My Mother at Sixty Six Common Question Answer for HS 2026

My Mother at Sixty Six Common Question Answer for HS 2026: My Mother at Sixty Six is a poem from the class 12 NCERT English textbook Flamingo. My Mother at Sixty Six is penned by Kamala Das. Here in this post you'll avail My Mother at Sixty Six Common Question Answer for HS 2026.

My Mother at Sixty Six Common Question Answer For HS 2026 English | My Mother at Sixty Six Question Answer 2 marks

These Questions are designed based on the latest ASSEB marking scheme and the official blueprint released for HS 2nd Year/Class 12 Final exams. Practicing these sample Questions will help students familiarize themselves with the exam format and question types.

Q1. What do the poet’s parting words to her mother signify ? (All India 2009)
Ans: The poet’s parting words of assurance and her smile provide a stark contrast to the old familiar fear of childhood. Her words and smiles are a deliberate attempt to hide her real feelings. She is trying to hide her fear about her mother’s frail and deteriorating health which might separate her from her mother.

Q2. How did Kamala Das put away the thought of her mother’s old age ? (Comptt. Delhi 2010)

What helped Kamala Das put away the thought of her mother’s old age ? (Comptt. All India 2010), (Delhi 2014)
Ans: The poet started looking out of the window because she wanted to drive away the pain and agony she was experiencing by looking at her aged mother. She looked outside at the world which was full of life and activity. She saw young trees running past her and merry children sprinting out of their homes to play.

Q3. Why did Kamala Das add the image of merry children to her poem ? (Comptt. Delhi 2010)
Ans: The merry children symbolise the spring of life, its energy, vigour and happiness. Their image presents a sharp contrast to the poet’s limp and ageing mother. This image is also imperative for the understanding of the process of old age which is associated with decay. The spontaneous outpouring of life symbolised by these children is in contrast to the poet’s mother’s passive and inactive life.

Q4. What were Kamala Das’ fears as a child ? Why do they surface when she is going to the airport ? (All India 2011)
Ans: Since her childhood perhaps Kamala Das always feared that she would lose her mother or in some way be separated from her. Now that her mother is old and her health has deteriorated, the poet’s fear surface again when she is going to the airport.

Q5. What were the poet’s feelings at the airport ? How did she hide them ? (All India 2012)
Ans: At the airport the poet, Kamala Das, feels fearful of leaving her pale, ageing mother alone and unattended. She has an ache and fear inside her heart and is not sure if she will be able to see her mother again. She hides her feelings of anxiety by giving a long and cheerful smile to her mother as she bids her.

My Mother at Sixty Six Extract Based Questions MCQ | My Mother At Sixty Six Common Question Answer for HS 2026 English

Q6. How did Kamala Das’s mother look during the drive to Cochin ? (Comptt. All India 2013)
Ans: During the drive to Cochin, Kamala Das’s mother looked rather old and pale. As she dozed off beside the poet, she looked almost like a corpse as her face was like ash, totally colourless and it seemed to have completely lost the rest for life.

Q7. What were the poet’s feelings as she drove to Cochin airport ?
Ans: The poet saw her mother dozing open-mouthed in the car. She was disturbed as she felt her mother looked old and withered. Her childhood fear started to haunt the poet. She feared if her mother would still be alive on her return.

Q8. How did Kamala Das’s mother look during the drive to Cochin ? (Comptt. All India 2013)
Ans: During the drive to Cochin, Kamala Das’s mother looked rather old and pale. As she dozed off beside the poet, she looked almost like a corpse as her face was like ash, totally colourless and it seemed to have completely lost the zest for life.

Q9. Having looked at her mother, why does Kamala Das look at the young children ? (All India 2017)
Ans: After looking at her mother, Kamala Das looks at the ‘merry children spilling out of their homes’ as they are symbolic of energy, vigour and liveliness, which is in sharp contrast to her old and pale mother. The spontaneous outpouring of life symbolised by these children is contrasted with her mother’s passive and inactive life.

Q10. Why are the youngsters described as springing in My Mother at Sixty Six ? (Delhi 2017)
Ans: The springing of the youngsters signify the spring of life, their youth and vigour in contrast to the poet’s old mother who looks pale and lifeless. The springing youngsters are symbolic of the beginning of life as contrasted to the poet’s mother whose ashen face symbolizes imminent death.

