Rajendra Bhandari is one of the most resonant voices in contemporary Nepali literature.

Having spent
the major part of his life in Sikkim, Bhandari was conversant with the nuances of the interface between
humanity and nature, and this poem explores in its lines the larger picture which grants another
dimension to the way things are seen and configured in ordinary circumstances.

This short poem presents within its short frame - questions of temporality and existence, captured
through the trope of time's passage. One of ways in which we become aware of time's movement
involves the process of ageing. Ageing is a continuous process which isn't quite a concern during one's
younger days, but its signature begins to become apparent gradually, and eventually the movement is
complete.

Bhandari uses the idea of time in a slightly unconventional way by presenting the experience of passage
of all activity through change in physicality, while time as such remains unaffected.

People come and disappear, and people pass from one stage to another, but there hasn't been any
experience where time has been preferential to some. The travails of life may be different for different
individuals, and circumstances can be of varied nature, yet the fact that every individual passes through
the experience of ageing bears the stamp of inevitability.

The measure of human ability, among other things, is connected to the physical state one is in. When we
begin to wane physically, our abilities also are affected considerably. The poem begins with the altered
physical circumstances of an old man, referred to as 'Baje' which signifies his age, as well as position in
the family. With age, his faculties were affected and he could no longer venture out to the fields as he
did earlier. We can visualise his earlier days as those when going to the fields was a regular activity.
Ageing has prevented him from venturing out as before and he was compelled to keep himself confined
within his immediate domestic vicinity. Even with a walking stick Baje could just move to the yard of his
house, and then just the porch, and before long, he passed away.

The measure of such movement in years or days is incidental, what matters more is the awareness of
the inevitability which affects everybody.

Boju, generically used to refer to an old woman or grandmother passed away after Baje. Although both
these old figures may be seen as belonging to the same family, articulated from the speaker's point of
view, they can also be seen as representing any aged individuals caught up in the throes of time.

Boju's life routine is a little different from Baje, which can be seen in terms of the gender roles that they
perform. As a woman, Boju's gradual movement towards inactivity is depicted by the speaker by
reference to the market, the yard, and the porch-and the manner in which her association with these
shrunk shows how her 'seclusion' came to be an integral part of her as she aged.

She is referred to as a scarecrow to grain that is spread out in the yard, which suggests her immobility.
The scarecrow is a human structure purposefully designed to give the impression to birds that they are
under watch. What the birds construe as living is actually an artificial structure. In terms of its reference
in the poem, the metaphoric dimension is reversed as Boju, though living, became scarecrow like,
immobile and lifeless.
Boju passed away as the momentum of life ebbed with age.

The speaker refers to his youthful days, but the realization of the process of passing made him aware
how the passage of youth to age applies to everyone. From grain to flower, it is a process that is all
pervasive. The speaker gives a few instances of how the change brought about the passing process
becomes evident in all creatures, in the environment and also in the human body.

This process is taken to be an instrument of time, but viewed from another perspective, time remains
unaffected and the only passing that takes place is the physical state of things. Viewed from such a
stance, the speaker proposes that 'time does not pass', even though everything else does.