XII - 2.8 - Small Towns and Rivers ( ICE BREAKERS & BRAINSTORMING)

2.8  Small Towns and Rivers

                                                                                          - Mamang Dai

ICE BREAKERS

·       (1) Most of the civilizations have flourished on the banks of the rivers. Discuss the reasons in the class. One is done for you.                                         

-         (a) Availability of water

-         (b) Fertile of land / soil

-         (c) Easy transportation

-         (d) Availability of fishing and hunting facility

-         (e) Developing tourism  

·        (ii) Write down the names of the famous cities that are situated on the banks of the rivers given below.  One is done for you.  

 

Rivers	City
Ganga	Varanasi
Yamuna	Agra
Godavari	Nasik
Varada	Banavasi (Karnataka)
Krishna	Sangli
Tapi	Surat

  

·       (iii) write down the names of the rivers on the banks of which following cities have prospered:

 

City	River
London	Thames
Cairo	Nile
New York	Hudson
Paris	Seine

     

**  Divide your class into groups and discuss the changes  that might have taken place when the cities grow on the banks of the rivers.

-         When the cities grow on the banks of the rivers the following changes might have taken place-

-          Population growth

-         Availability of transport

-         Availability of jobs

-         Increasing industrial area

-         Increasing market places

-         Developing tourism

-         Expansion of Agricultural

-         Settlement and expansion of civilization

BRAINSTORMING

 

(A1) Discuss the importance of Nature in the lives of the people from the Northeastern part of India as expressed in the poem with reference to –

 

(a)    Flowers – Flowers like tuberoses are used into wreaths which are placed as a symbol of love and respect on the body of the dead.

 

(b)           River - The people show their reverence to the river as it has a soul and its water is immortal.

 

(c)   Bamboo - It is a part of nature which restore in sunlight but its coolness and green colour provide solace to people.

 

(d)           East - For them it means heaven, the abode of the sun.

        

(A2) (i) The poet has described her small town in Arunachal Pradesh.

             Pick out the lines that describe the poet’s town.

              

-                 1) My hometown lies calmly amidst the trees

        2) it is always the same

            In the summer and winter

           With the dust flying

           Or the wind howling down the gorge’

       3) In small towns by the river

           We all want to walk with the gods.

       4) small towns grow with anxiety for the future.

 

 

(ii) Make a list of natural elements mentioned in the poem.

 

  - The followings are the list of natural elements mentioned in the poem-

-            Trees, summer, winter, dust, wind, gorge, tuberoses, river, land, fish, stars, rain, earth, mountain, water, sun, bamboo, sunlight etc.

 

(iii) ‘The river has a soul.’ Elaborate the concept in your words as the poet has explained it in the poem.

-         The poem has neo-romantic elements in it. The poetess believes in the ideology of pantheism which means nature is the manifestation / creation of god. She believes that god exists in every part of nature. The north eastern people worship the element of nature for this belief. The poetess also things that river has the soul as it the part of nature. It is immortal whereas human life is temporal. People have emotional attachment with nature. So, their grief is expressed by the river as torrent of grief.  

 

(iv) The poet is convinced with the thought of immortality of water.  Pick out the relevant lines.

(a)         The river has a soul.

(b)                   The river knows the immortality of water.

(c)        In small towns by the river we all want to walk with the gods.

(d)                    From the first drop of rain to dry earth

(e)         Mist on the mountaintops

 

(v) The poet has used some unconventional expressions. Illustrate them in your words.

(a) Torrent of grief – The sorrows / grief of the north east people due to the continues blood sheds because of the political unrest is as great as the strong, forceful flow/ torrent of the river.

(b) Shrine of happy pictures – The poetess tries to recall those sweet memories of her childhood when her town was free of bloodsheds and organization.

© The land of fish and stars – Perhaps due to the sorrow or perhaps due to the urbanization the river is looking for the land of fish and stars. The land of fish and stars means the fairy land at the creation of the world which is pure and unpolluted. 

