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Brief Critical Appreciation of The Voice of the Mountains

Critical Appreciation: The Voice of the Mountains by Mamang Dai

"The Voice of the Mountains" is a poem by Mamang Dai. She is a journalist, writer, and poet belonging to the Adi community of Arunachal Pradesh. 

Arunachal Pradesh itself translates as 'the land of the dawn-lit mountains.' So it is no surprise that Dai, who often writes what classifies as "nature poetry," titled the poem, 'The Voice of the Mountains' giving a voice to her native land. 

The primary themes in the poem are immortality and change. Though the mountain remains the same - omnipresent and witnessing many lives, the world keeps changing. It highlights the eternal beauty of nature in contrast to the constant destruction caused by man, especially in the North East region. 

The mountains serve as a symbol in the poem for the rituals of indigenous people as well as the protector of history. It has nine stanzas with no rhyming scheme. The line count in the poem, too, is irregular. 

Like all Dai's poems, this is also a poem rich in literary devices. Mountains are a metaphor for identity and emotions. We can spot synecdoche in the "ferry lights crossing." There is a pun in "a cloud, is a cloud is a cloud," signifying uncertainty and pessimism. The line "peace is falsity" is a paradoxical affirmation. Other important literary devices in the poem are personification, contrast, enjambment, metonym, and simile. 

Mountain is a spectator of the violent changes and the suffering of the indigenous folk. Through this poem, Dai makes us aware of the mountain's intrinsicality. She gives us a glimpse of rituals followed by North Easterns who have worshipped and preserved nature for years, along with the alarming concerns in the region. 

Dai is not the only one from North East writing about nature. Some other significant contributors are Mona Zote, YD Thongchi, and Temsula Ao. 

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