A note to the students

The provided content includes deliberate mistakes (spelling,

grammar, punctuation). Therefore, exercise caution to prevent
reproducing identical errors. Approach the task with a critical
mindset, refraining from simple copy-pasting. While creating
your unique response, use the given material as a point of
reference.

Soft Storm
Vocabulary

1. Word: tumultuous /tjʊˈmʌltjʊəs/ adjective

Meaning: excited, confused, or disorderly
Sentence: The stormy weather made our picnic a tumultuous
experience.

2. Word: Comfortable /ˈkʌm.fə.tə.bl̩ / adjective

Meaning: feeling relaxed and at ease, often physically or mentally
Sentence: After a long day at work, I love sinking into my comfortable
armchair to unwind.

skyscraper, forlorn, eerie, seamless, dilapidation, melee, pensively

About the Poet

A prolific poet, playwright, and critic, Abhi Subedi (1945) has remained
one of the eminent personalities in the field of literature in Nepal. Born
in Sabla village of Terhathum district, Subedi has written several plays
including Dreams of Peach Blossoms (2001) and Fire in the Monastery
(2003). Subedi, who taught at the Central Department of English,
Tribhuvan University, for around 40 years, has poetry collections like
Manas (1974) and Chasing Dreams: Kathmandu Odyssey (1996) and
Shabdara Chot (1997) to his credit.

Correct order

1. "Soft Storm" is a poem that reflects on the tumultuous times and its
impact on the speaker.

2. The speaker became "soft" after experiencing the chaos and turmoil of
the world around them.

3. He sees the absurdity of the violence and destruction in the world and
feel a sense of compassion for those affected by it.

4. The speaker reflects on the beauty of nature as a contrast to the hard

times, such as crocuses growing over stones and the moon singing.

5. The speaker also mentions how he saw a forlorn child carrying a

transistor radio around his neck, running around wailing to find his
mother, and a man beaten mercilessly for no reason before his family.

6. The poem also mentions the homelessness and hunger of children in

Thamel, the turmoil and madness of history, and the "dilapidations of
gods' abodes where songs and dances are buried under helpless divine
debris.

7. The speaker also highlights the role of nature in creating the turmoil by
mentioning the warming earth, birds singing of bizarre journeys over
the deforested land, and rhododendron blooming in winter.

8. In the end, the speaker wants to melt like a rainbow and let their "soft
storm" dance in the ripples of the reader's uneasy lake, as a way to bring
peace and understanding in these hard times.
9. The poem reflects the speaker's desire for peace and understanding in
a world filled with turmoil and violence and the hope that nature can
bring some solace in these hard times.

Understanding the text

Answer the following questions.

a. When does the speaker grow soft? Enlist the occasions when he grows
soft?
The speaker grows soft on various occasions. They are enlisted below:
• The speaker grows soft when
• He hears the tumult.
• The sky grew like crocuses.
• The moon skids down.
• The softness rises like a gale.
• The moon sang of lampposts and gutters in this seamless city and so
on.

b. What do you understand by ‘this seamless city’?

By ‘this seamless city’, I understand a city where residents can wander
around freely, free of social disruptions or problems, and experience
the true fruits of freedom and happiness, unbiased.

c. Describe the poor children portrayed in the poem.

The poet gives the references of poor and homeless children in Thamel.
They cry with hunger under the bat-bearing trees of Kesharmahal.
Under the bat-bearing trees of Kesharmahal in Thamel, poor homeless
and parentless youngsters cry out in hunger and poverty. They are
deprived of their constitutionally guaranteed fundamental rights.

d. What do you understand by ‘the unwedded gardens of history’?

By ‘the unwedded gardens of history’ I understand the ignored culture,
history of the valley. I understand the unaddressed incidents in the past,
 as well as the society’s ignored culture and traditions, which literally
translates to a lawless, chaotic condition in Nepalese society caused by
social and political hegemony.

e. Why was the forlorn child wailing?

The forlorn child was wailing to find his mother in the corridors of
violent history.

f. What do you understand by ‘soft storm’?

By ‘soft storm’ I understand the speaker’s disturbed feelings, but they
are not disastrous.

g. What does the speaker want to do in “hard times”?

The speaker wants to melt like a rainbow in “hard times”.
The speaker wants to focus the things on within your control and be
acceptable change by looking to the past, and do not withdraw in tough
times during the 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?

Anomalous expressions are the expressions which are syntactically well

formed but semantically meaningless. In the poem, the expressions ‘soft
storm’ and ‘softness rose like a gale’ are unusual and paradoxical in
nature. Through these expressions the poet achieves psychological effect.
Connecting two contrasting ideas, he is able to express his disturbed inner
experience.

b. What is the speaker’s attitude towards the time he describes in the

poem?
The speaker’s attitude towards the time is not positive. He considers the
time to be mad as he experiences several unusual things happening
around him. Since the society is in complete disorder and out of control,
he is having hard times.

h. What is the speaker like? Is he a rebel? Why? Why not?

The poet finds the society in complete disorder. People are suffering from
poverty, hunger and corruption. He sees homeless children who cry with
hunger. He witnesses people ignoring the history. They are treating one
another inhumanely. He seems to challenge all these things. Though he
is like a rebel, his rebellious nature is not directly presented in the poem.

