FLAMINGO
Poetry — Summary, Important & Predicted Questions
Summary | Important Questions | Predicted Board Questions
CBSE Board Exam 2025-26 | Class XII English Core
Class XII | CBSE Board Exam 2025-26
English Core — Flamingo & Vistas
National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT)
, My Mother at Sixty-Six
Author/Poet: Kamala Das
CHAPTER SUMMARY
Kamala Das drives to Cochin airport with her ageing mother, who sits beside her 'ashen like a
corpse.' Against the vivid contrast of sprinting trees and merry children, the poet confronts her deep,
'familiar ache' — the fear of losing her mother. At the airport, she smiles bravely and says 'See you
soon, Amma' — a small, courageous gesture that hides her awareness that this parting may be final.
IMPORTANT QUESTIONS (NCERT & Previous Years)
• Q1. What does the poet see when she looks at her mother? What feelings does this evoke?
• Q2. What is the 'familiar ache' the poet mentions? Why is it 'familiar'?
• Q3. How do the images of trees and children contrast with the image of the mother?
• Q4. What does the poet's smile at the airport convey?
• Q5. Why does the poem have no punctuation? What effect does this create?
PREDICTED QUESTIONS — CBSE BOARD 2025-26
★ PREDICTED Q1 [4 marks]: How does Kamala Das use contrast to convey the theme of
ageing and the fear of loss in 'My Mother at Sixty-Six'?
★ PREDICTED Q2 [4 marks]: 'All I did was smile and smile and smile.' What does this line
reveal about the poet's emotional state at the airport?
★ PREDICTED Q3 [6 marks]: Analyse the poem as a meditation on love, ageing, and
mortality. What makes it universally resonant?
Poetry — Summary, Important & Predicted Questions
Summary | Important Questions | Predicted Board Questions
CBSE Board Exam 2025-26 | Class XII English Core
Class XII | CBSE Board Exam 2025-26
English Core — Flamingo & Vistas
National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT)
, My Mother at Sixty-Six
Author/Poet: Kamala Das
CHAPTER SUMMARY
Kamala Das drives to Cochin airport with her ageing mother, who sits beside her 'ashen like a
corpse.' Against the vivid contrast of sprinting trees and merry children, the poet confronts her deep,
'familiar ache' — the fear of losing her mother. At the airport, she smiles bravely and says 'See you
soon, Amma' — a small, courageous gesture that hides her awareness that this parting may be final.
IMPORTANT QUESTIONS (NCERT & Previous Years)
• Q1. What does the poet see when she looks at her mother? What feelings does this evoke?
• Q2. What is the 'familiar ache' the poet mentions? Why is it 'familiar'?
• Q3. How do the images of trees and children contrast with the image of the mother?
• Q4. What does the poet's smile at the airport convey?
• Q5. Why does the poem have no punctuation? What effect does this create?
PREDICTED QUESTIONS — CBSE BOARD 2025-26
★ PREDICTED Q1 [4 marks]: How does Kamala Das use contrast to convey the theme of
ageing and the fear of loss in 'My Mother at Sixty-Six'?
★ PREDICTED Q2 [4 marks]: 'All I did was smile and smile and smile.' What does this line
reveal about the poet's emotional state at the airport?
★ PREDICTED Q3 [6 marks]: Analyse the poem as a meditation on love, ageing, and
mortality. What makes it universally resonant?
