My Mother At Sixty Six Class 12 Notes: CBSE 12th English Chapter 1 Flamingo (Poetry), Download PDF

CBSE Class 12 My Mother At Sixty-Six Notes: Here, students can find revision notes for CBSE Class 12 English Flamingo (Poetry) Chapter 1, My Mother At Sixty-Six. Find here full and detailed handwritten notes and summary of My Mother At Sixty-Six.

My Mother At Sixty Six Class 12 Notes: In this article, students can find CBSE Class 12 English Flamingo Poetry Chapter 1, My Mother At Sixty Six. We have also attached a PDF download link below for students who wish to save the handwritten notes for future use. Students can be carefree while referring to these full and short revision notes since they have been prepared as per the updated and revised CBSE English Syllabus 2024. CBSE Board Exam 2024 aspirants should definitely read these notes and use them for revision during examinations.

My Mother At Sixty Six is a poem by Kamala Das that talks about the purest form of bond in the world, the bond of a mother and her child. It also talks about ageing and the atrocities that come attached to it. The difficulty faced by children in seeing their parents get old and the constant fear of losing their loved ones due to ageing is explored by the poem in depth.

Here, students can find a brief note about the author, the theme of the poem, a summary of the poem, and line by line explanation of the poem. These notes will ensure that you clearly understand the poem and impart the knowledge in your answers during the exam.

Related:

CBSE Class 12 English Syllabus 2023-2024

CBSE Class 12 English Sample Paper 2023-2024

NCERT Solutions for Class 12 English

NCERT Solutions for Class 12 Flamingo (Prose) All chapters

Revision Notes for CBSE Class 12 English Flamingo (Poetry) Chapter 1 My Mother At Sixty Six are:

About the author:

Kamala Das is the author of CBSE Class 12 English Flamingo Poetry Poem 1, My Mother At Sixty-Six. She is an Indian writer who writes on sensitive topics and complexities of human emotions associated in their relationships. She is one of the first poets of the country who is recognized for versatility, originality, and Indianness. Das was born in Malabar, Kerala, and has also written short stories in English and Malayalam.

 Theme of the Poem

The poem is about the most beautiful and the most pure relationship in the world, i.e., a relationship between a mother and her child. In this poem, the protagonist is about to leave her Mother and hometown to continue her life in some other city/country. Her mother comes with her to bid her goodbye at the airport. The poet adores her mother and is worried since she is getting old and is in pain as her daughter is about to leave her and go away.

 My Mother At Sixty-Six Summary

The author had come to see her parents at their home. While returning, when she was traveling to the Cochin airport to get back from where she had come, she saw her old and pale mother sitting beside her in the car.  She had dozed off and was sleeping open-mouthed, appearing like a corpse since she was getting old. She realized that her mother was getting as old as she looked. Putting this thought away, the author looked out of the window and saw the trees sprinting, and children coming out of their homes and playing. The passing trees and children playing were the replicas of her childhood and the passing of time.

As she reaches the airport and gets her security check-in done for boarding the flight, she looks at the distance between her and her mother. She looks at her old, pale, wan mother who is getting older. She has compared her to winter’s moon since winter is the last season of the year and her mother was in the last phase of her life. Similarly, winter is white which is a reflection of her grey hair. As she looks at her mother, an old ache hits her body and mind. The kind of pain and feeling she had felt years back during her childhood when she was leaving her home for the first time. She felt a similar ache today on leaving her mother as she gets old and pale like a winter’s moon. With all the pain in her heart, she bid goodbye to her Mother and said, “See You Soon Amma.

She smiled while bidding her goodbye and kept smiling at her because she wanted to leave her Amma with positive and happy thoughts. She wanted to inform her that she was going to be okay and they were going to meet again soon.

 Line by Line Explanation of the poem

I saw my mother, beside me, doze, open mouthed, her face ashen like that of a corpse– She describes her mother as that lying beside her like a corpse because she was getting old and looking pale because of the pain of her daughter going away. Her mother was sleeping with her mouth open which indicates that she was in deep sleep and deep sleep reflects pain. Her face was ashen like a corpse because of her old age and pain put together. Since she was getting old and was probably nearing her death, she has been compared to a corpse.

Looked out at Young Trees sprinting, the merry children spilling out of their homes– Sprinting means passing by. As she watched the trees sprint, she realized that her childhood had gone. The sprinting trees were the reflection of the passing of time, and they helped the author realize that she has become a grown-up lady now. The merry children spilling out of their homes is also a depiction of childhood, which is obviously missed a lot.

I looked again at her, wan, pale as a late winter’s moon– When the author looked at her mother, she appeared to her as a winter’s moon since winter is about snow, white, serenity, and paleness. These words exactly describe the situation of her mother. Her grey hair appeared as winter’s snow, the paleness of her face explained the moon. This can also be described in another manner. Winter is the last season of the year and since her mother is in the last phase of her life, she has been compared to winter.

And felt that old familiar ache, my childhood’s fear– The author felt an old familiar ache when leaving her mother and standing across yards to bid her mother a sweet goodbye. She felt so because the pain reminded her of the time when she was leaving home for the first time and was going through the same pain. It was her childhood fear because it was a terrible feeling to leave home for the first time. She did not want that feeling to return because she did not want to feel that pain again, she did not want to leave her mother at such an old age and go away.

All I did was smile and smile and smile– She smiled at her mother despite all the heaviness and pain that she was feeling because she wanted to leave her mother with a smile. She wanted to let her mother know that she was going to be okay and she was happy with her life. She wanted to say that they are going to meet again soon and she is already happy about seeing her again, whenever the time permits. The author wanted to leave her mother on a good note with positive and happy vibes. It was also to cover the fear of losing her because of her old age.

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Also Find:

CBSE Class 12 Syllabus All Subjects 2023-2024

CBSE Class 12 Deleted Syllabus All Subjects 2023-2024

CBSE Class 12 Sample Paper All Subjects 2023-2024

NCERT Solutions for Class 12 All Subjects