Soft Storm Class 12 English Exercise

 Unit - 2.5 
Soft Storm 

  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?

➜ The poem 'soft storm' composed by Abhi Subedi expresses the touch of compassion and the inner disturbance of the poet. The title itself glorifies the emotions of the poet as they were disturbed but yet not disastrous.

In the poem, the speaker uses the word 'soft' with the words like 'storm' and 'gale' to express his inner disturbance. Generally, the anomalous expression refers to the syntactically well-formed but semantically meaningless. In the poem, the expressions 'soft storm' and 'softness rose like a gale' are unusual and paradoxical. They are used to define the psychological effect of a speaker. By connecting such ideas, the poet is trying to achieve the ability to express his inner state through psychology. 

 b. What is the speaker's attitude towards the time he describes in the poem? 

➜ The speaker expresses his thoughts toward the time by using the term ' mad time'. He considers the time to be mad as he experiences different unusual things and unlawful activities. The things happening around him were unusual and mannerless. Society is in complete disorder and mannerless. Also, he observes that modern society is out of control and it gives him inner disturbance so his attitude toward the time seems not to be positive. 

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

➜ The poem 'soft storm' describes the inner emotion of the speaker when he observes modern society. With the touch of compassion, the speaker reveals his tumultuous nature and describes what he feels. The poet finds our society in complete disorder. Society and people are suffering from corruption. People with hunger are seen everywhere in the streets. 

He witnesses modern people ignoring glorious history. On the other hand, most things are unusual and unlawful. People are forgetting about humanity and are behaving inhumanely with each other. They have forgotten the mutual respect and sympathy. In the poem, the poet seems to "enge these things. So we can call him a rebel through his re nature is not directly presented. 

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 
of human times.

➜ The above lines are extracted from the fourth stanza of the poem 'soft storm' composed by Abhi Subedi. As the title glorifies, the poem describes his inner emotion using anomalous expression. He seems to be rebellious indirectly to the unlawful activities of modern society.

Through the above lines, the poet expresses his suffering from uneasy feelings when he observes a person in miserable condition during the night. When he sees a person with a blood-stained shirt during the night, he experiences the inner soft storm inside him. In the poem, the person is lying unconsciously on the ground in the moonlit night. Here, human dreams and achievements are presented by the moon of history. 

When the moon appears in the sky, the moonlight falls on a place of cultural and historical importance. Through this natural interplay during the night, the poet describes people who are indifferent to the injured person who might be the victim of violence.

Through this natural interplay during the night, it seems people are indifferent to the injured person who might be the victim of violence.

  Reference beyond the text   

a. Write an essay, highlighting your dissatisfaction towards social, cultural, economic and political issues prevailing in Nepal at present. 

Social, Cultural, Economic and Political Issues Prevailing in Nepal: An Essay

A large section of the population in Nepal cannot access political participation and representation in public affairs and obtain social and cultural equality due to economic and social conditions, social stigma and lack of access to information, among other reasons.

Political Issues:

I oppose this competitive multiparty democratic system of governance which is not stable by its nature and rule of law, human rights and fundamental rights mentioned in the constitution, only named independence and free and fair judiciary as these things are only projected in the documents, not in the practical life of the people. The political leaders are just playing the game of dirty politics violating the rights of the people and the constitution.

Social and Economic Issues:

Old caste system like Dalits is the most discriminated people under this system who suffer from restriction and economic opportunities in the society. I totally disagree with such sort of social system in the country. There is widespread corruption everywhere and nepotism and favouritism are prevalent in society. Although the UN estimates that poverty in Nepal has been dropping gradually, a quarter of the population are still below the poverty line.

Cultural Issues:

Gender inequality, discrimination against women, girls trafficking, violence against women and many more are the obstacles of the current society I am not satisfied with.

b. Suppose you are a rebel, who wants to change the society by eliminating malpractices and anomalies prevailing in the society. Draft a speech outlining your vision for change.

Good morning everyone,

Respected ladies and gentlemen and my dear friends, I am Sundar Shrestha and today we have gathered here against malpractices and anomalies being practiced in the society and how they are becoming hurdles for our country's development.

Some of the common social malpractices or social evils being practiced in our society are alcoholism, racism, child abuse, etc. Besides, Nepal is facing a large number of social problems such as caste system, child labour, child marriage, illiteracy, gender inequality, superstitions, religious conflicts and much more.

Social evils are the issues opposed by most people of society. In ancient days, our ancestors have divided classes according to their people's occupation like Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Sudras. Sudras are the most suppressed people. The other three castes people don't even touch them and even they were not allowed into the temples. These were the adverse effects. 

The second issue is child labour and child marriage. A child without education is a bird without wings. Without proper education, your child would face a lot of problems in this modern world. There is the right age to do everything. Make your children study until he is ready for the work. Illiteracy is also one of the social issues. Educated people like us have to bring awareness to illiterate people.

Poverty is a significant problem to be solved as quick as possible. The cause of poverty is illiteracy, caste system, and unemployment. The government should provide training for the unemployed. Sanitation and uncleanliness is also social evil. The reason is people's carelessness and laziness. Every person must strive to make our country clean. 

Gender inequality and low status for women had become familiar. The reason for both of these evils is the narrow mindset of society. All these evils are interconnected. They stop most of our future citizens. To deal with these social evils, we have to get the right education with values. The government has to work more efficiently and try to eradicate these problems.

To check all the issues, the first and foremost step should be to educate people. A lot needs to be done to eradicate the shreds of a number of social evils still haunting our society. In Albert Einstein's words "The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil but because of the people who don't do anything about it."

With this, I conclude my speech. Thank you, everyone, and I wish you all the best and to get succeed in your objectives of eradicating these social malpractices from society as soon as possible.

THE END 

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