Question

Write the central idea of My Mother at Sixty-six (by Kamala Das).

Hint:

Link the mother's pale, ashen face to the poet's old childhood fear of losing her.

Answer 1

Final Answer:
The central idea is the pain of watching a beloved parent grow old and the fear of separation. The poet's mother looks like a late winter's moon — pale and fading — and the poet, helpless before time, covers her anguish with a cheerful goodbye.