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Readings on Indian Literatures

1
Poem

Small Towns and the River

Mamang Dai

INTRO
Mamang Dai is a poet, novelist and journalist from Pasighat, Arunachal Pradesh. She was
born into the Adi tribe, one of the most populous groups of indigenous peoples in Arunachal
Pradesh.
Mamang Dai received Sahitya Akademi Award in 2017 for her novel The Black Hill.
She was also awarded Padma Shri in 2011.

BACKGROUND
The poem, Small Towns and the River, is to be read in the background of the never-ending
tensions between the natives and the migrants from other parts of India. The violent clashes
often lead to massive bloodshed which is a regular feature.

SUMMARY
Small Towns and the River by Mamang Dai is a poem about life, death and mortality
contrasted with immortality and eternal bliss.
First, the poem presents a dusty and gloomy picture of small towns. Days are filled
with life and death. Only rituals are permanent.
Then she feels that the river has a soul. The river grieves in summer. It knows its
origin and end. It also knows that water is immortal.
The poet remembers her happy childhood. But life in the small town is full of anxiety
for the future. However, death also brings in hope and optimism at least in the life after life.
There they can walk with the gods.

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ESSAY

Q. "Life and death, life and death/ only the rituals are permanent."
Comment on the eternity of nature in contrast to the temporality of human
existence discussed in the poem.

Mamang Dai is an Indian poet, novelist and journalist from Pasighat, Arunachal Pradesh. In
the poem, Small Towns and the River, she portrays the eternity of nature in contrast to the
impermanence of human existence.
The poet says that “small towns" remind her of death. Her hometown lies calmly
amidst the trees. It is the same in summer and winter, dusty and windy. In small towns, each
day brings in news of someone’s death that makes people sad. Days are all about life and
death. Life is short-lived; only the rituals are permanent.
The river has a soul. In summer, it cuts through the land like a “torrent of grief”.
Sometimes the river seems to hold its breath to look for a land of fish and stars. From the first
drop of rain on the dry earth and the mist on the mountaintops, it crosses the town. The river
knows that water is immortal.
The happy pictures of childhood contrast with the anxiety of small towns for the
future. The dead are placed pointing west and they shed off the burden of life. When the soul
rises, it will walk into the golden east, the house of the sun. This hope revives the poet with
new energy. Life is like the sunlight that warms the cool bamboo. In small towns by the
river, she wants to walk with the gods. Death also brings in hope and optimism for a better
life after life.
The poem highlights the impermanent nature of human life. However, the beauty of
the poem is born when it is contrasted with the eternity and permanence of nature.

SHORT ANSWER
1. What does the poet mean by "dreadful silence"?
The silence is due to the death of someone. The death is a dreadful reminder of the
impermanent and mortal nature of human life. This is what the poet means by “dreadful
silence”.

2. "The river has a soul." What does the poet mean by this expression?
According to the poet, the river has a soul; it is a living being. In summer, with very
little water, it cuts through the land like “a torrent of grief.” Sometimes it seems to hold its
breath to look for a land of fish and stars. The river knows that water is immortal.

3. Why "the dead are placed pointing west"?

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The dead are placed pointing west because when the soul rises, it will walk into the
golden east, the house of the sun. The poet means that the human soul is immortal.

4. Comment on the expression "torrent of grief."

The poet says that, in summer, the river cuts through the land like “a torrent of grief”.
It is a metaphor that portrays the flow of the river as the outpouring of grief.

5. Do you think the poem ends with an optimistic note? If yes, give reasons.
The poet says that in small towns by the river, they all want to walk with gods, in
eternal bliss. Death also brings in hope for a better life after life. The poem ends with an
optimistic note.

6. Why do "the small towns grow with anxiety for the future"?
The small towns grow anxious about the future. It is anxiety about death that is sure to
come to everyone in the near future.

7. Explain the expression "sad wreath of tuberoses."

It is sadness associated with funeral. The “sadness” of the occasion is transferred to
“wreath”. It is an example of the figure of speech, ‘transferred epithet”.

PARAGRAPH

8. Comment on the elements of Pantheism in the poem.

‘Pantheism’ is a doctrine that identifies God with the universe. It regards universe as a
manifestation of God. The poet, like the people of her tribe, believes in the philosophy of
Pantheism. To her, Nature is alive with spirits, “a living presence”. Mountains, rivers and
trees are worshipped. Dai says that "The river has a soul". In summer, it cuts through the land
like “a torrent of grief”. The poet says that sometimes the river seems to hold its breath to
look for a land of fish and stars. The river knows that water is immortal. Mamang Dai says,
“In small towns by the river, we all want to walk with the gods.”

9. Discuss the literary devices used in the poem.

In the poem, Small Towns and the River, Mamang Dai uses several literary devices. In
the first stanza, the “hometown” is personified. Most of the lines are connected by the device
called ‘enjambment’. In the expression, “sad wreath of tuberoses”, the poet uses the device
called “transferred epithet”. The sadness of the occasion is transferred to the wreath. When
the poet says, the river “cuts through the land like a torrent of grief”, he uses a ‘simile’ for
comparison, and a ‘metaphor’ in “torrent of grief”. In the expression, “mist on the
mountaintops”, there is ‘alliteration’, in the repetition of “m” sound. The line, “The river has
a soul” is used as a ‘refrain’.

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10. Comment on the mood of the poem that highlights the sadness and stagnancy of the
human world in contrast to the vigour and movement of the natural world.
Small Towns and the River by Mamang Dai presents a dusty and gloomy picture of
small towns that remind her of death. In small towns, each day brings in news of someone’s
death that makes people sad. Days are all about life and death. In contrast, the poet also
depicts the vigour of the river that flows by the towns. The river has a soul. In summer, it cuts
through the land like “torrent of grief”. Sometimes the river seems to hold its breath to look
for a land of fish and stars. In this way, the poem highlights the sadness and stagnancy of the
human world in contrast to the vigour and movement of the natural world. The mood changes
from sadness to hope and optimism in the end.

Prepared by:
Prof. MURUKAN BABU C.R.
(formerly) Associate Professor of English
Panampilly Memorial Govt. College
Chalakudy

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