NCERT Solutions for Class 12 English Flamingo My Mother at Sixty-six

NCERT Solutions for Class 12 English Flamingo My Mother at Sixty-six: Introduction

Even if ageing is a normal process, the pain of separation anxiety from your loved ones and close friends cannot be overstated. The poem discusses the loneliness that older people feel and the sorrow that their children feel for not being able to be with their parents in their later years. The poem also examines the sadness and anguish that a daughter feels when she has to leave her elderly mother on her alone. In this poetry, the pain of separation is brought up very directly. In a manner, the poem also conveys a strong message to today’s youth: don’t let your quest for fulfilment keep you from caring for your old parents when they need you the most. Situations can be binding at times. But one must always remember to show their parents their love, affection, and concern.

NCERT Solutions For Class 12 English Flamingo My Mother at Sixty-six: Video Explanation

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NCERT Solutions For Class 12 English Flamingo My Mother at Sixty-six- Video explanation of Questions and Answers

NCERT Solutions For Class 12 English Flamingo My Mother at Sixty-six- PDF

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NCERT Solutions For Class 12 English Flamingo My Mother at Sixty-six: Questions from the Textbook

Q1. What is the kind of pain and ache that the poet feels?
Ans: The poet noticed her mother’s pale face as she was leaving her parents’ house. The poet compared her mother’s “ashen” visage, which was likewise devoid of any energy and colour, to a corpse. She understood that her mother had gotten older and was getting close to passing away during the previous decades. Her underlying dread of being lost causes her to become sentimental as a result of these thoughts, and she begins to recall bits and pieces of her early memories. She was extremely troubled by the thought of avoiding her mother. Her inability to do anything was evident even in the smile on her face.

Q2. Why are the young trees described as ‘sprinting’?
Ans:  The poet was concerned about her mother when she was travelling to the airport. She was concerned that as she grew older, her time was running out. To take her mind off her problems, she glances out the cab window at the young trees, which almost seem to be racing. The trees appeared to be virtually racing past them when viewed from the speeding cab. The trees’ sprinting represents the speed at which time moves. We begin as infants and quickly grow older, carrying both good and painful memories in our hearts. Her mother, who is old and frail and appears inert when napping in the car, stands in stark contrast to this image of energy and strength. The young’ trees show life in contrast to her mother’s approaching death.

Q3. Why has the poet brought in the image of the merry children ‘spilling out of their homes?
Ans: In several places, the poem contrasts the images of life and death. The happy children represent vitality, joy, beauty, and strength, qualities we frequently lose as we age. While the mother is inside the taxi, fast asleep from exhaustion, the kids are enjoying their youth playing outside. She has grown frail and withered as she draws closer to death. The poet contrasted the two in order to highlight how drastically different they were from one another. Our time here on earth begins when we are children, and it ends when we are old.

Q4. Why has the mother been compared to the ‘late winter’s moon’ ?
Ans: The mother of the poet is 66 years old. Her ‘ashen’ shrunken face looks like a corpse. She no longer exudes the radiance and vigour of youth. The late winter moon appears foggy and opaque in a similar way. It also lacks lustre and sturdiness. The parallel is quite appropriate and natural. Here, the metaphor is both appropriate and powerful.

Q5. What do the parting words of the poet and her smile signify?
Ans: The poet’s parting words of comfort and her smiles stand in stark contrast to the childhood fears or aches that are so well-known to us. She makes a conscious effort to conceal her true emotions through her words and smiles. The elderly woman, whose “ashen visage” appears to be that of a corpse, is comforted by the parting words, “See you soon, Amma.” Similar to this, her unceasing smiles are an effort to get over the pain and terror inside her heart.

NCERT Solutions For Class 12 English Flamingo My Mother at Sixty-six- Reference to Context

Read the stanzas given below and answer the questions that follow:
1. Driving from my parents’ home to Cochin last Friday morning, 1 saw my mother, beside me, dozing, open-mouthed, her face ashen like that of a corpse and realised with pain that she was as old as she looked but soon
Questions
(a)Where was the poet driving? Who was sitting beside the poet?
(b)What did the poet notice about her mother?
(c)Why was her mother’s face looked like that of a corpse?
(d)Find words from the passage which mean :
(i) sleep lightly (ii) dead body (iii) felt.
Answers:
(a)The poet was driving from her parent’s home to the Cochin airport. Her mother was sitting beside her.
(b)She noticed that her mother was dozing with her mouth open.
(c)Her mother’s face looked pale, faded and lifeless like a dead body because she had grown old.
(d)(i) doze (ii) corpse (iii) realised.

2.…………..She looked but soon put that thought away, and looked out at Young
Trees sprinting, the merry children spilling out of their homes,
Questions
(a)What did the poet realise? How did she feel
(b) What did she do then?
(c)What did she notice in the world outside?
(d)Find words from the passage which mean: (ii) running fast (ii) happy (iii) moving out.
Answers:
(a)Her mother was lost somewhere else in thoughts. It pained her.
(b)The poet withdrew her thoughts from her mother and looked outside.
(c)The young trees growing outside went past as if they were sprinting. Happy children were coming out of their houses.
(d)(i) sprinting (ii) merry (iii) spilling.

NCERT Solutions Class 12 Flamingo English My mother at Sixty six- FAQs

Q. What is the theme of my mother at sixty six?

Ans. The poem’s main theme is fear of bad luck or being separated from an ageing mother. It talks about the girl’s agony over her mother’s advancing age and her fear of extremely long-lasting separation from her.

Q. What does the poet realise about my mother at sixty six?

Ans. When the poet first saw her mother, her lips was open and she had a lifeless appearance. She was aware that her mother had become old.

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