The BP Koirala India-Nepal Foundation and the Embassy of India  jointly organised the 29th edition of Poemandu to mark the 218th birth anniversary of Mirza Ghalib, on Sunday, at Nepal Bharat Library in New Road, Kathmandu.

The programme started with the participants honouring the contributions made by Ghalib in the field of Urdu poetry. Prof Sanath Kumar Basti briefed the audience on Ghalib’s work and contributions. “While ghazals are primarily an expression of anguished love, Ghalib expressed philosophy, the travails and mysteries of life through poetry, and wrote ghazals on many other

subjects, vastly expanding the idea thereafter,” Basti said, speaking during the event.

The event saw eminent poets reciting their poems/ghazals in Nepali and in Hindi. Among the participants were poets Manoj Neupane, Tripura Poudel, Abdul Momin, Momila Joshi, Imtiaz Wafa, Gyanuwakar Poudel, Krishna Jung Rana and Shekhar Giri, among others.

During the event, Abhay Kumar, Secretary of BP Koirala India-Nepal Foundation shared his experience on organising and participating in literary events in Kathmandu. “Poemandu has brought the literary community of Nepal on a single platform and hopes that it will continue to do even better in coming days,” he said. He also recited his own poem on poet Ghalib and Laxmi Prasad Devkota.

The event also marked the release of Dhupchaya, a book penned by Dr Krishna Jung Rana.