हामीलाई बोलाउँछन् हिमचुली
Introduction
Hamilai Bolauxan Himchuli (हामीलाई बोलाउँछन् हिमचुली, "The Snowy Peaks Call Us") is a poem by Nepal's National Poet (राष्ट्रकवि) Madhav Prasad Ghimire (माधवप्रसाद घिमिरे, 1976–2077 B.S.), a classical, metre-loving poet of the romantic stream famous for his nature-loving, nationalist and humanist vision. Composed in a folk rhythm (लोकछन्द सवाई), the poem is one of the finest nature poems in the Class 12 Nepali course.
Summary
The poem opens with its ringing refrain: the beautiful snowy peaks are calling us, and our light feet lift eagerly on the uphill trails. The poet paints the living landscape of hilly and Himalayan Nepal: the climbs and the deurali resting places where travellers catch their breath in the cool breeze, whistle and sing; the forest tracks where a herder woman sings on a rock deep in the woods and calls her cows by their pet names. It is a picture of Nepal's charming rural tradition set among hills, forests and pastures.
Higher up, the poem celebrates the treasures of the Himalayan region: the cool, shaded meadows and dense forests of the high lek, storehouses of precious medicinal herbs; the fragrance of the musk deer carried on the cold mountain wind; the nine-coloured danphe pheasant on the summits; juniper and alpine flowers; and the sheep and chauri herds by which the mountain people live. This magnetic Himalayan beauty, the poet suggests, casts a spell on the whole world and draws travellers and climbers from everywhere to Nepal, the land of the third pole.
But the peaks are more than scenery: they are a summons and a lesson. The Nepali people, brought up in the lap of the Himalaya, have taken on its character: steadfast, self-respecting, never bowing to anyone. Birth and death are nature's law, one day everyone must die, so Nepalis do not fear death, and can lay down their lives smiling for the motherland. As the mountains never bent before anyone, so Nepalis must never bend; as the peaks stand tall, so rises the honour of Nepal. The peaks call us to climb: to see the unseen, know the unknown, and plant new banners of achievement on the summits of success.
Theme
The poem is a hymn to Nepal's natural beauty and to the Nepali character formed by it. Its message is that the unbowing Himalaya is both the identity of Nepal and the inspiration of its people, calling every Nepali to be brave, self-respecting and adventurous, and to brighten the nation's glory by climbing ever new heights.