Soft Strom
-By Abhi subedi
Summary:
The poem ‘Soft Storm’ Is written
by a popular poet Abhi Subedi. He is the most prominent personality in the
academic field of Nepal. He has taught more than 44 years in different
universities and equally contributed in the field of literature by writing
several poems, essays, stories and dramas in both Nepali and English languages.
This poem presents the speaker of
the poem as a rebel in the society. He doesn’t like the useless and cruel
activities of the society. This poem indirectly attacks the mal-practices of
Nepali society very minutely. The poem is a bit longer than other poems of this
book. It is written in free verse. It has a beautiful combination of the
description between nature and society.
The poet describes the
environmental disorder in Nepali society using the words tumult, eerie,
stillness, sky like crocuses, stones, skidded moon, tearing roof etc. in the
first stanza. In the same way, he makes a correlation of those natural
disorders with the practices of human society by using the words like politics,
postures, rituals and reasons. In the last line of the first stanza, the poet
uses a term seamless city that refers to the problem less or unified city of
the past. It’s no more than the recall of the time where there were very fewer
social problems in the society.
In the second stanza, he gives
the reference of homeless children who are crying in Thamel. They are also
crying because of hunger under the bat-bearing trees of Kesharmahal. He shows
the bitter reality of a developing country through the lines. It is a serious
social problem of the nation which should be solved at any cost. In the same
stanza, he uses the term ‘unwedded gardens of history’ from which he wants to
refer the past unflourished incidences of the society which literally means
lawless, disturbed and chaos situation created by social and political
domination in the Nepalese society.
Similarly, in the third stanza,
he talks about a forlorn child carrying a transistor radio around his neck who
is wailing to find his mother. This phrase indicates a painful condition of
street children. There is also a reference of a man who was beaten mercilessly
for no reason. Likewise, in the poem, he presents a reference of an injured man
with a blood-stained shirt crying for humanity. When these words of agony are
not heard, it reflects the situation of lawlessness, which ultimately makes the
speaker become rebellious against the system.
In the remaining stanzas the speaker has also presented the disturbed courses of our society and the courses of our nature. Dominated person can’t speak because his voice is locked. It is like the game of hide and seek. The references of crocuses have grown over the stone, rain tears, sun laughter, deforested land, rhododendron blooming in winter, songs of the sad birds etc. have shown the degradation of social values and environmental conditions. Indifferent, selfish and lawless activities of present people have disturbed and spoilt earth and the creatures of the earth. In the final stanza, the speaker concludes it by stating the desire for freedom for him as well as other creatures of the earth. He favours the beautiful, lovely and calm sky with sweet music of soft storm.
Understanding the text
Answer the following questions.
a. When does the speaker grow
soft? Enlist the occasions when he grows soft?
Answer: The poem ‘soft storm’
composed by Abhi Subedi is filled with a touch of compassion and investigates
the insanities of tumultuous times. The speaker has said he grows soft when:
• He hears the tumult of earth.
• The sky grew like crocuses
• The moon skids down
• The moon sang of lampposts and
gutters in this seamless city.
b. What do you understand by
‘this seamless city’?
Answer: I understand the term
“this seamless city” as a place that is free from all forms of disturbance,
free from awkward transitions, and indications. The city, from boundaries and
full of freedom for human choices.
c. Describe the poor children
portrayed in the poem.
Answer: In the poem, the poor and
homeless children seen in Thamel are portrayed. They were hungry and crying with
hunger under the bat-bearing tree at kesharmahal.
d. What do you understand by
‘the unwedded gardens of history’?
Answer: The term ‘unwedded
gardens of history’ signifies the culture and history of the Kathmandu valley
that has been ignored for a long time.
e. Why was the forlorn child
wailing?
Answer: The forlorn child
portrayed in the poem was wailing to find his mother in the corridors of
violent history.
f. What do you understand
about ‘soft storm’?
Answer: The term ‘ soft storm’
signifies its meaning itself by presenting the concept of a storm that is soft
or smooth. In this poem, the poet’s disturbed feelings that are not disastrous
are generalized by the term ‘soft storm’.
g. Why does the speaker call
our time ‘mad time’?
Answer: The speaker points out
time as mad time because the speaker finds out the disturbing mixture of
destruction. The narrator finds unusual and selfish behavior of people. People
are manner less and their activities are unlawful. Their thoughts and actions
are reasonable with stupidity. Modern people are trying to dominate and keep
themselves up with materialism. The speaker observes the activities like stones
growing on flowers, rhododendrons blooming in winter, the earth is full of
tumults in the song of the birds, moon hums melodies, history rashes under the
lampposts, and birds share the bizarre journey over the warming earth. Thus the
speaker claims mad time.
h. What does the speaker want
to do in “hard times”?
Answer: The poet wants to melt
like a rainbow in “hard times”.
Reference to the context
a. The poet uses the word
‘soft’ with the words like ‘storm’ and ‘gale’, which generally refer to
disorder and violence. What effect does the poet achieve through the use of
such anomalous expressions?
Answer: The poem ‘soft storm’
composed by Abhi Subedi expresses the touch of compassion and the inner
disturbance of the poet. The title itself glorifies the emotions of the poet as
they were disturbed but yet not disastrous. In the poem, the speaker uses the
word ‘soft’ with the words like ‘storm’ and ‘gale’ to express his inner
disturbance. Generally, the anomalous expression refers to the syntactically
well-formed but semantically meaningless. In the poem, the expressions ‘soft storm’
and ‘softness rose like a gale’ are unusual and paradoxical. They are used to
define the psychological effect of a speaker. By connecting such ideas, the
poet is trying to achieve the ability to express his inner state through
psychology.
b. What is the speaker’s
attitude towards the time he describes in the poem?
