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मनोज बोगटी
किनारीकरण , बहसको सन्दर्भमा
आत्मनिर्णयको अधिकारमा ताला ठोकेर हाम्रो आवाज ठण्डा पार्ने जुक्तिले टाउको उठाइसकेको बेला जस्तो 1988 मा उता गायत्री चक्रवर्ती स्पीभाकले कैन द सवल्टर्न स्पीक ? भनेर सोधिसकेका थिए। स्पीभाकले उत्तर औपनिवेशिक सैद्धान्तिकीलाई खुल्ला मैदान प्रदान गर्दै सबाल्टर्नको धारणालाई बहसको टेबलमा ल्याइसकेका थिए। त्यो बेला हाम्रो बोली फुट्‌दै थियो। हामी जस्तै मूलधाराबाट धकेलिएकाहरूलाई लिएर आफ्नो चिन्तनको, सैद्धान्तिकीको मूलबाटो पक्रिने स्पीभाकले कैन द सवल्टर्न स्पीक ? भनेर सोधिरहेको बेला यता राजनैतिक आवाज उठेर सेलाउँदै गरेको थियो। अहिलेसम्म हामी थाहा मात्र गरिरहेका छौं त्यतिबेला हाम्रो ठाउँबाट को बोलिरहेका थिएछन्‌। अहिले आएर फेरि हामीले राजनैतिक मञ्चबाट बोल्न शुरू गरिरहेका छौँ। तर अघिसम्म स्पीभाकले देखेको सबाल्टर्नलाई हामीले साहित्यमा सचेतरूपले थाहा गरेका थिएनौं। उत्तर उपनिवेशवादी चिन्तक एडवर्ड सइदले मार्क्सको उपनिवेशवादी धारणालाई तिखो आलोचना गर्दै लेखेका पुस्तक ओरिण्टलिज्म-को सन्दर्भमा स्पीभाकले मार्क्सवादको ग्राम्यपन्थी सैद्धान्तिकीबाट मौनतालाई फुटाउन सबल्टर्न अवधारणालाई प्रयोग गर्दै सवल्टर्न बोल्न सक्छन्‌ अनि उनीहरूको निम्ति बोलिन्छन्‌ भन्ने निचोड़ दिएका थिए। स्पीभाकको सबाल्टर्न जस्तै अहिले दार्जीलिङबाट कवि मनप्रसाद सुब्बा अनि रेमिका थापाले देशको मूलधाराबाट सँधै बाहिर राखिएका नेपाली भाषी गोर्खा नागरिकहरू पनि बोल्न सक्छन्‌ अनि उनीहरू यसरी बोल्छन्‌ भन्न किनाराका आवाजहरू काव्य पुस्तक प्रकाशित गरेका छन्‌। उनीहरूले यस पुस्तकमा किनारीकरण र किनारीकृत सैद्धान्तिकीलाई प्रमुखता दिएका छन्‌। यो सैद्धान्तिकी यताकै हुनुपर्ने उनीहरूको आग्रह देखिएको छ। नेपाली साहित्यमा किनारीकरण शब्दलाई सोद्देश्य र सचेत रूपले प्रयोग गर्ने कविहरू पनि उनीहरू नै प्रथम हुन्‌। किनारीकरणको धारणालाई अघि राखेर अहिलेसम्म सचेतरूपले नछुएको पर्यावरण साहित्यभित्र पनि किनारीकरणको सम्भाव्य थोकहरू हेरेर उनीहरूले गतिलै बहसको ठॉंउ छोड़ेका छन्‌।1986-88, हाम्रो इतिहासमा निक्कै ठूलो स्वरमा बोलेको र बोलेको त्यो आवाजलाई शाषकले राजनैतिक प्रपञ्चभित्र खॉंदेर दबाउन खोज्दै गरेको मिथ-को रूपमा यहॉं हेरिन्छ। हामी दबिएको, थिचिएको, मिचिएको बोध त्यतिबेला सबैले थाहा पाएका थियौं,लाग्छ। हामीले त्यसबेला जातीय उन्मुक्तिलाई शीरमा राखेका थियौं। हामी बोल्न सक्छौं-लाई चिनाएका थियौं। हामीले ठूलो स्वरमा बोल्न थालेको प्रारम्भ विन्दु थियो त्यो। यहॉं बोल्नु, कुनै एक व्यक्तिको न्यायको निम्ति होइन तर सामुहिक र सर्वसमावेशी छ। किनाराका आवाजहरू पुस्तकमा जातीय उन्मुक्ति मात्र होइन, सांस्कृतिक, राजनैतिक , भाषिक उन्मुक्तिसित नै प्रकृति दोहनबाटको उन्मुक्तिको प्रश्न अघि राखिएको छ,लाग्छ। यता दोस्रो चोटि फेरि जातीय मुक्तिको आवाज बुलन्द बन्दै गरेको बेला, लेखक, साहित्यकार, कविहरू जातीय उन्मुक्तिको आवेगले रापिएर रोषको, विद्रोहको, आलापको, रोदनको र नाराको कविता लेखनमा झुत्तिरहेको बेला लामै लेखकीयसित अनि किनारीकरण सम्बन्धी थुप्रै प्रस्तावनाहरू अघि राखेर किनाराका आवाजहरू बजारमा दुइ संस्करण र अङ्‌ग्रेजी भाषामा अनुवादमा आउँदा हाम्रा समालोचकहरू भ्रममा पर्नु ? प्रस्तावकहरूको किनारीकरणको विचारलाई गलतरूपमा इन्टरप्रिटेशन गर्ला (अथवा कतिले गरिसकेकै भय) भन्ने सचेतताले मनप्रसाद सुब्बा अनि रेमिका थापा दुवैले लेखनमा किनारीकरण देखाउनुभित्र मलाई गतिलै बहसको मसला लुकेको लागेको छ। लेखनमा किनाकीकरणको विभिन्न प्रस्तावना राख्ने दुवै कविहरूको विचारलाई एकपल्ट आजको आवश्यक पाठकोरूपमा ग्रहण गरेर त्यसलाई चिरफार गर्ने समालोचकहरू खै? आफ्नो धारणालाई गलतरूपमा इन्टरप्रिटेशन गगिदेला भन्ने भय प्रस्तावक कविहरूलाई किन? कवि मनप्रसाद सुब्बाले दुइएक वरिष्ट लेखकहरूले किनारीकरणलाई केवल गोर्खाहरूको चिन्हारीको सङ्‌कटसम्म मात्र जोड्न खोजेको र आफूहरूलाई गतलबुझेको बताउन खोज्दै किनारीकरणभित्र लुकेको सम्भावनाहरूको चर्चा गरेका छन्‌। अचम्म लाग्दो विषय हो भारतीय नेपाली साहित्यको क्षेत्रमा समालोचकहरू नहुनु। हामी छौं भन्ने समालोचकहरूले के उनीहरूको उपस्थिति दिन कुनै प्रमाणिक कार्य गरिरहेका छन्‌? कति भयो सर्जकहरू चिहानमा कराउन थालेको ? अहिले यसै पनि हामीसित कति समालोचक छन्‌? यो प्रश्न तड़कारो बनेको समयमा उहिल्यैदेखि समालोचकको लेबल टॉंसेर बस्नेहरू भ्रममा परेर कविहरूको प्रस्तावलाई गलत अर्थ नदिइयोस्‌को त्रास-मा कवि मनप्रसाद सुब्बा अनि रेमिका थापाले भटाभट लेखनमा किनारीकरणको कुरा गर्न परेको, पढ्दा छ्‌याङ्गै होइन्छ। कविद्वयले किनारीकरण शब्द चलाएर आफ्ना प्रस्तावनाहरू अघि राखेपछि स्पीभाकको सबल्टर्न र उपनिवेशवाद, उत्तरउपनिवेशवाद, दलित साहित्य, नारी लेखन, डेरिडा र उत्तराधुनिकता पढ्नेहरू धेरै होलान्‌ तर किनाराका आवाजहरू दुइ संस्करण नेपाली र अनुवाद अङ्‌ग्रेजीमा आइसक्दा पनि समालोचकहरूले बहसको निम्ति किनारीकरणमा विषय नभेट्‌नु भारतीय नेपाली साहित्यको समालोचना क्षेत्रको एउटा विडम्बना नै मान्नुपर्छ। भारतीय नेपाली नभनौं भन्नेहरू पनि छन्‌ तर धर कहॉं नपाइँदो रहेछ भने नेपालमा हुनु