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

In the given lines, the poet says that he suffers from uneasy feelings when
he sees a person in a miserable condition during night. The speaker
experiences soft inner storm when he sees a person with a blood- stained
shirt. The person is lying unconsciously on the ground. It is a moonlit
night. The moon of history and dream referring to the history of human
dreams and achievement, is sometimes covered in clouds. When the
moon appears, the moonlight falls on the place of cultural and historical
importance. Though there is natural interplay during night, people seem
to be indifferent to the pitiable condition of a person who might be the
victim of violence.
 Writing

Write a short biography featuring your childhood life using the following
guidelines.

Date and place of birth Family background

daily life School life
Special event of childhood days, etc.

I came into the world in a petite village nestled in the southeastern region
of the Syangja District. My early years were characterized by simplicity
and unburdened contentment. At the break of dawn, I would rise to
partake in my morning lessons. Numbers were not my strong suit,
prompting me to engage in supplementary sessions with my mathematics
instructor. Following the school day's conclusion, I would return home to
savor a warm meal thoughtfully prepared by my mother. The English
class held a special place in my heart, as I took delight in listening to my
teacher narrate tales and recite poetry. Within the school's confines, I
forged numerous friendships, and our leisure hours were often occupied
with games, snack-sharing, and the harmonious sound of shared laughter.

My repository of cherished recollections from childhood brims with

vivacity. The sense of anticipation accompanying my early awakening
for school still lingers in my mind. The aroma of my mother's culinary
creations and the flavor of her delectable dishes remain etched in my
senses. Echoes of my companions' mirthful voices and the enjoyable
camaraderie we experienced endure within me.

My formative years were characterized by a realm of innocence and

elation. A period in which worries held no dominion over me.
Encompassed by the embrace of affection and bolstered by the
encouragement of family and friends, I am profoundly thankful for the
memories that form the tapestry of my youth, and I am resolved to
treasure them for all time
 Grammar

Connectives

Though, although, even though Clause

Despite / in spite of Noun phrase / Gerund

A connective, also known as a conjunction or connector, is a word or a

group of words that link different parts of a sentence or different
sentences together.

Connectives are used to show relationships between ideas, provide

transitions between thoughts, and create cohesion within a text.

They can be used to indicate contrast, cause and effect, addition,

sequence, comparison, and more.

Examples of connectives include words like "and," "but," "because,"

"although," "therefore," "however," "meanwhile," and "in addition."
Project work

Poetry Podcast or Audio Recording:

The Main Summary

The main summary of the poem entitled “Soft Storm,” Subedi, is the
feeling that is developed with a touch of compassion in the speaker, which
contemplates over the absurdities of tumultuous times. It's written in free
verse by Abhi Subedi. It's a beautiful mix of natural and social
descriptions, and it's written in rhyme. On the surface, it shows the
speaker's journey through a narrow street and the lights of Kathmandu at
night. In its deeper meaning, it shows people's indifference to the poor
conditions and suffering of the people, male practices, a tumultuous
atmosphere, and chaos in the Nepalese society.

Explanation of each stanza of the poem

Stanza 1:
Using words like "tumultuous" and "eerie," the poet first shows the chaos
in Nepalese society. Then, he moves to a more hopeful situation by saying
the sky "grew like crocuses," which refers to the blooming of Irish
flowering plants over stones. These plants grow about five inches taller
now. As soon as the moon is about to set, he talks about posters, politics,
and many other things that happen in the world. It's an expression used to
describe the way individuals talk to one another regarding social events.
He softens again when he sees the softness of rose like a gale' from the
roofs of his house. A rose is soft and a strong wind is strong, so he uses
this simile to show how people in society do things that are bad. This is
the next thing that he talks about. He compares the singing of the moon
and the light with a city that is seamless, which is a city that some people
find easy and comfortable.
Stanza 2:

During the second stanza, he talks about children who have no parents
and are living in terrible poverty in Thamel. People who are corrupted in
politics are only concerned about themselves and their families, not the
poor people and orphans in their country. These future pillars are at risk
and living in a bad way. One of the main reasons of this is the prevalence
of social ills in the nation. On the other hand, when he comes back from
a place where people were dancing with mad steps, having parties, and
having ceremonies in skyscrapers and big hotels, he thinks about how
free people were in the past.

Stanza 3:
There is a forlorn child who is crying and looking for his mother all over.
He gets soft-hearted again when he thinks about the child with the
transistor around his neck, who is looking for his mother all over. The
child is scared. A man is brutally beaten in front of his own family for no
apparent reason. It says that in the modern world, people don’t pay
attention to each other, and power is all over. These illegal activities make
the speaker angry with the government.

Stanza 4
In the fourth verse, the poet describes a man whose shirt is stained with
blood and whose lips are wounded, who is unable to speak because the
night's powerful occupants have silenced his voice. People who own land
and people who work on it play hide and seek.

Stanza 5
They haven't been heard and stormed, but Leela or the heavenly play
hasn't been expected.

Stanza 6
In the sixth stanza, the poet expresses a positive outlook for the town’s
residents by depicting the growth of Irish blooming plants over the stone,
storms flowing into public areas, and the sun shining in a rainbow of
colors. Aside from the chaotic situation caused by a country ruled by
oppressive regimes, there are several more examples of chaos in the form
of soft storm, silent pages, forlorn clothing, and religious celebrations.

Stanza 7
In the seventh stanza, he talks about some of the things that make his heart
soft, like valuable things, selfish people, lawless people, messed up and
ruined mother earth, and the painful lives of other poor animals.

Last stanza
It's the end of the poem, and the speaker says that he needs freedom for
himself and for all the animals on this earth. He prefers a peaceful sky
and the freedom to dance to the beautiful sounds of nature, such as a
gentle storm and the sweet chirping of birds, in a circle that never ends