आफर [Aaphar]

It isn’t a matter of surprise that when we encounter the melancholy of a voice subdued for so long, it hits you hard and touches the very strings of your heart and irrevocably unhinges the very being of us that makes us question almost everything. It would take a stone hearted and extremely unfeeling heart to not well up at the subtle as well as forthright analogies, metaphors and similes used to express the pent up frustrations, bitter yearnings, fears, confusions, anger and hope of the Dalit community of Nepal. Aaphar by Unmukta Pustaa is an anthology of 33 poems by 8 Unmukta poets which call for united efforts against caste-based discrimination, raise questions on political dishonesty, intervene on social evils and inspire for the creation of a just and equitable society. The poems are so symbolic like the referring to “headless figure”, “different colored blood”, ” downpour of fire” ,” black and white dreams”, “red fire like eyes”, ” descendants of the fire”, etc, unleashing the history that the country has chosen to forget and communicates the need of true awakening.