हो भने मैले यो लेखिरहनु पर्दैन थियो। मैले समालोचकहरूले बहसको निम्ति किनारीकरणमा विषय नभेट्‌नु (अहिलेसम्म) को कुरा गर्न भारतीय नेपाली उल्लेख नगरी हुँदैन। किनारीकरण धारणाकै समकक्ष रहेको दलित साहित्यलाई पाठको रूपमा लिएर त्यसलाई केलाउने, हेर्ने, पचाउने र डकार्ने उपक्रममा हिन्दी भाषामा मात्र नै हजारौं पुस्तकहरू लेखिएको छ। उता विदेशमा देश सुब्बाले आदिवासी-उपन्यास लेख्दा त्यहॉं भयवाद-को अवधारणाको विकास भइसकेको देख्न स्वदेशका गोविन्दराज भट्टराईलाई समय नै लाग्दैन। यता विचलन चलनमा आइसक्दा अनि अहिले किनारीकृतहरूको आवाजलाई वैस्थानिक बनाउने प्रस्तावना आइसक्दा पनि समाचोलक, आलोचकहरू आफू हुनुको आभाष आफैलाई मात्र दिएर टुलुटुलु हेेरिरहँदा अचम्म लाग्दैन? पानी फिटेको दूध पनि दूध नै हो अनि पानी नफिटेको दूध पनि दूध नै, असली दूध छुट्याउने जॉंगरलाई पानी फिटेको दूधले किनारीकृत गरिसकेको पनि पत्तै नपाउनेहरूले आफैलाई समालोचकको रूपमा बँचाइराख्नु लरतरो अज्जीरवाद होइन। स्पीभाकले भनेको सबल्टर्न, मनप्रसाद सुब्बाल र रेमिका थापाले भनेको किनारीकृत को हुन्‌ त? तिनीहरूले अहिलेसम्म लेख्दै आइरहेका साहित्यको परम्परा अहिले आएर कसरी भत्काइने प्रस्तावहरू अघिआएका छन्‌, हामीलाई हाम्रै स्वरको, हाम्रै बोली व्यवहारको, हामीसित बॉंचेको सांस्कृतिक चेतनासित नै अरूले किनारीकरणको अवधारणाले पाठ गर्दा त्यो वैस्थानिक (सुब्बा र थापाको भाषा) हुन्छ कि हुँदैन। के किनारीकरणको कुरा नेपालीभाषी गोर्खाहरूको चिह्नारीको प्रश्नमा मात्र अल्झिन्छ? किनारीकरणको प्रस्तावना समालोचकहरूको निम्ति कस्तो पाठ हो? कवि सुब्बा र थापाको आग्रहसित सबाल्टर्न, मार्क्सवाद ,उत्तरऔपनिवेशित सैद्धान्तिकी जोड़िएर कसरी वैस्थानिक हुसक्छ? त्यो वैस्थानिकमा भारतीय गोर्खाहरूको सांस्कृतिक, भाषिक, सामाजिक, राजनैतिक, शैक्षिक आभाष कसरी थाहा गरिने हो? उनीहरूले गरिरहेको किनारीकरणको आधारस्रोतहरू त्यही नै हुन्‌, जो उनीहरू बताइरहेका छन्‌। उनीहरूले गरिरहेका पर्यावरणिक किनारीकरण र पर्यावरण साहित्यमा कस्तो सम्बन्ध छ? मान्छेबाट प्रकृतिमा भइरहेको दमन, सांस्कृतिक चेतनाको कुरा किनारीकरणको धारणालाई बलियो राख्ने कतिको दह्रो कुरा हुन्‌ त? सुब्बा र थापाले भनिरहेका किनारीकृतहरूको भाषा, उनीहरूले कविताको संरचनामा समेत गरेका किनारीकरणको सचेतता, के भनेका हौं होइन कसरी भनिरहेका छौं हेर्नु पर्ने प्रस्तावना, उनीहरूको कथ्य र कथानकमाथि बहस हुनुपर्दैन? स्पष्ट छ, यो प्रश्न आलोचक र समालोचकहरूतिर फर्किएको छ। कुनै पनि विचार दिन, कुराको निर्क्यौल गर्न अहिले नै हतार हुन्छ भन्नेहरूको जमात पनि छन्‌। उनीहरूलाई मेरो भन्नु छैन हतार नहुनेलाई कहिल्यै हतार हुँदैन चाहे समय जति नै चिप्लियोस्‌। जिब्रो नहुनेलाई स्वाद हुन्छ? किनारीकरणको प्रस्तावकहरूले दुइ संस्करण र अङ्‌ग्रेजी अनुवाद समेत गरेर बहसको टेबल खुल्ला राखेका छन्‌, लाग्छ। विचलनवादीहरूले जस्तो पत्रिकामा प्रशंसा र फितलो अभिव्यक्तिहरूको सङ्‌ग्रह गर्नु पर्ने बाध्यता किनारीकरणका प्रस्तावहरूलाई छैन, लाग्छ। उनीहरू स्पष्ट छन्‌ कि हामी किनारीकृत समुदाय हौं,हामीले पनि हाम्रो कथालाई बलियो गरी उठाउनु पर्छ।अहिलेसम्म अरूले(शासकले)च्यातच्यात पारेको कथालाई जोड़ेर ठूलो ऐवाज बनाउनु पर्छ।हामीले पनि विश्वमा आफ्नो उपस्थिति हिनु पर्छ,उनीहरूले भनिरहेको,लाग्छ। हामी जस्ता किनारीकृत समुदाय विश्वभरि नै छन्‌। उनीहरूको पनि साहित्य छ। किनारीकृत भाषाबाट नै उनीहरूले लेखेर विश्वलाई पढ़्‌न लगाउने उनीहरूको कोशिष सफल छन्‌। निग्रोहरू, यहुदी, रेड इण्डियन, एङ्गलो इण्डियन, आदिवासी दलितहरूको साहित्य हामीले पनि पढ्यौं। अब अरूले हाम्रो साहित्य पढ़ुन्‌। हामीलाई हाम्रो साहित्यमा उनीहरूले देखुन्‌। अब विश्वका अरूले आफ्नो कथा लेख्दा हाम्रा सन्दर्भहरू टिपुन्‌ (रे. था.) हाम्रो साहित्यलाई वैस्थानिक बनाऔं अझ पर्यावरण साहित्यलाई पनि किनारीकरणको आँखाले देखौं, लेखौं, उनीहरूले आग्रह गरिरहेको लाग्छ। किनारीकरणको सन्दर्भ जताततैबाट टिप्न सकिने र यसलाई बृहत सैद्धान्तिकीको रूपमा विस्तार गर्न सकिने प्रस्तावना पनि प्रस्तावकहरूसित छन्‌। उत्तर आधुनिकताबाट नै छुटिएको डिसेन्टर, विखण्डन, सर्वसमावेशी थोपामा हामी हाम्रै क्षेत्रीय रङहरू चोबेर वैस्थानिक आवाज बनाउने उनीहरूको प्रस्तावना समय सचेतनाको उज्यालो अनुहार हो, लाग्छ अहिले। ज्याक डेरिडाले डिसेन्टर-को धारणा जुन दिएका छन्‌, किनारीकरणले त्यसलाई आत्मसात गर्दै किनारले केन्द्रको विरोध गरेको छ। आफ्नो अस्मितालाई अकेन्द्रित रूपमा पढ्ने र बुझ्ने धारणालाई किनारीकरणले दह्रो समातेको छ। किनारा नभइ केन्द्र छैन भन्ने कुरा अब किनाराबाट नै बोलिनुपर्छ। अहिलेसम्म केन्द्रको हकडग, थिचोमिचो, हुंकार, हुकूमको आधारभूमि रहेको किनारीकृतहरूले आफ्नो मकथाफ (उपस्थिति)लाई अग्लो उठाउनु छ, जुन कथालाई सँधै छोपिने गरेको थियो, उनीहरू भन्छन्‌। किनारीकृतहरूले बोल्नु पाउनुपर्छ जस्तो विनय केन्द्रित आवाज तर प्रस्तावकहरूको होइन। उनीहरूले किनारीकृतहरू बोलिसकेको अनि कसरी बोलिरहेको छ-लाई व्याख्या दिँदै अभिधामा पनि प्रभावी रूपले कवितामा भन्ने, सकेजति बिम्वप्रतीक छॉंट्‌ने, भन्नेकुरा सोझो, सरलमा तर प्रभावी रूपले भन्ने, किनारीकरणलाई भन्न कवितामा