The Voice of the Mountain

- Mamang Dai

Q. Who outlines the chapter of the world? How?

Ans: “The Voice of the Mountain” by Mamang Dai presents the worldview seen from
the eyes of the ancient mountain. The mountain, being at a higher platform,
visualises everything like God. The mountain says he knows about the towns and
the estuary of the rivers. His omniscient view of the landscape makes him appear
like the Almighty. Moreover, the mountain points at the river and says he can see
the colours of the sky getting reflected on its water. Here, the mountain
metaphorically outlines the chapters of the world. It might be a reference to the past
episodes that the sea or the ocean has observed like some perennial power
witnessing the saga of creation. . Collectively, they have watched many things that
happened in the past. In this way, the mountain outlines the chapters of the world.
Standing on the vantage point of a historical spectator, she surveys the slow
procession of her time , and the lights of the ferries that cross the river in crossing
and criss-crossing motion are symbolic of the various acts of encroachment and
intrusion that the north-east has experienced.

Q. Which are the territories that remain forever ancient and new?

Or,

"Gift of fish"; "spear .. sign" - Explain.

Ans: In the poem, Mamang Dai talks about a young man who brought a fish as an
offering to the spirit of the mountain . Moreover, he says as the territories are forever
ancient as well as new, and that there is always a shift. Here, the man’s offerings to
the mountain evokes the traditional tribal values of the area. The ‘gift of fish’ from the
‘land of rivers’ is being offered to the mountain and the desire to ‘make a sign’ is
indicative of the breakdown of a community life , where the loss of voice is the
natural consequence of trauma . Here, the mountain again becomes the spirit of the
land and is treated as a subject in the conglomeration of nature and culture.

Moreover, the poet's desire to leave the spear and make a "sign" implies that she,
as an interpreter and historian, is situated at a distance from the village youth
because of her academic training that comes with ideological baggage.
Q. What is the "chance" syllable that orders the world?

Ans : In the middle of the poem, the poet comes to the soliloquy of the mountain.
The mountain says he is like an old man who is sipping the forever young breeze to
keep his soul fresh. In this section, the poet uses the breeze as a symbol of an
eternal power. Moreover, the mountain says it is the macrocosm of the universe.
Within his voice, one can hear the sea waves, and the wind circling the mountain
peak. Whereas the language of the humans changes gradually, the voice of the
mountain doesn’t change. Its eternal, moreover in the world of impermanence the
mountain is the only symbol of permanence. It evokes that in an ever changing
world, the mountain is the symbol that created the whole world which is a fusion of
history and miracles, fantasy and realism. However, it is the power and impulse that
created the whole world.

At another level, the juxtaposition of the old and young signifies that the poetic
persona is a harmony of multiple voices of her countless past, present and future
community members . The poetic utterance is the "chance syllable " , a singular
voice born out of the landscape, expressing and re-ordering the cultural memory of
many silent generations.

Q. Explain the expression “Dream of permanence”?

Ans: At the ultimate part of the poem, Mamang Dai refers to the hopelessness at the
end of the universe. But at the same time, there remains a dream of permanence.
The phrase dream of permanence refers to the hope for lasting or remaining
unchanged indefinitely. The dream is what keeps every living embodiment moving
with the spirit of the world. It is worth noting here that in the poem the speaker seems
to dwindle between the note of hope and despair.

Q. How does the mountain describe itself in the poem?

Ans : “The Voice of the Mountain” by Mamang Dai presents the Worldview seen from
the eyes of the ancient mountain. In this poem, the speaker is none other than the
mountain itself which finds its utterance in the poetic words. It describes what it has
been experiencing throughout. Within it, there are different personalities. The
mountain being at a higher platform visualises everything like God. The mountain
says that he can see the ferry lights that cross the big river below.
 Furthermore, the mountain claims to be all-knowing. It sees the towns, the estuary
mouth and the bank of the river. There is a sorrow related to the mountain as he
stands 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 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.

