Barpark – an epicentre of quake poems’ anthology

Kathmandu, May 28 (RSS): ‘Barpak’ an anthology of quake poems named after the epicentre of the massive Gorkha Earthquake is a reminder of the 7.8 Richter scale earthquake and its numerous aftershocks continuing for more than a year.

The death and devastation that came along with the earthquake by taking the masses of people by a chilling surprise is indelibly marked in our memory. It was a Saturday on April 25 in 2015 and at 11:56 am the earth without any warning heaved and shook giving a sense of an apocalypse. In its wake buildings collapsed, roads were torn apart, towers fell and heritages were lost. It was the fate of thousands of people who were buried in the debris of those falling structures.

The earthquake and the aftershocks that followed is something divine – human experience with the unknown universe and its dark secrets unfolding callously.

As much as such events penetrate the mind and heart of a common man, it does so profoundly in immeasurable ways into the hearts and minds of litterateurs and poets as attested by poet Shyam Rimal’s anthology of quake poems, ‘Barpak’.

Rimal, an executive editor with the National News Agency (RSS), has compiled 21 quake poems in the anthology. The poems include ‘Bhukampa Birudha’, ‘Parakampa’, ‘Gorkha Bukampa’, ‘Achalaprati’, ‘Bhukampa Samanya’, ‘Bhukampa Yug’,’ Barpak’, ‘Kasthamandap’, ‘Behyul’, ‘Teko Bhangaun’, ‘Ghar’, ‘Kampan Chunauti’, ‘Rahat’, ‘Dharahara’, ‘Navaraj Nepali’, ‘Yog Narendra Malla Ko Chara’, ‘Bhoto’, ‘Kathmandu Lai Bhukampa Suhaundaina’, ‘Patan’, ‘Baisakh 12’ and ‘Ranipokhari’.

“Poet Rimal has written 21 poems on the Gorkha Earthquake of April 25, 2015 (7.89 Richter scale) and its aftershocks including other incidents associated with it, and it has represented that important incident of our era,” stated Sharan Utsuk Sapkota, a publisher and editor with weekly newspaper, ‘Trishuli Prabah’.

Satya Mohan Joshi, a renowned litterateur, has also honoured Rimal’s anthology with a poem ‘Subechya Ka Thui Thunga Ful’.

In the poem, Parakampa or aftershock, the poet calls on the mother Earth telling her that it is now enough, the consistent shocks. In Bhukampa Yug or Earthquake Era, the poet says the earth heaves and the sky cries in reference to the rainy days and the aftershocks that really took a toll on people forced to live under open sky in the aftermath.

In the poem Rani Pokhari, poet Rimal says not all ponds come with the stature of Rani Pokhari. To become ‘Rani Pokhari’ or ‘Queen Pond’ it has to tore through the heart of the city and entice all that pass by it. Rimal further reminds us of the work undertaken by manual workers – the sweat and blood taken to build the pond which is also a resting place for many wandering souls.

In the poem Dharaha, the poet says Sundhara where the historic tower is located has broken apart. The tower itself has splintered but not leveled to console the soul of Bhimsen Thapa, who built it.

Poet Rimal, who was born on Baisakh 18 in 2023 BS in Bidur of Nuwakot district, has published numerous works including ‘Euta Kanda Beejda’ and ‘Trishuli Ko Kinar Bata’. Published by ‘Trishuli Prabah’, a weekly newspaper, the anthology has hit the market stands and is priced at Rs 150.