वाक्य, शब्द संयोजना समेतमा सचेतता राखिने हामीले सुन्दा यतैको आवाज बन्ने यो किनारीकरणको आवाज अरूले सुन्दा पनि उसले त्यहॉं आफूलाई भेट्‌ने , स्थानीय र वैश्विकको फ्यूजनबाट वैस्थानिक आवाज, कथा दिइने र यताको साहित्यलाई अरूले सन्दर्भ बनाउन सकिने बनाउने जस्ता अनेक सचेतता अप्नाइएको तथा प्रस्तावना राखिएको यो लेखन आजको बहसको प्रमुख पाठ बनिसकेको छैन? किनारीकरणका कुरा गर्नेहरू स्पष्ट छन्‌ अनि जहॉं जति शङ्‌काहरू उठ्‌ने सम्भावना देखिएको छ, सबैलाई स्पष्ट पार्ने कुरामा उनीहरू लागिपरेका छन्‌। किनारीकरणको सैद्धान्तिकी नयॉं होइन कि, यो मार्क्सवाद, दलित लेखन, नारीवाद उत्तराधुनिकतावाद, सबल्टर्न, उपनिवेशवाद, उत्तरउपनिवेशवाद इत्यादिबाट लिइएका ज्ञानु सासन हो कि, लाग्दैन? किनारीकरणले समताको कुरा गर्छ, विश्वमा अलगै पहिचान स्थापनाको सचेतता यसमा छ, लाग्छ। किनारीकरणलाई जति बुझ्ने र अनुभूत गर्ने कोशिष गरिन्छ, यो त्यति नै गहिरो बन्दो छ, लाग्छ। मान्छेबाट मान्छे किनारीकृत हुनु पनि एउटा ठूलै पाठ छ, त्यसको अनेक अन्तर पाठहरू छन्‌, मान्छेबाट किनारीकृत भइबस्ने प्रकृति र त्यसबाट उठेका पर्यावरणीय सवालहरूभित्र अनेकौं अन्तपाठ रहेको थाहा भइरहेको लाग्छ। तर यसमाथि हुनुपर्ने बहसमा ढिल्याईंको कारण, किनारीकरणको सही चिरफारको कमीले किनारीकरणको सैद्धान्तिकी खुलिएर प्रकट नभइरहेको पनि थाहा गरिन्छ। यस अघि पनि विचलन नामक पत्रिकाले समालोचक र अध्येता भन्नेहरूमा ठूलै हलचल मच्चाएको हो। पत्रिकाको नामलाई मात्र नै लिएर धेरैले धेरै टेबलगफ पिटेको, उकुसमुकुस बनेको तर मानसिक रोगी जस्तो पत्रिकाको नाममाथि सपाट विचार पालेको देखिएको हो। विचलन एउटा पत्रिका मात्र थियो। पछिबाट त्यहॉं सिर्जना भन्दा अलग कुरा गर्नेहरूले अन्योलता खड़ा गरेका थिए। त्यो अन्योलता अझ छ। विचलन पत्रिकामा प्रकाशित रचनाहरूले कुन कुरामा विचलन भनेको स्पष्ट नपारेको कारण नै पनि भ्र्रमको खेती सप्रिएको हो। भ्रामक कुरा गर्नु विचलन हो र? विचलनको जन्म अनि त्यसले बोकेको विचारको प्रारम्भिक इतिहास भिन्नै छ र पछि त्यसलाई एकल अध्ययनबाट विस्तार गर्दै विज्ञापनवादी बन्न खोजिएको , सिर्जनाले दिशा फेर्न (चलनबाट बाहिरिन)नसकेको पठन आजसम्म नै गरिँदै आइएको छ। विचलनले बोकेका सम्भावनाहरू छोप्दै,बौह्रिएर फेरि पाठकउन्मुखी (पाठकको कुनै स्तर हुन्छ की?,पाठक को हुन्‌?)बनेको घोषणा सम्मेत गर्दै आइरहेकोे विचलनमाथि पनि बहस हुन सकेन। जे जति भयो त्यो भाइहरूको मन नदुखाइदिने रोगले विक्षिप्त बनेकाहरूको सचेतता धेर पढ़ियो। विचलन पनि आफैमा स्पष्ट बन्न सकेन। यता साहित्यिक बहसको क्षेत्रमा देखा परेको भ्वाङ भर्ने नयॉं पुस्ताको कमी पनि उत्तिकै देखिन थालेको छ। केही त छन्‌ तर विचलनको चश्मा नलगाई केही देख्नै नसक्ने। आफ्नो सांस्कृतिक उपस्थिति, क्षेत्रीय अवस्थितिबाट, यतै बोलिने भाषाको कलात्मकरूपबाट, सिर्जनालाई सर्वग्राह्य बनाउन नै नसकिने अनि आजको जति सर्जकहरू छन्‌ सबै विचलन हुनुपर्ने र विचलनले आफैमा विचलन थाहा गर्नै नसक्ने जस्तो भ्रम, हल्लावाद, विज्ञापनका भक्तहरूको आरतीहरूबाट केही अग्लो उठेको यो किनारीकरण आजको साहित्यिक पाठको निम्ति कति सान्दर्भिक हो त्यसले बहसको अपेक्षा गरिरहेको छ। भारतमा नै दलित साहित्यमा स्वानुभूति (दलित) सहअनुभूति (गैरदलित) बीचको द्वन्द्व सेलाउन सकेको छैन। यसमाथि अझ व्यापक बहस चलिरहेको नै छ तरै पनि दलित साहित्य विश्वभरि नै पढ़िने गरेको छ। हाम्रो साहित्य विश्वमा त्यति प्रभावीरूपले कहॉं पढ़िन्छ? कति पढ़िन्छ? कसको पढ़िन्छ? के पढ़िन्छ? छ, यसमाथि कुनै समालोचकको पुस्तक? अझै पनि देवकोटा, रामायणतिर नै के के खोजिबस्ने नाफाखोर प्राध्यापकीय समालोचकहरूलाई किन पाठ गर्ने नयॉं थोकहरूको अभाव? भाषिक एकरूपताको निहुँमा व्याकरणलाई व्यापार बनाउनेहरू के छैनन्‌ हामीसित? यता डा.हरूको पनि गतिलै जमात छन्‌, जो गजधम्म बसेका छन्‌। कति डा.हरू छन्‌ जसले डा. पाइएको प्रमाण स्वरूप शोध ग्रन्थ छापेका छन्‌। उनीहरूले कस्तो शोध गरेर डा. भए? पढ़्‌न पाइरहेका छौं र हामीले? यहॉं कस्ता डा.हरूको खेती हुँदैछ त? यसला कसलाई नाफा छ त? हामीसित त यस्ता डा.हरू पनि छन्‌ कि उनी के कारण डा. भए त्यसको सुइँको पनि पाइँदैन। उनीहरू नै छन्‌, भविष्यका डा.हरूलाई बाटो देखाउनेहरू। जसले आफै बाटो बिराएका छन्‌, उनीहरूले नै बाटो देखाउने? तेस्रो आयाम यतैको, लीला लेखन यतैको (यतैको?) भए पनि यतैकाहरूले त्यसलाई कत्ति चिरफार गरेर देखाउन सकेका छन्‌? साहित्यिक बहसको अपेक्षा यस्तो समयभित्र गुटमुटिएको छ। तीभित्र कति उर्जाशील समालोचकहरू अवश्य नै छन्‌, जसले विश्वमा चलिरहेका कुराहरू यताका लेखनतिर खोज्छन्‌। आख्यानदेखि पराख्यान-मा समालोचक पेम्पा तामाङले एउटा ठूलो भरोसा रोपेका छन्‌। समसामयिक लेखनलाई बहसको रूप दिन सक्नेहरूको कमी दार्जीलिङे साहित्य टाक्सिनु(?)को कारण हो कि कतै? दार्जीलिङका सर्जकहरू तर नयॉं ज्ञानानुसाशनसित लेखनमा निरन्तर छन्‌। हाम्रा समालोचकहरू यति ज्ञानी छन्‌, यति सर्वज्ञानी छन्‌, कि उनीहरूले यतैको लेखनमा बहस गरिरहनुपर्ने क्षेत्र पाउँदैनन्‌‌‌। तैपनि मनप्रसाद सुब्बा र रेमिका थापाहरूको निरन्तरता र विचारको खुल्ला फाटकले केही सम्भावनाहरूको सङ्‌केत दिइरहेकै लाग्छ। चिनौं कि त्यो सङ्‌केतलाई?