The mountain speaks in different tones; sometimes as a young man and at the other
time as a senior citizen. The mountain recalls a gift of fish from the river that was
offered to him by a young man. The mountain then changes into a warrior or a
hunter and leaves its spear leaning by the tree in order to ‘try to make a sign’. Since
the language the mountain speaks keeps changing with time, the identification with
the speaker is an effort at recording a truth that the mountain is aware of.

The mountain also compares itself to a woman lost in translation and who still
survives with the ability to be happy and carry on. Thus the mountain being a part of
nature contains everything. Be it a desert, or the rain, each element of nature is there
inside its heart. In this way, the mountain describes itself as a God-like entity. It also
becomes a personified cultural memory.

Q. Why does the mountain compare itself with an old man?

Ans : In the poem, the mountain says he is like an old man who is sipping the forever
young breeze to keep his soul fresh. Indeed, the mountain is like an old man who
has lived many lives. In the poem, the mountain narrates the story of its
omnipresence. The mountain is a symbol of nature, a God-like entity. It is a silent
witness of 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 like an old human being. It also becomes a personified cultural memory and
the voice of the speaker herself : a singular voice born out of the landscape,
expressing and re-ordering the cultural memory of many silent generations.

Q. Do you consider it as a nature poem?

Or. Comment on the identity of the speaker in the poem . (5)

Ans : In the poem, “The Voice of the Mountain”, the narrator speaks like an
omnipresent voice : travelling across the river, the towns and estuary mouth.
Mamang Dai suggests that the mountain (the speaker of the poem) is like an old
man sipping the breeze that is ‘forever young’. She says that nature is like an old
man who has lived many lives. His voice is like sea waves and mountain peaks.
Nature transfers symbols and is a ‘chance syllable that orders the world with history
and miracles’.

In the poem, the mountain narrates the story of its omnipresence. The mountain
describes what it has been experiencing throughout. The mountain sees the town,
the bank of the river. The mountain claims to be all-knowing. The mountain is so
ancient that it can ‘outline the chapters of the world’.

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. So, apparently the poem
looks like a nature-poem but there is a deep sense of melancholy and nostalgia,
too, related to the mountain as it stands mute witness to the pain of an indigenous
people.

Q. What are "the particles that clutch and cling" ?

Ans : In the poem, “The Voice of the Mountain”, the narrator speaks like an
omnipresent voice : travelling across the river, the towns and estuary mouth.
Mamang Dai suggests that the mountain (the speaker of the poem) is like an old
man sipping the breeze that is ‘forever young’. She says that nature is like an old
man who has lived many lives. His voice is like sea waves and mountain peaks. She
also becomes a singular voice born out of the landscape, expressing and
re-ordering the cultural memory of many silent generations clutching and clinging for
thousands of years.

Q. "Blood of peonies ";

" distance between end and hope" ;
" women lost in translation " ;
" child who died at the edge of the world" - Explain.

Ans. In the final section of the poem, the speaker makes oblique and ambiguous
references to insurgency and conflict between ethnic groups and the Postcolonial
state. " Blood of peonies'' and the " child who died at the edge of the world " are a
set of complex symbols signifying the human cost of ethnic violence , and especially
the suffering of women and children. It is also expressive of the nostalgia for one's
ethnic memories that makes the transition to the "new '' modern world difficult.
Moments of peace and rest are transitory . The women " lost in translation" could be
a reference to loss of the voices of women in the attempts made to translate cultural
memory into male dominated artistic forms. While the untranslatable oral tradition
survives, with a new hope for a peaceful future.

Q. " breath that opens the mouth of canyons" ;

" memory escaping the myth of time" ;
" sleep in the mind of the mountain " - Explain.

Ans : The ending of " The Voice of the Mountain " talks about the ecological wisdom
of the ethnic community that asserts itself again and again . The topography
consisting of the mountain, the canyon, the resilient green landscape, is
inseparable from the identity and spiritual essence of the community. The poem
ends witn a confirmation of the changeless core of the tribal culture, defeating all
threats and winds of change , going back to a timeless and peaceful way of life
symbolised by the "sleep" of the mountains.