QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Answer the following questions.
a. Have you ever grown sad/happy observing things around you?
Answer: Yes, I have grown happy as well as sad observing things around me. It depends on the conditions which direct my emotions in different ways.
b. Point out three things you are not happy about within your surroundings.
Answer:
Following are the three things I'm not happy about within my surroundings:
1. Seeing people wasting their time in useless gossip about politics.
2. Seeing protests of people and vandalization in the city.
3. Finding miserable conditions of the poor people in different places.
UNDERSTANDING THE TEXT
Answer the following questions.
a. When does the speaker grow soft? Enlist the occasions when he grows soft.
Answer: The speaker grows soft when he hears the tumult, the sky grows like crocuses, the moon skids down, homeless children cry due to hunger, forlorn children cry in search of mother etc.
b. What do you understand by this seamless city?
Answer: By ‘this seamless city’ I understand the place having no awkward transitions, interruptions or indications. It also refers to the problem less or unified city of the past. It's no more than the recall of the past time when there were very fewer social problems in the society.
c. Describe the poor children portrayed in the poem. or indications.
Answer: The children in the poem are poor and homeless. Such children are seen in Thamel. They cry because of hunger under the bat-bearing trees of Kesharmahal. They cry and wail to find their mother too.
d. What do you understand by the unwedded gardens of history?
Answer: By 'unwedded gardens of history' we understand 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.
Answer in Short:
By 'unwedded gardens of history' we understand the unaffected past events of the society which literally means the state of anarchy created by social and political hegemony in Nepalese society.
e. Why was the forlorn child wailing?
Answer: The forlorn child was wailing to find his mother in that selfish and careless city.
Alternative Answer: The forlorn (poor) child was wailing (crying) because his mother was lost and he was wandering around to find his mother, who was suffering in the corridors of violent history. The poet indirectly talks about the storm over the women and girls who may be around the Thamel or Unmarried Gardens of History.
f. What do you understand by soft storm?
Answer: By 'soft storm' we understand the inner turbulent feelings of the speaker in an environment of chaotic society and chaos. Storm simply means bad weather but to associate soft with it means turbulent times which the poet sees in contemporary society.
g. Why does the speaker call our time 'mad time’?
Answer: The speaker calls our time 'mad time' in the sense that this time is not under the control of the constitution or the law of the nation. He sees corruption everywhere in the society, favouritism, political and social injustice among people, animal laws in practice and degradation of nature.
h. What does the speaker want to do in "hard times”?
Answer: In "hard time", the speaker wants to end his soft storm in one's little sky and on his feet. He wants it to melt like a rainbow and he wants to turn his aggressive thought into a creative beautiful natural dance. He wants to turn it into an atmosphere of love and flow in the waves of someone on his lake so that someone becomes generous.
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: By anomalous expressions, we mean those sentences which are well-formed syntactically but are meaningless from the point of view of meanings. The most famous examples in poetry are 'soft storms' and 'tenderness rose like a gale' is normal or expected but contradictory. Through this, the poet achieves psychological, social, political and environmental influences. He combines two contrasting ideas to express his inner experiences which he feels in a contemporary oppressed society.
b. What is the speaker's attitude towards the time mentioned in the poem?
Answer: Here in this poem, we find the observation and analysis of the speaker during nighttime. He seems travelling under the moon and to experience lots of unexpected and unusual things in his valley. Here, we find his negative attitude towards the time. He finds mad time in a seamless city where most of the things are moving and happening in a very lawless manner. He finds societies, people, things etc in the wrong direction. His attitude towards the time makes him feel so bad. He experiences hard times everywhere in his city due to disorders and lawlessness.
c. What is the speaker like? Is he a rebel? Why? Why not?
Answer: The speaker looks like a rebel. He seems quite dissatisfied to find his city out of control. He experiences unusual things happening in his surroundings. As he experiences the things around him, he starts analysing the situations of being a rebel. He seems completely dissatisfied and expresses his anger through his words. We can find his rebellious nature in the lines of the poem. He seems to go against all these unusual things happening in his surroundings. Here, his rebellious nature is not presented in radical form rather it is presented in the soft and suppressed form.
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:
Explanation: These lines have been taken from Abhi Subedi's poem "Soft Storm". Here, in the fourth stanza of the poem, the speaker is expressing his feelings which he has experienced in his city during the nighttime.
Here we find the use of different imageries by the speaker which makes him feel so bad about his place and people in complete disorder. The speaker expresses his uneasy feelings when he sees a person in a miserable condition during the night. The speaker experiences softness when he sees a person in pain with a blood-stained shirt. The person is lying on the ground under the moon. The man with his bruised lips tries to call out for help but the land of history and dreams under the moon and its people seem quite indifferent towards the victim. The play of hide and seek is seen among people where there is no place for humanity. The open museum of human time refers to the lawless time where people are quite indifferent and self-centred.