Voices from the Margin..

By Manprasad Subba

Few critics would dispute the understanding that all literature is symptomatic of, and responsive to, historical conditions of repression and recuperation.
Leela Gandhi

In Postcolonial Theory

As I sit to write preface to these poems entitled Voices from the Margin, my memory takes me back to the days of March 21-23, 2006 when the 7th World Poetry Day organized by the Sikkim Akademi in collaboration with the Poets’ Foundation, Kolkata, was being observed at Gangtok. The participating poets were listed under the names of the States they represented, and the names of the poets from Darjeeling & Dooars who write in Nepali, were found inserted into the long list of Bengali speaking poets from West Bengal. I wished that the Nepali speaking poets from Darjeeling & Dooars were listed separately.

Despite our belief that the poets and all those related with aesthetic art are not confined to the national, racial and religious boundary, their respective cultural base and distinctive flavour of their soil cannot be brushed aside. Our being universal in thinking cannot altogether sever us from our roots. Even when one is uprooted, the pain of his lost cultural root remains in one form or the other in his/her consciousness or subconscious.

In the concluding session of the three-day long celebration of the World Poetry Day in the Chintan Bhavan at Gangtok, I, presenting valedictory address, had given vent to my opinion in the following words:

“.. Now I would like to point out that the poets from the state of West Bengal participating in this VII World Poetry Day are the representatives of two language groups – one, writing in Bengali, and the other in Nepali. Each group has its own socio-cultural milieu that, of course, has the influence upon their writing. The latter concentrated mostly in Darjeeling district and Dooars in Jalpaiguri district has ever been in its peculiar socio-political conflicts that have profound impact upon the psyche of this group and often finds expressions in its writing in some way or other. Even after India became free from the British colonization in 1947, many ethnic minority groups still remained ‘colonized’, now within the states governed by larger and much powerful group. Nepali speaking ethnic group in West Bengal and elsewhere is one such that has never been free from the feeling of being colonized. It feels to have been subjected to the ‘colonization’ of various forms – political, educational, economic, cultural etc. The constant feeling of being haunted by the spectre of uncertainty and insecurity has, time and again, given rise to the need of asserting and articulating its identity in the national perspective. Although the feeling related to the identity crisis has played a significant role in our poetry, a larger chunk of our modern and contemporary poetry is the images of life lived by man in pre/post cold-war.”

In this expression the two points that have come up in sharp relief are – i) colonization, and ii) identity crisis. In between these two the issue of marginalization raises its head itself. When the world, with the end of colonial era, has long been in its post-colonial phase, talking about colonization may sound somewhat discordant in larger perspective. But while many of the formerly colonized countries in Asia and Africa are now under the shadow of neo-colonialism, clanking shackles of internal colonization are also heard loud in many countries of the world. Internal colonization prevails when, within the country, a stronger and powerful community thrusts its domination through hegemony – political, economic, cultural and educational – upon the weaker but distinctive one who has its own distinct historical base, thereby depriving it of cultural identity. This condition is as much unsavoury as that under the foreign colonial rule. But a living race or culture keeps fighting for its survival. Those too meek to put up fight will certainly be annihilated and effaced. This is the common law of nature. Today, arriving at the turn of this prolonged struggle we are determined to redeem our suppressed history just as Manipuri, Mizo and Khasi did. We have the story of our own cultural existence, and no hegemonic interpretation as that of the Orientalist eyes can find the heartbeat of this story. We are with the story and the story is with us. Like the pre-historic mythology. One will have nothing if one is bereft of own story. You don’t have anything if you don’t have the stories.
