MY MOTHER

-A.P.J. ABDUL KALAM

About the poet:

Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam

was an Indian aerospace scientist who
served as the 11th President of India
from 2002 to 2007. He was born and
raised in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu and
studied physics and aerospace
engineering.
Born: 15 October 1931, Rameswaram
Died: 27 July 2015, Shillong
Full name: Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen
Abdul Kalam
Awards: Bharat Ratna, Hoover
Medal, Padma Vibhushan.
Parents: Jainulabiddin
Marakayar, Ashiamma Jainulabiddin

Vocabulary:
1. pilgrim- a person who journeys to sacred place for a religious purpose.
2. toil- to work extremely hard
3. pious- extremely religious
4. piety- the quality of being religious
5. envy- jealousy
6. tenderly-with gentleness, kindness and affection
7. Judgement day- the day when God decides how people will spend their
afterlife.
Brief Summary of the Poem:
Dr. Abdul Kalam shared a very close bond with his family, especially his mother.
Hailing from a very poor family, his mother made many sacrifices to raise the
children. Hence Kalam has written poems depicting his mother's pains at many
times. In this particular poem he describes as to how loved he is to his mother .He
says that he was only 10 years old and he remembers very clearly how he wept at
night, grieving about the pains that he had to endure everyday and how he was
consoled by his loving mother.
Only his mother understood the beautiful world of the poet, and only she knew his
pains. When she moved her caring hands on his head, all his pains were washed
away. His mother gave him constant hope and strength in times of need and she
was the only source of encouragement to him.
The author remembers that all that he is today is because of his mother, for the
courage and perseverance that he possesses has been bestowed on him only by his
mother. And finally the author hopes that he meets his dead mother once again on
the great Judgement day.

Questions and Answers:

1. “All this pain of a young boy,
My Mother you transformed into pious strength
With kneeling and bowing five times”
a)Who is the young boy?
Ans: A.P.J. Abdul Kalam-the poet is ‘the young boy’ here.
b)What pain is he talking about?
Ans: The poet here speaks of his own pain- the pain of his everyday toil. Little
Kalam had to wake up early morning before sunrise, walk miles to take lessons
from the saintly teacher near the temple. Then he again had to walk to the Arab
teaching school, climb sandy hills to reach the railway station road in order to
collect the newspapers. He distributed those papers to the temple city citizens and
then went to school. At evening he had to go out to collect money from those
whom he had sold newspapers and then finally he used to sit for his studies. The
entire day was a series of hardwork for him which sometimes resulted in mental
and physical pain.This pain is being spoken about in the mentioned lines.
c)What was the pain transformed into? How did the transformation take
place?
Ans: The poet’s pain was transformed into pious strength by his mother.
Kalam’s mother-Ashiamma was a very religious lady who used to perform
her regular prayers. She prayed for her children and family and this prayer
provided her strength to overcome all the difficulties in life. It is this strength that
was passed on to her children. Thus Kalam’s pain was transformed into strength.
d) What do you understand by ‘ kneeling and bowing five times’?
Ans: The use of this line shows that the poet's mother was a devoted and religious
person. According to Islam , 'kneeling and bowing five times' means offering
prayers to Allah or 'namaz' five times a day.
2.How did the mother's piety affect her children's life?
The mother's piety strengthened the children. It gave them fearlessness to face the
world. They grew up strong enough to face the challenges of life.

3. What does ‘war days’ refer to in the poem?

Ans: The war days refer to World War II which was going on when the poet was
about nine years old. At that time he had to help his family as they were facing
poverty because of the war. So, Kalam had to get up early in the morning
and do extra chores than the other school children.
4.What are the feelings of the poet for his mother?
Ans: The poet- Kalam has deep rooted devotion towards his mother. He feels both
sad and happy as he recollects his childhood days and his mother's loving routine
of tenderly consoling his pain.As reflected in the poem by Kalam, his mother was
a pious lady who helped people whenever required. He feels a little sad while
recalling the days he spent with his mother. The entire poem is to portray love and
affection towards his mother.

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