My Mother at Sixty Six Common Question for HS Final 2027

My Mother at Sixty Six Common Question for HS Final 2027: 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.

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.

My Mother At Sixty Six Common Question For HS Final 2027 Answer | My Mother at Sixty Six Extract Questions Answers

Q. Read the following extracts and answer the questions that follow

1. my childhood’s fear,

but all I said was, see you soon,

Amma,

all I did was smile and smile and

smile......

(i) What was the childhood fear that now troubled the poet ?

Ans: The poet's childhood fear was that she would lose her mother one day either soon or late.

(ii) What do the poet's parting words suggest ?

Ans: The poet's parting words suggest that she does not want to lose her mother.

(iii) Why did the poet smile and smile ?

Ans: Poet smiled and smiled to hide her sadness and fear infront of her mother.

2. but soon put that thought away, and

looked out at young

trees sprinting, the merry children spilling

out of their homes,

(i) Who looked out at the young trees ?

Ans: The poet Kamala Das looked at the young trees.

(ii) Which thought did the speaker away ?

Ans: The speaker put away the thought of separation from her mother as her mother was growing old.

(iii) What do young sprinting trees signify ?

Ans: The young sprinting trees signify the youthfulness of life.

3. Driving from my parent’s

home to Cochin last Friday

morning, I saw my mother, beside me,

doze, open mouthed, her face

ashen like that of a corpse. HS 2012, 2019

(a) Where was the speaker driving to ? 1

Ans: The poet was driving from her parent’s home to Cochin airport.

(b) What did she notice when her mother sat beside her ? 1

Ans: When her mother sat beside her then she noticed that she was dozing/sleeping lightly. Her mouth was open and her face looked ashen/pale like a corpse/dead body.

(c) Find two words from the passage that mean' sleep lightly' and 'dead body'. 1

Ans: sleep lightly --- doze, and dead body --- corpse

(d) Why was her mother's face like that of a corpse ? 1

Ans: Her mother’s face was ashen, pale, dull and totally colourless, so it was like that of a corpse.

4. 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. HS 2014, 2025

(i) What did the speaker do after the security check ?

Ans: After the security check the poet looked again at her mother's face which looked pale and wan.

(ii) Why did the poet compare her mother's face to a late winter's moon ?

Ans: The poet's mother has been compared to late winters moon because as the late winter's moon looks pale and ash like so has the poet's mother turned pale because of growing old.

(iii) What was the poet's childhood fear ?

Ans: The poet's childhood fear was that she would lose her mother one day either soon or late.

5. "...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. HS 2015

(i) What was the childhood fear that now troubled the poet ?

Ans: The poet's childhood fear was that she would lose her mother one day either soon or late.

(ii) What do the poet's parting words suggest ?

Ans: The poet's parting words suggest that she does not want to lose her mother.

(iii) Why did the poet smile and smile ?

Ans: Poet smiled and smiled to hide her sadness and fear infront of her mother.

6. but soon put that thought away, and

looked out at young

trees sprinting, the merry children spilling

out of their homes, HS 2023

(i) Who looked out at the young trees ?

Ans: The poet Kamala Das looked at the young trees.

(ii) Which thought did the speaker away ?

Ans: The speaker put away the thought of separation from her mother as her mother was growing old.

(iii) What do young sprinting trees signify ?

Ans: The young sprinting trees signify the youthfulness of life.

(iv) What did the speaker see the children doing ?

Ans: The speaker saw the children spilling out of their homes.

7. Driving from my parent’s

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. HS 2026

(i) Name the poet.

Ans: The poet's name is Kamala Das

(ii) When did the poet observe her mother ?

Ans: The poet observed her mother on a Friday morning while driving from her parent's home to the Cochin airport.

(iii) What did the poet observe about her mother's face ?

Ans: The poet observed that her mother was dozing with her mouth open, and her face looked pale, faded, and ashen like that of a corpse. This lifeless appearance made the poet realize with pain how much her mother had aged.

My Mother At Sixty Six Common Question For HS Final 2027 English | My Mother at Sixty Six Question Answer 2 marks

Q1. Describe the image of the mother as seen by the poet inside the car.

Ans: The poet sees her mother, aged sixty-six, dozing beside her with her mouth open, her face pale and looking ashen like a corpse. Later, she compares her mother’s pale and wan appearance to a late winter’s moon.

Q2. How did Kamala Das put away the thought of her mother’s old age ?

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 ?

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 helped Kamala Das put away the thought of her mother’s old age ?

Q5. What were Kamala Das fears as a child ? Why do they surface when she is going to the airport ?

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.

Q6. What were the poet’s feelings at the airport ? How did she hide them ?

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.

Q7. How did Kamala Das’s mother look during the drive to Cochin ?

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.

Q8. What were the poet’s feelings as she drove to Kochi 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.

Q9. Having looked at her mother, why does Kamala Das look at the young children

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.

My Mother at Sixty-Six Previous Year Questions PDF

Q10. 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.

Q11. What kind of pain and ache does the poet feel ? HS 2014

Ans: 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.

Q12. 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.

Q13. Why has the mother been compared to the late winter's moon ? HS 2015, 2017, 2020, 2026

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.

Q14. 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.

Q15. What are the merry children spilling out of their homes symbolic of ? HS 2018, 2026

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.

Q16. 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.

Q17. What is the significance of the parting words of the speaker and her smile in 'My Mother at Sixty-Six ? HS 2019, 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.

Q18. 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.

Q19. 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.

Q20. Why are the youngsters described as springing in My Mother at Sixty Six ? HS 2025

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.