Q.

) Critically appreciate ‘The Voice of the Mountain’

“I am a tribal, and the geography, landscape, our myths, stories; all this has
shaped my thoughts.”

- Mamang Dai

Mamang Dai is a celebrated writer from Arunachal Pradesh and has the prestige
of being awarded the Padma Shree for her contribution to literature. She often
glorifies nature in its primordial form. She celebrates both the mystic as well as
the commonplace that nature radiates; exploring myths behind the “forces of
nature”, and thus leading the reader to ecological forests and magic drum beats.
Her poems engage with landscape and nature, through a half-animist, half-
pantheistic outlook. She has stated, “I know where memory hides / in the long
body of mountain”.

Mountains form a leitmotif of several of her poems, and they lead us to ancient
myths and rich tribal folklore. Mountains play an important role in the quest for
understanding interactions between nature and society. In Mamang Dai’s poems
the mystique and grandeur of mountains along with myth and folklore
surrounding them weave an ethereal story around these land masses.

‘The Voice of the Mountain’ by Mamang Dai voices the unheard words of the
mountain, the guardian spirit of the land of wonders. It’s a poem that has a
universal approach to finding the meaning of the world as well as that of life.
The mountain is a symbol of the spirit that guides humanity and redefines the
unknown.

In the poem, the mountain narrates the story of its omnipresence :

“From where I sit on the high platform

I can see the ferry lights crossing
criss-crossing the big river.”

The mountain being at a higher platform visualizes everything like God. It can
see the ferry lights “criss-crossing the big river” below and knows about the
towns and estuary of the rivers. Its omniscient view of the landscape makes it
appear like the almighty. The metaphorical “chapters of the world” refers to
the fact that the mountain had been a witness to the history of the world.

There is a pathos related to the mountains as they stand mute witnesses to the
pain of an indigenous people. The mountain takes on different forms throughout
the poem and sees all that takes place in a fickle-minded universe. It is a silent
witness to all the activities of human beings, the birds and the beasts and even
various land forms. The mountain remains an omnipresent leitmotif throughout
the poem.

Mamang Dai etches a landscape that reflects historical struggles for identity.

“We live in territories forever ancient and new,

and as we speak in changing languages.”

Change is definitely the metaphor of her poem that sweeps through the very
roots of her existence as well as her fellow people.

The mountain is personified as “an old man sipping the breeze / that is forever
young”. In this section, the poet uses the breeze as a symbol of youthfulness
and vigor.

Moreover, the mountain is the macrocosm of the universe. Within its voice one
can hear the sea waves. Whereas the language of humans changes gradually, the
voice of the mountain doesn’t change. It’s eternal. According to the poet, it is
like the “chance syllable” that orders the world. It is the voice of the creator.
In the mountain’s ancient language one can find the history and miracles of
mankind. Through this reference, the poet associates the concept of the
“universal language” about which Paulo Coelho has talked about in ‘The
Alchemist’.

This is also a leitmotif; her involvement with and celebration of the land she
comes from. But the splendour of the land, distracting as it can be, does not
insulate her from the troubles of the world she lives in. She speaks of them too,
not concealing, but acknowledging.

The mountain has the aridity of the desert and the moisture of the monsoon. It
is also a manifestation of the “wild bird” that lives in the west. Several episodes
of the past reiterate their importance through the voice of the mountain.
Mountains represent life forms and contribute to a churning of life of
“thousands of years”. Each particle of life that clutch and cling for thousands of
years, is nothing but the echo of the mountainous spirit.

Thereafter, the mountain, like an old man who recollects his thoughts while
speaking, says “I know” twice to emphasize his wisdom and experience.

In the seventh stanza of the poem, Mamang Dai refers to the hopelessness at
the end of the universe. What remains, is “a dream of permanence”.

“In the end the universe yields nothing

except a dream of permanence.”

This dream is what keeps every living embodiments moving with the spirit of the
world.

Thereafter, the poet uses a paradoxical affirmation that “Peace is falsity” or

daydream. Only “a moment of rest” comes after long combat. Whereas, the war
of life continues. There are only pauses in the sentence of the universe. To live
in peace is to live in an illusion.

Mamang Dai refers to the warrior who returns with the “blood of peonies”. Such
an image stands in absolute contrast to the nature imagery of the previous
stanza. It refers to the coexistence of struggle and beauty. The mountain has
also been beautifully compared to “a woman lost in translation” and who still
survives with the ability to be happy and carry on. The woman and the mountain
are both symbolic of being lost in the quagmire of time.

It is from the mountain that so many natural processes emanate. The mountains
carry wind to the mouth of the canyon which may otherwise be closed to any
sort of visitation. The balmy sunlight from the mountains is thrown even to the
highest tip of the trees and the mountain sends the wind even to the narrowest
gorge. The image “narrow gorge hastens the wind” is symbolic of the flow of
outward influences that makes its presence, where the voice of mountain is not
at all lost.

All these movements and memories are ensconced in the mind of the mountain.
This land mass becomes symbolic of knowing even the deepest secrets and the
most tormenting changes that have come about in nature. These memories
hibernate in its mind and thus the mountain becomes symbolic of being a
repository of traditions and events of the past. Myth and folklore accompanied
by the beautiful natural panorama is an inherent characteristic of Mamang Dai’s
poetry.

“I am the place where memory escapes

the myth of time
I am the sleep in the mind of the mountain”.

The mountain is a place where memory escapes from one’s mind. Here, the “myth
of time” doesn’t work. One loses the track of time as if it halts near the
mountain in awe.

Dai’s poetry translates into a voice that is never raised in rage or indignation; a
tone that is hushed, wondering, thoughtful, reflective. The strength of her
poetry is its unforced clarity, its ability to steer clear of easy flamboyance.

Arundhathi Subramaniam in her article ‘Mamang Dai’ writes that Mamang Dai’s
poetic world is one of river, forest and mountain, a limpid and lyrical reflection
of the terrain of her home state Arunachal Pradesh. Nature, in Dai’s poems is
mysterious, verdant with myth and dense with scared memory. At the backdrop
of Nature, she likes to narrate the history of her race as well as the changes
that continues to take place within the framework of the society.