- Leslie Marmon Silko They want to distort and destroy our story or blanket it with an overwhelming noise rendering us weak with no story. Let me quote the lines from Silko’s Ceremony that speak of the White Euro-American’s exploitation of the ancient Red Indian tradition and culture –
Their evil is mighty but it can’t stand up to our stories. So they try to destroy the stories let the stories be confused or forgotten. They would like that They would be happy Because we would be defenseless then. The oppressed culture has to rescue its history and cultural story. And quite firm is our story without which we shall have no ground to stand on. Constant attempt has ever been there to dislodge us from our story. However, the Teesta of our story never goes dry; it flows on and on. It, after every struggle, wakes up with even more brightened eyes and emerges again with the expanded chest of yet firmer conviction. Like an unmatched combination of Nepali topi and dhoti, Darjeeling hills along with the Terai at their feet were (almost accidentally) attached to the State of Bengal and the relationship between this Region and the State is always that of ‘them’ and ‘us’. The latter always treating the former as inferior, keeps a distance. There has seldom been a harmonious relationship of one family between the two. This is what commonly happens between colonizers and colonized. Partho Chatterji, in regard to the western colonizers, observed that the only civil society that the government could recognize was theirs; colonized subjects could never be its equal members. Adds Leela Gandhi to it-“In this case, racial difference, much as sexual difference, becomes synonymous with political difference.” We are here as colonized subject deprived of the right of family member, or distanced ‘they’ whose ‘racial difference.. becomes synonymous with political difference’. If this incompatible relationship is viewed through feminism (and also through Freudian psychoanalysis) we see that colonizer has always placed the colonized below him like a woman to be enjoyed and the former with zealous masculine attitude places himself above. Now this myth built in his consciousness and subconscious has to be demolished. Today when postcolonial current is strong with globalization of culture and history, we are desperately struggling to emancipate ourselves from the internal colonization. We are as much influenced by the postcolonialism as we are drawn to ourselves by the self-feeling grown from the disgust for the internal colonialism. So to say, we are revolving in between the two opposite forces – centripetal and centrifugal. In spite of the effort to be postcolonial in our consciousness while rejecting the colonial centrality, our today too, as our yesterday, is nailed on the same centrality where lies the design to establish their lordship by making us subaltern for all time. Colonizers refuse to believe in or recognize the ability and talent of the colonized. This is why an intellectual in Calcutta, in reference to Ramsing Thakuri, a famous Gorkha composer of dozens of patriotic songs in Hindi/Urdu, had once questioned if the martial Gorkha also could possess the subtle musical sense. Hierarchical division between ruler and ruled is noticed even in language and literature. At this moment Macaulay’s infamous comment comes to mind – A single shelf of a good European library is worth the whole native literature of India and Arabia. It is not unlikely that our hubristic internal colonizers, too, may come upon us in similar vein. It is worth noting that in Bengal the government civil servants from the ruled community are supposed to compulsorily learn Bengali language whereas those from the ruling community, when posted in the Nepali language dominated region need not learn Nepali. If they showed any interest to learn workable Nepali they are awarded with special allowance which is denied to the officers from Nepali ethnic group for their passing Bengali language test. Driven by the ruler’s prejudice, colonizer usually determines the fate of the colonized. ‘They cannot represent themselves, they should be represented’, says the former in relation to the latter. Thus, in various national and international fields and fora the colonized community is seldom given opportunity to represent itself. To be marginalized and insecure in one’s own land is what we call being colonized. However, our brethrens in the neighbouring state of Sikkim have never been through such unpalatable situation. Theirs is the different story as regards their past and present. Yet they too are not free from being the victim of marginalization and the perennial crisis of identity. Sikkimese Nepalis, politically well secure during Chhogyal’s regime, were attempted to be made derelict when their legislative seats were constitutionally scrapped after Sikkim was annexed to Indian Union. It was only the certificates of their being Sikkim-subject obtained during the previous regime saved their (our) story written centuries ago. The well-thought out constitutional scrapping of the seats reserved for Sikkimese Nepalis seems not only to marginalize but to uproot them altogether. Had the descendants of the Gorkha (Limbu & Magar) chiefs who ruled over the western part of Sikkim (Darjeeling hills included) long before the Chhogyal dynasty emerged, been uprooted from the present Sikkim, would Gorkhas of Darjeeling hills remain safe? The Sikkimese Nepalis comprising 70% of the total population of the then Sikkim were instrumental in uprising against the last Chhogyal, thereby making this Himalayan kingdom the 22nd state of India, and in reward the native Gorkhas were deprived of their constitutional safe-guard. Today it is only for their overwhelming majority that has helped them attain certain leverage in the state. There are painful sagas of the Gorkhas being driven out of their homes in the North Eastern states. Before persecution, begins a process of marginalization. Gorkhas have repeatedly been pushed to the brink everywhere in the country. Their contributions towards the freedom struggle of the country have been ignored in the history. Always kept away from the national mainstream, they are usually prevented from being their own representative. National media turn blind eye and deaf ear towards their scream. And they are alienated in one way or other. All this they suffer in the land of their own. With a view to enfeeble the regional strength of a particular ethnic group in a provincial level demographic liquidation is designed or electoral delimitation is carried out against the will of the people of the region. Gorkha community of Darjeeling-Dooars has become the victim of such design way back in the seventies of the last century. How a few seats of Sikkimese Gorkhas reserved in the State Council of the Chhogyal were later annulled by the Indian Government has already been cited above. But the ethnic feeling is too formidable to be weakened by any political division. In the mind of each lives the image of their communion, says Benedict Anderson. The culture of the oppressed group, kept all the time away from the national stage, is very often thought of little value. It is not given any space to show itself as a distinct colour in the band of rainbow of cultural mainstream. Each culture has its own distinctive flavour and beauty which could be truly felt by none other than the one from the same cultural group. Others may be incapable of seeing it in its right perspective or may not be able to feel its soul, its heart-beat. So, the other’s interpretation may only be intellectual rather than that felt with heart. As culture bears the identifying face of a race, hegemonist adopts many ways and means to deface it or to keep it aside under the murky shadow. Another weapon used by colonizers in the process of expansion of their hegemony is education. Textual invasion as it is called. In the British colonial era the mentality that regarded English education to be the only canon of being educated was built up. Today postcolonial critics say that the colonial student bent to learn by heart the chosen paragraphs and stanzas from English literature is in fact bowing to the secret principle of spiritual and political compulsion. Nepali speaking people in this region feel to have gained self­confidence when they pick up the skill of speaking their ‘rulers’ language. (This is only natural as being ‘subject’ to them.) Many of the fiction writers in Darjeeling Hills and Dooars depicted broken Nepali speaking Bengali as doctor treating the Hill peoрle as patients whose roles in the fictions would be of petty contractors, work assistants and coolies while engineers and higher officers would be from the рlains with the languages other than Neрali. In Shakespeare’s The Tempest Caliban (the colonized) answers back to Miranda, (the colonizer), in the language he was forced to learn: You taught me language, and my profit on’t/ Is, I know how to curse. In the very language of the colonizer he airs his protest against the grabbing of his land. But we have yet to absorb our “colonizers’” language in this region as English language has been absorbed and used to vehemently criticize the former colonizers in the countries like India, Africa, Trinidad Jamaica and the like. This argument may be summed up with the notion that the marginalization is the foulest game suffered by any ethnic life and sometimes by a nation. How has the Indian Gorkha ethnic group managed to save itself from the foul wind that pushes it to the edge from where it may any moment be given a final dash? Its remaining very alive is just because of its unwavering will to live, undaunted spirit of struggle and the consciousness of its being a distinct race. ‘..The struggle for selfhood is much more than the subject of self-reflexive irony’, as E. Boehmer says. Now a few words in the context of national identity, the term which is preferred here to ethnic or cultural identity as because the question of national identity has, time and again, stung the Nepali speaking Indians who, in India, are often labeled as immigrants and in the eyes of Nepal Nepalese diaspora while they call themselves Indians and nothing else but Indians. What is Indianness ? Is it Aryan-Dravid feature or a concept? Appearance or a deep feeling? Just an idea or an ideal? Of course, Indianness is a concept above the feature; a feeling rather than appearance; not just an idea but an ideal. But is the present reality of Indianness really so? To the so-called mainstream Indians, the Gorkhas, most of who are of Mongoloid feature are some other nationals but Indian. At most, they are popularly thought to be Bhutias. The ethnic Gorkha community in Sikkim, constituting two-third of the total population of the state, is almost invisible to the eyes of mainstream Indians. Moreover, when the nationality of even the Sikkimese Chief Minister of Gorkha origin is questioned and his effigy is burnt, what will be the fate of other common Gorkhas? The identity of the overwhelming native Gorkha majority in the Darjeeling Hills has also been put behind the side-wings. On the stage appear some others. This crisis is more acute and recurrent in the North-Eastern states. But the Mongoloid featured Mizo, Khasi, Naga, Manipuris are unaffected by such question of national identity as they are well secure in their respective self-ruled states. Those multitudes sneaking into Bengal from across the border of Bangladesh easily get assimilated with the locals. They are helped to do so by their look-alike feature and complexion and the language which also help them put the garb of Indianness whereas the stateless Gorkhas who became the citizens of this great country from the day when considerably large tract of land inhabited by them were ceded to India in 1816, are always watched only through the specs of Indo-Nepal Friendship Treaty-1950. This is how they are painfully hooked with the question of nationality. The attainment of the constitutional recognition of Nepali language also could not resolve this question. Thus, the Indian Gorkha living with the consciousness that has ever been nurtured by pure Indian sentiment has been cast aside on the shore of deprivation and irony. The experiences and feelings received from what has been brought here into discussion from the beginning till now have laid onus upon us to give them living shapes in our contemporary literature. Voices From the Margin is a small step towards that direction. * In Indian Nepali literature there have been many poets and