Answer: The speaker expresses his
thoughts toward the time by using the term ‘ mad time’. He considers the time
to be mad as he experiences different unusual things and unlawful activities.
The things happening around him were unusual and mannerless. Society is in
complete disorder and mannerless. Also, he observes that modern society is out
of control and it gives him inner disturbance so his attitude toward the time
seems not to be positive.
c. What is the speaker like?
Is he a rebel? Why? Why not?
Answer: The poem ‘soft storm’
describes the inner emotion of the speaker when he observes modern society.
With the touch of compassion, the speaker reveals his tumultuous nature and describes
what he feels. The poet finds our society in complete disorder. Society and
people are suffering from corruption. People with hunger are seen everywhere in
the streets. He witnesses modern people ignoring glorious history. On the other
hand, most things are unusual and unlawful. People are forgetting about
humanity and are behaving inhumanely with each other. They have forgotten the
mutual respect and sympathy. In the poem, the poet seems to challenge these
things. So we can call him a rebel through his rebellious nature is not
directly presented.
d. Explain the stanza below in
your own words:
I became soft
when I saw
a blood-stained shirt
speaking in the earth’s ears
with bruised human lips
in the far corner
under the moon
of history and dreams
playing hide and seek
in open museums
of human times.
Answer: The above lines are
extracted from the fourth stanza of the poem ‘soft storm’ composed by Abhi
Subedi. As the title glorifies, the poem describes his inner emotion using anomalous
expression. He seems to be rebellious indirectly to the unlawful activities of modern
society. Through the above lines, the poet expresses his suffering from uneasy
feelings when he observes a person in miserable condition during the night.
When he sees a person with a blood-stained shirt during the night, he
experiences the inner soft storm inside him. In the poem, the person is lying
unconsciously on the ground in the moonlit night. Here, human dreams and
achievements are presented by the moon of history. When the moon appears in the
sky, the moonlight falls on a place of cultural and historical importance.
Through this natural interplay during the night, the poet describes people who
are indifferent to the injured person who might be the victim of violence. Through
this natural interplay during the night, it seems people are indifferent to the
injured person who might be the victim of violence.
Reference beyond the text
a. Write an essay,
highlighting your dissatisfaction towards social, cultural, economic and
political issues prevailing in Nepal at present.
Answer:
Social, Cultural,
Economic and Political Issues Prevailing in Nepal: An Essay
A large section of the population
in Nepal cannot access political participation and representation in public
affairs and obtain social and cultural equality due to economic and social
conditions, social stigma and lack of access to information, among other
reasons.
Political Issues:
I oppose this competitive
multiparty democratic system of governance which is not stable by its nature
and rule of law, human rights and fundamental rights mentioned in the
constitution, only named independence and free and fair judiciary as these
things are only projected in the documents, not in the practical life of the people.
The political leaders are just playing the game of dirty politics violating the
rights of the people and the constitution.
Social and Economic Issues:
Old caste system like Dalits is
the most discriminated people under this system who suffer from restriction and
economic opportunities in the society. I totally disagree with such sort of
social system in the country. There is widespread corruption everywhere and nepotism
and favouritism are prevalent in society. Although the UN estimates that
poverty in Nepal has been dropping gradually, a quarter of the population are
still below the poverty line.
Cultural Issues:
Gender inequality, discrimination
against women, girls trafficking, violence against women and many more are the
obstacles of the current society I am not satisfied with.
b. Suppose you are a rebel,
who wants to change the society by eliminating malpractices and anomalies
prevailing in the society.
Draft a speech outlining your
vision for change.
Answer:
Good morning everyone.
Respected ladies and gentlemen
and my dear friends, I am Sundar Shrestha and today we have gathered here
against malpractices and anomalies being practiced in the society and how they
are becoming hurdles for our country’s development.
Some of the common social
malpractices or social evils being practiced in our society are alcoholism,
racism, child abuse, etc. Besides, Nepal is facing a large number of social
problems such as caste system, child labour, child marriage, illiteracy, gender
inequality, superstitions, religious conflicts and much more.
Social evils are the issues
opposed by most people of society. In ancient days, our ancestors have divided
classes according to their people’s occupation like Brahmins, Kshatriyas,
Vaishyas, and Sudras. Sudras are the most suppressed people. The other three castes
people don’t even touch them and even they were not allowed into the temples.
These were the adverse effects. The second issue is child labour and child
marriage. A child without education is a bird without wings. Without proper
education, your child would face a lot of problems in this modern world. There
is the right age to do everything. Make your children study until he is ready
for the work. Illiteracy is also one of the social issues. Educated people like
us have to bring awareness to illiterate people.
Poverty is a significant problem
to be solved as quick as possible. The cause of poverty is illiteracy, caste
system, and unemployment. The government should provide training for the
unemployed. Sanitation and uncleanliness is also social evil. The reason is people’s
carelessness and laziness. Every person must strive to make our country clean.
Gender inequality and low status for
women had become familiar. The
reason for both of these evils is the narrow mindset of society. All these
evils are interconnected. They stop most of our future citizens. To deal with
these social evils, we have to get the right education with values. The government
has to work more efficiently and try to eradicate these problems.
To check all the issues, the
first and foremost step should be to educate people. A lot needs to be done to
eradicate the shreds of a number of social evils still haunting our society. In
Albert Einstein’s words “The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of
the people who are evil but because of the people who don’t do anything about
it.” With this, I conclude my speech.
Thank you, everyone, and I wish
you all the best and to get succeed in your objectives of eradicating these
social malpractices from society as soon as possible.