When it rains in dharamshala.
What is the theme of this poem?
Answers
When it rains in Dharamsala
raindrops wear boxing gloves,
thousands of them
come crashing down
and beat my room.
Under its tin roof
my room cries from inside
and wets my bed, my papers.
Sometimes the clever rain comes
from behind my room,
the treacherous walls lift
their heels and allow
a small flood into my room.
I sit on my island-nation bed
and watch my country in flood,
notes on freedom,
memoirs of my prison days,
letters from college friends,
crumbs of bread
and Maggi noodles
rise sprightly to the surface
like a sudden recovery
of a forgotten memory.
Three months of torture,
monsoon in the needle-leafed pines
Himalaya rinsed clean
glistens in the evening sun.
Until the rain calms down
and stops beating my room
I need to console my tin roof
who has been on duty
from the British Raj.
This room has sheltered
many homeless people.
Now captured by mongooses
and mice, lizards and spiders,
and partly rented by me.
A rented room for home
is a humbling existence.
My Kashmiri landlady
at eighty cannot return home.
We often compete for beauty
Kashmir or Tibet.
Every evening,
I return to my rented room;
but I am not going to die this way.
There has got to be
some way out of here.
I cannot cry like my room
I have cried enough
in prisons and
in small moments of despair.
There has got to be
some way out of here.
I cannot cry,
my room is wet enough.
Phenomenal. A simple idea of rain, often left unexplored by people has been so eloquently articulated. I heard you receite this poem on Ranveer Brar’s show aired on Life Positive (If I am not wrong about the channel). Being a poet and writer (by passion) myself, I can reach out deep into the sensibilities exuded through your words. May your pen be blessed with more blissful writings !
The poem revolves around the concept of his deplorable state of living in Dharamshala. It points to his aspirations for the independence of his motherland.
Explanation:
Written by T. Tsundue, the poem 'When it Rains in Dharmshala' is the epitome of his desire for the independence of his motherland, Tibet.
His parents fled to India after the Chinese occupation, and when he visited Tibet one day, he was repatriated to India as the authorities declared him an Indian.
He narrates the horrible experience of the three-month-long rainy ordeal that floods his room. His bed is like an island when it rains, surrounded by books and writings of all kinds.
In comparison to his motherland, the place where he's staying will always be deplorable for him, even with all luxuries in the world.
In the poem, he speaks about his life in prison. He was jailed sixteen times by Indian authorities for his anti-China campaign.
Recently, he also held a 500 km march from Dharamshala to Delhi, asking the Indian government to revoke its "one-China, united-China" outlook.
He's a champion of Tibetan Independence. In the poem, his line "Tibet or Kashmir" is controversial, as he attempts to compare Tibet with Kashmir.
He lives in a 300-year-old British mansion in Dharmshala, which is now in a deplorable state, along with four other tenants.
Finally, he ends the poem with an optimistic note and a positive outlook. He says that he cannot stay here (Dharamshala) forever. He aspires for the 'freedom' of his motherland, Tibet.