fiction writers who have made this ethnic suffering their subject. However, most of the poets and authors of the mid-twentieth century were basically dominated by their romantic fervour. Their poetic works on this subject are replete with nostalgia, sentimentality to the point of being maudlin, yearning for remote past, angst and agony. They lacked the spirit to squarely deal with the harsh reality. Theirs was the tendency to wash their agony with tears, and turn towards their past heroes for solace. Among the poets in whom the Indian Gorkhas’ psychological as well as physical torments found utterance, Agamsingh Giri always stands tall. In verily romantic form his poems are thoroughly saturated with Nepali ethnic sentiments which later culminated in his semi epic poem “Yuddha ra Yoddha”(1970). A decade later Yuddhabir Rana in his Chihan Napaeka Takmaharu (Derelict Medals) poured his emotions over the agonizing plight of the Gorkhas in the North­eastern part of India. Many poems with similar theme appeared during the sixties and seventies of the last century. But these works, as said in the preceding paragraph, were overburdened with sentimentality and nostalgia, defeatism and despondency. Moreover, due to the fact that the time was yet to fully escape from the diasporic tendency, the identity­consciousness was still vague. Despite the Indian Nationality taking root in the Nepali speaking Gorkha consciousness decades before India attained independence, why our litterateurs, till late sixties, were sick with diasporic feelings is an interesting matter for research. Behind this lay perhaps the then widely prevalent trait of romanticism in writing which, to a considerable extent, may be held responsible for being so. Tendency to escape the hard and tormenting reality and yearn for remote past or ‘.. a land at once strange and familiar where the heart finds itself at home..’ is also an element of romanticism. In the words of Leguis and Cazamian : The obsession of distant centuries is the attraction of strong modes of feeling of which the collective memory has preserved a confused recollection. Giri often turned to a distant past to get warmth of the glory of his community. He would frequently be drawn towards his ancestral land that to him was ‘at once strange and familiar’ as the one in fantasy. Yuddhabir Rana’s emotional response to the nightmarish reality was also no more than a romantic escapism. Even in the realistic novel Aaja Ramita Chha by Indrabahadur Rai, a Titan in Nepali literature, the protagonist Janak expresses his dualistic loyalty in these words: ‘We, the Nepalis of Darjeeling, are trusted by both India and Nepal; both the countries wish to win our loyalty.’ Swing of such dual loyalty swung for a long time. But the same Janak, a little later, has said,” We, the Nepalis of Darjeeling, inseparable from the land of Darjeeling just like its trees and streams, being in the waves of history, have arrived from one point of geography to the other belonging now to one and now to the other. Today if anyone asks these Uttis and pine trees, this Rungdung khola and this frail stream­ ‘Where do you belong to?’ the answer will be­ ‘I belong to where now I stand.’ “ Why only the Nepalis of Darjeeling, we may add, but also the Nepalis of Dehradun, Bhaksu and their contiguous regions became Indian along with the land they have been inhabiting for centuries. The process of bringing within Indian boundary of a strip of land called Dooars, previously the parts of Sikkim and Bhutan, and the home of Nepali speaking Gorkhas, was completed as late as 1865. When Indrabahadur Rai’s Janak says “ Darjeeling is ours and we are of Darjeeling” and the poet Giri sings “What’s the meaning of life if lived oblivious of love of soil/ I have endless love for my Darjeeling, the queen of hill”, this ethnic feeling thus locally expressed seems far inadequate. However, it is true that, though Ananda Singh Thapa from Dehradun raised for the first time the demand for constitutional recognition of Nepali language way back in 1956, Darjeeling has, from the very beginning, been the centre for all the intellectual, political and cultural activities of Indian Nepalis.
It is worth noting that our freedom fighters who were in close contact with Mahatma Gandhi as well as with Subhaschandra Bose, were completely unambiguous as regards their Indian nationality that inspired them to sacrifice their all in the national liberation movement. They were decades ahead of our poets and writers in regard to their nationality. Today the history of their sacrifice is stretched over our head as a blissful shed.
It was only when the Nepali language movement for its constitutional recognition grew in gravity in the seventies followed by the agitation for the statehood in the eighties, poetry charged with political-cultural consciousness began to appear. Divorced from the predecessors’ romantic attitude, poems of this period set the characteristic trend of Indian Nepali poetry that voices the distinctive ethos and aspiration, beliefs and vision of the Indian Gorkhas. Instead of escaping into the past, the poets’ eyes now started to stare at the stark reality. In the late seventies poet Khadgasingh Rai ‘Kaada’ in his poem ‘Patriotism In Me’ voiced his grim discontent in a deliberate prosaic style – My Indianness Struggling in the midst of injustice and ignorance ………. I wish My speech could reach you – Of the right That enables me to be agile In sovereign India O my country! The right to love you. Agonised and impatient at being pushed off as an unwanted, a powerful modern poet like ‘Kanda’ had to speak about the right to love one’s country in an unpoetic style. Similarly, another distinguished modern poet Norden Rumba had blurted in a simple and straight manner – If you remain the ruler we shall not accept, Yet we’ll not fall apart One voice, one demand, our land.
- We Are Not Demanding the Sky It was this time when the poets consciously came forward speaking out against the oppression that ever forced them to live on the bank of deprivation. The cruel reality the ethnic Gorkha has long been subjected to, of being colonized, marginalized and alienated, has yet to find its dignified place as a distinctive form of writing in Indian Nepali literature. Black literature of African-American Negro has a long tradition. Litterateurs of Red Indian origin like Silko creates in literature the heart-beat of her own culture that has been fractured from centuries of colonization. In our own country Dalit literature has its own theoretical basis. In relation to Indian nationality we too have our own socio-political-cultural ground. How clearly visible is this ground in the writing of Indian Nepali literature? Is the material not enough to make it stand as a distinct aspect of our literature? Being over-enthusiastic to stride along the world literature, we might have drifted away from our own ground. While influenced by others, why should we not strive to create something of our own that could draw others’ attention? It is not that one should remain confined to the parochial or regional interests, but rather one’s regional identity should be made known far beyond the regional periphery. We can go global while remaining local. In this way we can go with the portmanteau term ‘glocal’. Yeats brought alive in his poetry the Irish folklore, myth and Celtic culture. So fresh was his poetry with these elements that the European readers were strangely attracted to it. Echoing his nationalism Yeats once wrote that one’s verses should hold, as in a mirror, the colours of one’s own climate and scenery in their right proportion. Collecting ancient myths and folklores whereupon the Irish national stage was to be built up Yeats once said in a poem: John Synge, I and Gregory Augusta thought That all we did, all that we said or sang Must come from contact with the soil. Today, with the postmodern view rejecting centralism and giving space to heterogeneous ideas, cultures, colours, what Yeats thought a century ago has still the same relevance. The marginalized culture like ours should have been focused in such a manner in the national firmament. * Derek Walcot has expressed his postcolonial experience of rediscovering his cultural identity – The time will come when, with elation you will greet yourself arriving at your own door, in your own mirror and each will smile at the other’s welcome
Love After Love Yes, the time comes today when we greet ourselves. We who have long been indifferent have started loving ourselves. The long march of our struggle for identity, though intermittent, sometimes swallowed by wild weeds and again giving a call to courageous steps, has arrived at this point of time today. The issue is more of cultural countenance than of political purpose. However, both are complementary to each other. Most of our racial life is being spent in the struggle to make ourselves stand firmly. But how profoundly have we imbibed the painful experiences we have ever been through? And why have we not been able to make it stand as one of the perspectives of our Indian Nepali literature? Or are we conditioned to this perpetual struggle? Conditioned state of mind floats on surface and makes us indifferent. This may be the reason that in the Indian Nepali literature this particular area has been left almost untilled, except a few scratches here and there. This waste area must be tilled with all profundity and sincerity. The reality such as being colonized within one’s own land after being free from one colonizer, remaining unheard and unseen, marginalized and being alienated in want of identity establishment cannot be depicted with the language of sentimentality, nor can be comprehended in emotional outburst, nor can be reflected in tear-drops. This type of language seems to have ruled for long. Its shadow and echo are still there. The modernist language of high art too has become aged and less acceptable today. The language that strengthens itself by centralizing emotions and thoughts is almost hegemonic. Real essence of a modern poem is to be discovered deep down under the exotic layers of myths, symbols and unusual imageries. Owing to its elitist nature, modernist poetry turned away from common readers. Even the matter of common relevance was given an uncommon look by its high art of eliticism. To evolve art out of informal, casual and unrhetorical language is the poetic need today. To keep art vibrant in the simple receptivity of poetry is a challenging poetic task. Elliot’s elitist idea of poetry for handful of readers is not acceptable to both the contemporary poet and reader. We are in the age that cannot at all afford to be exclusive. What the poet had in mind while writing poem can not be imposed upon the readers as its final meaning. A text today invites creative participation of different readers. So, a text must be for a larger community of readers. And similarly, the language commonly spoken by them is expected in such writing. To present directly what the poem has to say, without rhetoric, in an unsophisticated manner – is the responsibility borne by the contemporary poetry. A simple object of aesthetic that lies deceptively underneath, not readily seen, demands a careful observation and participation. It is not that imagery and symbols be banished, but their employment as the exoticism is something detestable, or they must not be dragged into poetry with force. Symbols in poetry are welcome so long as they become poetry themselves. Abundance of imagery may also stifle the ingenuousness of a poem. An image wrought out of sweat may even sound far­fetched. A belief that powerful poems can be composed in plain language too is to stand more firmly. These are some of the points that have guided us while writing the poems in this book for which the perennial suffering shared by all Gorkhas of this country has been taken up as the sole subject. Some other issues could be made the subject of our poetry here, but the suffering that has been haunting this community for more than a century appears to be of more significance and relevance than any other issues at present. It is of course not only the Gorkhas who have found themselves in such a swampy condition. There are many such racial or ethnic groups in the world who, like us, being colonized, marginalized and alienated in their own lands, have been struggling, agitating for their respective identity. Conscious of such realities, we have endeavoured to express our agonies with postcolonial as well as contemporaneous poetic concepts.
