbolise life

and growth.
Children are symbolic

of youth, vitality,
vigour, life and growth.
…But after the airports
security check, standing a few
yards away,…
At the airport they

had to undergo a
security check.
After that, the poet

stood few yards
away, and looked
at her mother
again.
..I looked again at her, wan,
pale as a late winter’s moon…
Poet’s mother was aged and
hence looked pale and colourless
like a late winter’s moon.
Winter’s moon lacks luster and

brightness similarly mothers face
has lost radiance and is now
misted by age
The winters moon that appears

at the end of the year also
symbolizes the ebbing state of
the mother’s life
... And felt that old familiar
ache, my childhood fear..
Familiar ache refers to
the ache of helplessness;
the pain of separation
that arises at the thought
of mother’s death.
Childhood fear refers to

the fear of losing her
mother, getting
separated from her or
that death would
consume her mother
…but all I said was, see you
soon, Amma, all I did was
smile and smile and smile……
 Kamala Das bids a formal adieu to

her mother with the hope of seeing
her soon.
 She smiles only to hide her anxiety
and fear of the unknown.
 She also wants to bid a cheerful
farewell to her mother before she
boards the flight.
 The poetess tries to put up a brave
front in order to hide her true
feelings of pain at seeing her old and
weak mother.
 Her smile also reflects her optimism.
Some Characteristics of
Youth and Old age
Old age Youth
Grandparents Cheerful
Grey Green
Death Birth
Loss of memory Games
Doze Activity
Ashen face Energetic
Corpse Lively
Pale Merry
Wan Sprinting
Something About The most
used figure of speech in the
A simile is a figure of speech that draws a
poem between two different things,
comparison
especially a phrase containing the word
“like” or “as”.
Sleeping like a log
My Love is like a red, red rose (Robert
Burns)
Idle as a painted ship upon a painted
ocean
(S. T. Coleridge)
Examples from the poem:
Like that of a corpse
As a late winter’s moon
Repetition:
It is the repeated occurrence of a
word in the same line.
Smile and smile and smile
Contrast:
 her face like that of a corpse/ trees
sprinting, the merry children
playing ,etc.
Old age/ youth

Appraisal of the Title
The title, “My Mother at Sixty-six” is an excellent
example of showing an ever unfailing relationship
between a daughter and her mother. Nostalgia
smeared in
separation appears to be the default setting of the
poem. The title scrutinizes every mother lumbers
towards the age, 66, with care or without care. But
this very mother gets to the same age through the
growing eyes of her daughter. The number 66 also
points out to the beginning of double quotation
marks. It seems Kamala Das indicates the
estrangement has just begun, and it's absolutely
way afar to meet the end.
It also sounds a little ambiguous, since the
daughter, for the first time, notices her mother has
HOMEWORK
Read the poem, and frame a self
– made summary of the poetry.
Revise all the poetic devices used
in the poem.
For practice of additional extract
based questions refer to
Edumantra.net.

My Mother at 66

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My Mother At Sixty-Six

By: Kamala das

Date : April 27, 2020

 Kamala Das was born in , Thrissur

 On 31 May 2009, aged 75, she died at

 She adopted the name Kamala

 At the age of 42, she published her

 Kamala Das wrote on a diverse range

•Kamala Das had gone to

•She is now going to

She looked almost like

Trees symbolise life

Children are symbolic

At the airport they

After that, the poet

Winter’s moon lacks luster and

The winters moon that appears

Childhood fear refers to

 Kamala Das bids a formal adieu to

Smile and smile and smile

Old age/ youth

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