When you think of a warrior; you might picturize a fighter with a sword or a gun in their hands, fighting for their country or region and ready to sacrifice themselves for the pride of the same. Now what comes to your mind if we put ‘word’ in front of ‘warriors’? Today we shall introduce you to a revolutionary group of spoken word poets who have named themselves ‘Word Warriors’.
The Kathmandu-based group of young poets came to existence around five years ago when their parent organization Quixote’s Cove (QC) bookshop organized the very first slam poetry event in Nepal titled ‘QC Awards 2010: Voice Your Words’ in collaboration with the U.S. Embassy in December 2010. It was after the workshop and competition when some of the poets and participants decided to form a group to continue this art in Nepal and hence ‘Word Warriors’, the first spoken word poetry group came to existence.
The group today not only performs at various events across the nation but also organizes workshops and slam poetry competitions to bring out the talent in youths they might not even be aware of and gives them a platform where their voices are heard. With the vision to promote the art form of spoken word poetry through more events, workshops, competitions and work towards national and international slams; the group has been talking about about the problems in the society which actually need to come out. The best thing about these slam poets is the language they choose to express their feelings. They mix English words and even slang words in Nepali poems. It’s actually the kind of language the young people speak and understand easily. For some people, it might not actually be poetry as they are used to the traditional and main-stream poetry where some heavy literary terms are used; but whatever you call it – poetry, rapping or anything but it is actually making the people aware and its impact is bringing some positive changes in the society.
We bring you some of the most powerful poems from this group which were released online and are being appreciated widely.
#1. Kali
‘Kali’ by Ujjwala Maharjan talks about the problems of eve-teasing and sexual harassment ladies have to go through on streets, publics places and even at work places. Every incident described in this poem is actually experienced by Ujjwala herself or by someone she knows. Also the particular words which may bother some of the audience were actually said to someone. Watch the recitation of the powerful poem below.
#2. Churako Geet
‘Churako Geet’ by Samip Dhungel is dedicated to our parents and more specifically mothers, who are always busy with their household works with no time left for themselves. Yet when it comes to employment, they are considered or marked as ‘Unemployed’.
#3. Anagarik
The poem performed by Yukta Bajracharya, Ujjwala Maharjan and Rochak Dahal talks about one of the most ‘talked about’ but ‘not solved’ issues of our country. It’s about people who can’t get their citizenships because either their fathers are no more or they are not in touch with them anymore. This poem makes it very clear that why the law of obtaining citizenship through mothers is actually required.
#4. Roti
Ujjwala Maharjan’s ‘Roti’ is a very short poem and she very cleverly describes how people tend to only notice your faults and mistakes while they don’t actually care about all the good things you do.
#5. Timi Paila Matra Saara
This one is more like a song and is dedicated to all those selfless heroes who were always there to help others in anyway possible after the nation was hit by the massive earthquake earlier this year.
Word Warriors have been successfully bringing out the stories and issues of the people in a brilliant way. Join the community on Facebook and do subscribe to their YouTube channel to watch all the videos.