Poetry, however, as I have said earlier somewhere, dwells not in the things said but in how they are said. Many have written, and are still writing, on the subject we have taken up here. But very few are there to have contemporaneous consciousness in writing.
Contemporary writing is not possible without having contemporaneity reflected in one’s view. If one, without getting stuck to a particular point of time and space, does not keep renewing oneself every morning, s/he will soon be left behind in the constant flux of time. And one’s sense of perception may gradually become distanced from the changed value of the time and the expression of it in the same overused tone would not rouse much interest in the new enthusiasts. Those writing under the influence of their immediate predecessors may not be able to hold the hand of time brushing past them. In writing time-consciousness is all the more important. In this age of no certainty of centre the need to be free even from Free Verse, now become conventional, is being felt. The moment we think of a poem, lines of various length placed one after another appear before our eyes. Shall we ever be free from such conventionalized form of poetry? You grasp the Khukuri but you count not the heads of the vultures who come to peck the roof of your house.
­ A Serious Matter of Name (Remika Thapa)
Making the lines long, medium or short in length in a poem has a purpose, of course. As far as the poems in this collection are concerned, in some lines several words are made to run together in a single line in order to give the effect of intensity and sharpness of the irony contained in them, and in some the expression imaging the caravan marching along the long road and the one giving impression of the people being pushed to the edge in the process of marginalization are visible. Let us now, for our observation, take two lines from the third poem of this anthology – In history orphans were called illicit embryos left by some bastards. The word ‘History’ is placed on top of the other words as to suggest its being above the common folks. History has, most often, been the story of the rulers and upper class. History is the high stage where the rulers play and those down below seldom reach it. A long line from the poem A Talk of Self in Part II, attempts at pictorial expression: Thundering sound of God knows what marching on the main street Modernist and high modernist gave their voice to something deep, profound and absurd which are now replaced with momentariness or presentness. Play of moments is depicted today. The reality that has been haunting us for ages is also placed on the palm of momentariness for us to observe. Concerned with here and now, today’s poetry finds its power in curt and stark expression of intense feelings stirred by the various atmospheres that have impact upon the moments of our life and living in the present. All the play is performed in the flow of moments. Past takes its seat behind side-wings. Dream is there, of course, but it appears to be with the wings clipped and walks with its hand holding a corner of the shirt of the time present. The poems presented here in this volume are from the contemporary consciousness lived collectively by the Gorkhas in India. And distinctly audible footsteps of their persistent dream are also echoed in them. But ‘What happens to a dream deferred?’- asks Langston Hughes and unrolls these questions to look for a possible answer – Does it dry up Like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore – And then run? Does it stink like the rotten meat? … … … Maybe it just sags Like a heavy load, Or does it explode? The concluding question of the poem may impel our selfhood to rise again and again, and the prominent larynx of Indian Nepali poetry will remain alive and active. And we, with Maya Angelou, would be singing again – Out of the huts of history’s shame I rise Up from a past that’s rooted in pain I rise ….. ….. ….. Leaving behind nights of terror and fear I rise A SERIOUS MATTER OF NAMEI am one hundred percent Remika Thapabut those who understand think me ‘else’.This else has defamed my name.That’s not enough for meto be ‘I’ or myselfI have to be a strong proof to be understood by others,Why are these slow witted amidst those who sit to know?And why are those who sit to know?Who are they who ask sitting in the middle?I’m to give answer only to what is askedI’m to explain upto what they want.I’m to clarify only upto what they wishMy testimonials to be decided by the ken of their loreand I ‘m to be decided as ever failed?When shall I be on the line of those who ask?When am I to debate?When should I put in order my thoughts?The system that allows not to sew a torn vestbeware! to be naked is not allowed.The media has a different schedule of global nudity ,rather you put on embroidered banner of your mastersuch strange fusion will be preserved in the museumand each moment puzzle game of emphaticexistence will be played with you!You bear the burden of the country but you areallowed not to lift the twig of your existence,you bear the brunt of warbut you are not allowed to prop your facewith your own palms.You talk but never raise the issue,you dream but choose not certitude.You grasp the khukuribut you count not the heads of the vultures who come to peckthe roof of your house.Who, sitting in the centre, has decided this, eh?Since when will the debate on my name in The draft of the budget commence?Since when in the name of democracy,standing on the line of ‘others’,they will discuss for a national verdict to come?
- Remika ThapaSUBALTERN’S HEADCan the subaltern speak? Gayatri SpivakThey want to keep my head ever pressedunder the heavy subaltern helmet.Is there sky or no skyabove the helmet?Subaltern should not know.Command mounts over my shoulderswhipping my consciousnessunaccountably.Can the subaltern draw out from the depth of his chestthe voice to command?Ah! Subaltern’s salute!How smart! How delicious!Those saluted are proud.But…what is it?Sticking through the stout helmetgreen grass-leaves are out today.Suppressed for years under ironThe grass of conscience refusing to dieis now caressing its share of the sky.I’ll hurl this helmet forthwith.My sky has descendedTo affectionately fondle my head.
- Manprasad Subba.

Book Review - Voices from the Margin-1

VOICES FROM THE MARGIN
By Shreyashi Chettri
Perhaps it is for the first time that Indian Nepali Poetry has tried to break its silent marginal borders and handicaps and finally come out with a translation using the colonizer’s language, which has undoubtedly been given a flavour, which unmistakably belongs to the displaced and marginalized Indian Nepalese people who now refer to themselves as Gorkhalis. Such an effort no doubt reminds one of Raja Rao who in his ‘Forward’ to ‘Kanthapura’ wrote –
“How can one express in a language which is not one’s own, one’s spirit which is one’s own.”