Q11. In the last line of the poem, ‘My Mother at Sixty-six’, why does the poet use the word ‘smile’ repeatedly ? (All India 2017)
Ans: The word ‘smile’ has been used repeatedly by the poet as behind her elongated smile she attempts to hide her fear and anxiety regarding her mother’s frail health. The poet smiled and smiled in an effort to reassure herself that she will be able to meet her mother again.

My Mother at Sixty Six HS 2nd Year Previous Years Question Answer

Q12. Why has the poet bought in the image of the merry children spilling out of their homes ? HS 2013, 2016
Ans: The poet has bought in the image of the merry children spilling out of their homes to create a poetic effect through contrast. It is symbolic of life, merriment, vitality and joyfulness. This contrast brings the opposite and a painful realization of her mother's growing age.

Q13. What kind of pain and ache does the poet feel ? HS 2014

What kind of pain does Kamala Das feel in ‘My Mother at Sixty-six’ ? (Delhi 2017)
Ans: The emotional pain and ache that the poet feels is due to the realization that her mother has grown old. The poet feels the familiar kind of pain and ache, which she felt in her childhood. The fear of parting with her mother and losing her.

Q14. Explain the statement "I saw my mother...Her face ashen like that of a corpse". HS 2014
Ans: By this phrase, the poetess, Kamala Das explains a moment in her car when she saw her mother’s face. She mentions here that her mother’s face is ashen like a corpse or dead body.

Q15. Why has the mother been compared to the late winter's moon ? HS 2015, 2017, 2020 (Delhi 2013)

Why does Kamala Das compare her mother to a late winter’s moon ? (Comptt. All India 2017)
Ans: The poet compares her mother's face to a late winters moon. Because her mother was growing old therefore her face was pale, wan, dim like the late winters moon.

Q16. What do the young sprinting trees signify ? HS 2017

What do the young sprinting tress signify in the poem, " My Mother at Sixty-six" ? HS 2020
Ans: The young spiriting trees signify the activeness and liveliness of the environment. The poet describes the young trees as sprinting to contrast between her mother and the other active things.

Q17. What are the merry children spilling out of their homes symbolic of ? HS 2018
Ans: The ‘merry children spilling out of their homes’ are symbolic of the activeness and liveliness of the environment, energy, youth, happiness, full of life etc. The poet has brought in the image of the ‘merry children spilling out of their homes’ to signify the contrast between her mother and the other active things like merry children.

Q18. What is the significance of the parting words of the speaker and her smile in My Mother at Sixty Six ? HS 2019 (All India 2010)
Ans: The parting words of the poet “See you soon, Amma” signify an assurance of life and a promise of meeting again shortly. Along with this, her smile signifies the overcome of the ache and childhood fear that inside her heart.

Q19. What childhood fear did Kamala Das refer to in her poem ? How did she hide it ? HS 2022, 2024
Ans: Kamala Das childhood fear was that she would lose her mother to the cruel hands of death and thus would be separated from her forever. She hides it by the superficial smile.

Q20. What is the significance of the parting words of the speaker and her smile in 'My Mother at Sixty-Six ? HS 2022
Ans: The poet’s parting words convey the dilemma and confusion in her mind. Her superficial smile expresses her helplessness. She is anxious about her mother’s growing age and fears that anything can happen to her mother. But, on the other hand, she also nurtures a faint hope that her mother survives long enough so that they can meet again.

Q21. What kind of images does the poet use to signify her mother's ageing decay in the poem 'My Mother at Sixty-Six' ? HS 2023
Ans: The poet say that her face was ashen like that of a 'Corpse' and that her face was as pale as a 'late winter's moon'. The poet uses several images to convey her mother's aging and decay, including comparing her face to a corpse and a late winter's moon.

Q22. What do the parting words of the poet and her smile signify ? HS 2024
Ans: The poet’s parting words of assurance and her smile provide a stark contrast to the old familiar fear of childhood. Her words and smiles are a deliberate attempt to hide her real feelings. She is trying to hide her fear about her mother’s frail and deteriorating health which might separate her from her mother.

Q23. Why are the Young Trees described as 'sprinting' ? HS 2025

Why are the young trees described as ‘sprinting’ ? (Delhi 2010, 2012)
Ans: The young trees are described as "sprinting" to symbolize the rapid passage of time and the fleeting nature of life, particularly in contrast to the speaker's observation of her aging mother sitting inside the car.