REFERENCE BEYOND THE TEXT
a. Write an essay, highlighting your dissatisfaction towards social, cultural, economic and political issues prevailing in Nepal at present.
Answer:
My Dissatisfaction with various Issues prevailing in Nepal at present. My name is Suraj Bhatt. I'm a teacher by my profession. I'm a citizen of Nepal. Nepal is a small but beautiful country. I feel proud to be a citizen of this beautiful country. Various issues are prevailing in Nepal at present which make me feel so bad. Different people with different mentalities have their own likes and dislikes. In the present time, I'm really very disappointed to find social, cultural, economic and political issues moving on the wrong track and against the people. Everywhere there is corruption and greed among people. There is no concept regarding humanity and welfare. We find disorders and lawlessness in the present time. People are quite indifferent towards each other. Selfishness has blinded people in a very worst way. I feel quite bad to see these varieties of issues in my surroundings. Following are the issues which I oppose all the time.
Social issue: A social issue is a problem that affects many people within a society. It is a group of common problems in present-day society and ones that many people strive to solve. It is often the consequence of factors extending beyond an individual's control. I'm quite against communalism, casteism, regionalism, poverty, gender discrimination etc. These problems are destroying our country each day.
Cultural issue: Cultural issue is a problem that occurs when culture conflicts with systems, goals or other cultures. Most of the cases in Nepal are connected with cultural issues. People of different cultural groups are seen struggling for their cultural identities. They seem much concerned about their cultural identities instead of one concept of nationalism. Due to this issue, Nepal is facing an unexpected crisis most of the time.
Economic issue: In Nepal, the economic issue is one of the major problems. The government of Nepal is facing this issue most of the time. This issue has always been a part of Nepal and its economic degradation. Political instability, widespread corruption, landlocked location, difficult topography, poor infrastructure, poorly trained and educated workforce and a weak policy and regulatory environment have been some of the key hindrances to economic growth. I oppose all these leaders of Nepal for this bad economic status of Nepal where the poor have miserable lives.
Political issue: This is one of the worst problems in Nepal due to which the government of Nepal has been facing lots of problems for many years. It is the major cause behind all the crises of Nepal. Here in this country, those who don't know about politics are leading ignorant people. Everywhere there is gossip related to politics and parties. Politics and its field have become the source of income for all. People are living with so-called political faith. Money plays a very vital role in this dirty game of politics. The election system, votes for candidates etc depend on monetary power. Due to this political issue, the whole country is facing more problems each day.
b. Suppose you are a rebel, wants to change the society by eliminating malpractices and anomalies prevailing in society. Draft a speech outlining your vision for change.
Answer:
Good morning everyone. Respected chief guests, ladies and gentlemen and my dear friends. I am Suraj Bhatt. I would like to welcome you all to this programme. I'm would like to thank all the members of our society who are present here with a unity to fight against all the malpractices and anomalies prevalent in our society. The development of society is directly connected with the development of the entire nation. When societies get developed, the nation itself moves ahead on the way of progress. In the present time, talking about most societies of Nepal, there are varieties of malpractices and anomalies prevalent in our societies. These bad aspects of society have made our societies so weak and backward. These malpractices and anomalies are the major factors that hinder the development of our society as well as our country. Our country Nepal is facing many social problems at present. There are varieties of problems such as caste system, child labour, child marriage, alcoholism, illiteracy, gender inequality, superstition, religious conflict and so on. Most Nepalese societies oppose all these bad aspects but these aspects have moved ahead at a great and unbelievable pace. It's time to raise our voices against all these malpractices and anomalies. We should be united to root out all these bad aspects from our societies. In the context of our society, we have seen all these bad aspects in front of our eyes. We have seen the young generation of our society being addicted to alcoholism. If we can't control this bad aspect in time, we will have to face the dark future of our society. Still, there is biased behaviour among people in the matter of caste class. People are still discriminated against in the name of lower caste. In this 21st century, people are still struggling for their identities. We have seen the problems of child labour and child marriage in our society. Our constitution has mentioned the rights of children in various acts. Small kids are the future of the nation. It is our social responsibility to care for our society's children whether they are moving to schools or obligated to labour. We should be united to protest child marriage. Kids are not for labour as well as marriage. They should be encouraged to study. We should always try our best to eliminate these malpractices from our society. We should always be ready to aware illiterate people. Education should be given preference all the time. The problems like gender inequality, superstition and religious conflict are quite fatal problems that bring upheavals in our society. Society never gets progressed if these evils exist in society. We have to be serious about these problems and act against all these to have an ideal society. At last, I would like to request all my society's members once again to act against all these malpractices and anomalies prevalent in our society.