However, this first volume of Voices from the Margin, a joint production of Remika Thapa and Manprasad Subba , translated by Dr.Kumar Pradhan and Manprasad Subba himself (with the exception of his last three poems Words, Whats in a Name? and Mainstream and Me, which were all written originally in English ), has best expressed the spirit of the repressed and marginalized Gorkhalis, who are all now living under the multiple pressures of postcolonialism, neo-colonialism and internal colonialism.At the very outset, Manprasad Subba strikes this keynote in his well articulated ‘Preface’, wherein he defines himself as a poet who writes ‘From the Margin’. Drawing from all aspects of post-structuralism, neo-historicism, post-modernism, orientalism, postcolonialism and internal colonialism with special emphasis on subaltern studies, he tells us all about how the Gorkhalis have been pushed into the margins, how our stories and myths have been buried and distorted, how we have been made faceless, identity less…..in other words, how we have become the ‘other’ from the so called mainstream Indians. Indeed, we have long been ‘othered’ in all political, social, cultural and economic levels that we do really begin to question as to what constitutes this mainstream ‘Indianness’. To this, Manprasad counter posits a series of questions-
“What is Indianness? Is it Aryan-Dravid feature or a concept? Appearance or a deep feeling? Just an idea or an ideal? Of course, Indianness is a concept above the feature; a feeling rather than appearance; not just an idea but an ideal. But is the present reality of Indianness really so?”
Likewise Remika Thapa, who is known to speak for the rural culture and identity of the Gorkhas , wonders when this homogeneous concept of ‘Indianness’ will give credence to the heterogeneity of our culture and identity as also being ‘Indian’ who equally contributes a distinct flavour to this ‘Indianness’-
“I am one hundred percent Remika Thapabut those who understand think me ‘else’”.
Who, sitting in the center, has decided this, eh ?Since when will the debate on my name inthe draft of the budget commence?Since when in the name of democracy,standing on the line of ‘others’,they will discuss for a national verdict to come?
- A Serious matter of NameIndeed, India refers to itself as a country which upholds the principle of ‘unity in diversity’ but if it is so then why does it deny the heterogeneous fabric of the Gorkhali culture which has been carelessly homogenized with Bengal. In a poem ‘This Stinking Coat’, Manprasad uses the powerful imagery of a second hand coat which has been thrust upon the Gorkhalis which clings so tight to their body and which ultimately mars their identity –
Thrown over me without asking for,It has stuck to my body so tightlyOverpowering even the earthly smell of my bodyThis coat stinks of rotten fish.Indeed, we Gorkhalis have always found ourselves in some odd situation where we always have to prove or reassert our identity. It is then that a bitter realization dawns upon us – that we are living at the margins, who are not authorized to qualify and speak – how we are always positioned outside the mainstream national scenario – and when we speak we have an uncanny feeling that in some sense we have already been ‘spoken for’.
In their poems both Remika and Msnprasad try to portray for us as to how from this uncanny position we are now perceiving the world around us, not from the center but from the margins. Is it always a case of ‘us/others’ against ‘them/self’ or is it also sometimes a case of ‘us’ against ‘us’. Perhaps civilization and barbarism has always occurred in alternating phases, each of which started slowly and gradually they spiralled outwards in wider and wider extremes until it finally gave way to a new and opposed phase. The center is unable to hold on its own. As a result everything is falling apart into a dismal chaos……perhaps bringing with it a new phase of violence and bloodshed.
In ‘Voices from the Margin’, this new bloody phase has been portrayed by stark and grim images. Words and phrases such as ‘village of riots’, ‘illicit embryos’, ‘backyard of betrayals’, ‘broken skull’, ‘snowfalls of human blood’, ‘red and red’, ‘nudity’, ‘relished each slice of my liver’, ‘tears’, ‘festival of blood’, ‘slaughter house’ – in all these Remika paints for us the grim realities with which we are made to live everyday. For instance she does not paint the usual rosy picture of Darjeeling. Instead she asks –
Was this deprived Darjeeling always like thisa furnace of a crazy Hitler with roasting Jews?The eyes of the world are snapping the pictures of the Darjeeling of this day.”
- (Portrait of Darjeeling)Manprasad who believes that poetry should be simple but evocative where images must not obliterate but refine the meaning all the more uses all his poetic genius to talk about ‘the margin’, ‘past, present and future’, ‘primitive soil’, ‘self’, ‘other’ , ‘history’, ‘name’, ‘subaltern’ and ‘mainstream’. With regard to this Manprasad tells us how , “in Indian Nepali Lliterature there have been many poets and fiction writers who have made this ethnic suffering their subject. However, most of the poets and authors of the mid-twentieth century were dominated by their fervour......Their poetic works on this subject are replete with nostalgia, sentimentality to the point of being maudlin, yearning for a remote past, angst and agony. They lacked the spirit to squarely deal with the harsh reality. Theirs was the tendency to wash their agony with tears and turn towards their past heroes for solace.”However, it was only much later with the struggles for the recognition for the Nepali language in the Indian constitution; a new kind of poetry began to appear in Indian Nepali Writing. For the first time there was then a poetry which internalized the lived experiences of the Indian Nepali citizens.In the ultimate analysis, ‘Voices from the Margin’, is about ‘us’- the marginalized Gorkhas, ‘us’ who has been changed by struggle and that we all hope to change further for the better. It is our story which has not been written from above but from within. It is about our voices, ‘us’ who are made to identify not as Indians though being legal citizens – we who are part of its culture yet excluded by its dominant central voices – inside yet hanging outside in the margins. Indeed this joint effort and production of ‘Voices from the Margin’, now stands as a new reason or hope for us to once again rise from the margins and deconstruct the center – to once again find our voices and not be spoken for. A SERIOUS MATTER OF NAMEI am one hundred percent Remika Thapabut those who understand think me ‘else’.This else has defamed my name.That’s not enough for meto be ‘I’ or myselfI have to be a strong proof to be understood by others,Why are these slow witted amidst those who sit to know?And why are those who sit to know?Who are they who ask sitting in the middle?I’m to give answer only to what is askedI’m to explain upto what they want.I’m to clarify only upto what they wishMy testimonials to be decided by the ken of their loreand I ‘m to be decided as ever failed?When shall I be on the line of those who ask?When am I to debate?When should I put in order my thoughts?The system that allows not to sew a torn vestbeware! to be naked is not allowed.The media has a different schedule of global nudity ,rather you put on embroidered banner of your mastersuch strange fusion will be preserved in the museumand each moment puzzle game of emphaticexistence will be played with you!You bear the burden of the country but you areallowed not to lift the twig of your existence,you bear the brunt of warbut you are not allowed to prop your facewith your own palms.You talk but never raise the issue,you dream but choose not certitude.You grasp the khukuribut you count not the heads of the vultures who come to peckthe roof of your house.Who, sitting in the centre, has decided this, eh?Since when will the debate on my name in The draft of the budget commence?Since when in the name of democracy,standing on the line of ‘others’,they will discuss for a national verdict to come?
- Remika ThapaSUBALTERN’S HEADCan the subaltern speak?
Gayatri SpivakThey want to keep my head ever pressedunder the heavy subaltern helmet.Is there sky or no skyabove the helmet?Subaltern should not know.Command mounts over my shoulderswhipping my consciousnessunaccountably.Can the subaltern draw out from the depth of his chestthe voice to command?Ah! Subaltern’s salute!How smart! How delicious!Those saluted are proud.But…what is it?Sticking through the stout helmetgreen grass-leaves are out today.Suppressed for years under ironThe grass of conscience refusing to dieis now caressing its share of the sky.I’ll hurl this helmet forthwith.My sky has descendedTo affectionately fondle my head.
- Manprasad Subba.