Appreciation of the poem First Showers

The poem First Showers is a wonderful depiction (ചിത്രീകരണം) of nature’s ability to heal. Human beings live in a cruel world which is so selfish that it does not have enough time to take care of the worries of others. We forget to give comfort to our fellow beings who struggle to live. There are many people who work hard to make two ends meet.  In the poem we find a woman who is returning from her workplace. She is unknowingly caught in the first showers which soothes (give comfort) her like no one else.

            The poet Nalini Sharma describes that ‘cool drops kissed my parched face’. The expressions like parched face, frayed nerves, fatigue, weary lines etc suggest the amount of tiredness of the lady. She then describes that the rain soaked (കുതിർക്കുക) her and soothed her nerves, washed away tiredness from her visage (face) etc. Toward the middle of the poem she uses a beautiful simile: “Wet clothes clung to my body like an infant”.

            While reading the poem we get a feeling that the woman might be a worker of a factory or so who is returning home after her tiresome work. The poet then diverts (വഴിത്തിരിക്കുന്നു) our attention to nature. We then realize that nature itself was waiting for the rain to come just like the woman. The expressions (പ്രയോഗങ്ങൾ) like “dusty trees stood bathed in an instant, washed green looked magnificent, the scented earth, resplended (ഉജ്ജ്വലമായി പ്രകാശിക്കുക) are enough to understand the effect of rain upon nature. We have heard the expression “I asked for a rose and you gave me a boquet/garden”. Just like this, as the woman looked up to thank the Rain God, she says more drops drenched her on the sly (here meaning playfully), creating a tickling sensation. The poem ends by the woman wondering what an awesome gift is rain.

-Anjoe-