 

(vi) The poet is anxious about the existence of natural beauty of her town in the future. But she touches the strings of the hearts while appealing to conserve the Nature. Explain the way she has expressed it in the first and the last line of the poem.

-         The central government wants to implements various scenes in the name of progress and urbanization. But the militants oppose as they fear it will destroy the peace, nature, culture, tradition and folklore of the region. Nature is very important for them as they believe god resides in every object of nature. Conflicts, bloodsheds and deaths take place regularly as expressed in the first line.

-         The poetess says in the last line that all people of the town want to walk with the gods means they want to live peacefully in the lap of nature in which god resides.

 

(vii) The poet has connected the need to preserve Nature with the belief of particular community and her childhood memories.

 Write down the measures you would take to convince the people regarding the need to conserve the Nature.

 

-         The following measures would be taken to convince the people about the need to conserve the nature. -

-         1) Creating awareness among the people through workshops, save trees campaign, seminars, rallies,

-         2) Stopping deforestation and planting more and more trees.

-         3) Implementing strict lows.

-         4) Refusing, recycling and reusing the rubbish.

-         5) Avoiding chemicals, fertilizers, insecticides and pesticides.

-         6) Refusing plastic and avoiding e-waste. 

-         7) Using public transport.

 

(A3) (i) Write down the expressions related to ‘the seasons’ from the poem.

-         Summer or winter - it is always the same, in summer or winter,

-         In the summer – In the summer it cuts through the land

        

  (ii) Match column ‘A’ with column ‘B’

        A                                  B

         

   Cool                             silence

   Happy                           earth

   Dreadful                       bamboo

    Dry                               pictures

 -       Cool –      bamboo

          Happy –   pictures

          Dreadful – silence

          Dry   -        earth

(A4) (i) Read the expression ‘a sad wreath of tuberoses.

             ‘is the wreath sad?’ explain the figure of speech.

Transferred Epithet

-          In this line an epithet (adjective) ‘sad’ is transferred from person to wreath.

-         So, this figure of speech based on ‘association’

         

        (ii) List and explain the metaphorical expressions from the poem.

             For example, ‘torrent of grief.’

-         Torrent of grief – Intense grief is indirectly compared to the torrent of water.

-         ‘wind howling down the gorge’, - Indirect comparison between the howling of wind and the howling of human being.

-         ‘The river has a soul.’- Indirect comparison between the river with soul and the human soul.

-         ‘it holds its breath.’- Indirect comparison between the river’s holding of breath and human’s holding of death.   

       

  (iii) ‘The river has a soul.’

         ‘life and death.’

   These are the two expressions that are repeated in the poem; but both of them indicate different figures of speech. Find out and discuss.

-         ‘The river has a soul.’-

1)    Personification

-         In this line the word ‘soul’ is the human quality shown in river.

-          So, this figure of speech based on ‘Imagination.’

2)     Hyperbole

-         It is an overstatement.

-         So, this figure of speech based on ‘imagination.’

 

-         ‘life and death’-

1)       Antithesis

-         In this line two opposite words (life x death) are used.

-         So, this figure of speech based on ‘difference or contrast.’

2)    Irony –

-         In this line an ironical statement to indicate the temporality of life and death.

-         So, this figure of speech based on ‘difference or contrast’.

       

 (iv) Find out the beauty of the free verse reflected in this poem.

-         There is no rhyme expect the internal rhyme at a few places in the poem. It does not have regular metre and does not follow any rhyme scheme. But the poetic language, breaks in lines, use of refrain give a five sense of poetry. The poetess has expressed her inner feelings without the limitation of rhyming words freely and spontaneously. She describes the beauty of nature and the feeling of unrest freely. She does not worry about the use and adjustment of words for the sake of monotonous rhyme and metre. 

 

(A5) (ii) Compose 4 to 6 lines on ‘Gift of the Seasons’.

   The sweet rustling of wind

   and the cloud behind,

   the melodies of the lark

   and the lightening spark,

       a relief for the hearts with pain

   and here is rain again!