A poetry festival was held on Saturday at Pipaldanda in the remote Bansapani village of Mahalaxmi Municipality-6 in Dhankuta. Waves of poetry, ghazals, and free verse resounded in Pipaldanda Park during the dry season of Falgun.

Bansapani village, which is usually busy with daily activities like household chores, fairs and gathering firewood, came alive with a literary gathering on Saturday. Some took time out from their household chores to climb Pipaldanda, some came down from above, and spectators gathered from surrounding villages.

Writers from Dhankuta and Bhojpur were present at the literature camp organized for the first time in Bansapani at the initiative of local poet Suresh Karki. The villagers listened attentively as poets KG Subba, Mukunda Prayas, Anil Subedi, Roshan Pariyar, Prajwal Pukar and Bharat Thapa recited their original poems.

Ananta Anurag, Dhruv Alex, Nishal Bhandari and Sanukari expressed love, separation and time in poetry through ghazals. The librettos of Nirmala Kunwar and Parshuram Karki conveyed deep messages in short words. The audience applauded as Shrestha's creations encompassed life experiences and feelings.

Some locals shared their experiences of hearing poetry recited live for the first time. 'The village is the source of creativity. Poetry, ghazals and free verse are born here, grow here and spread their wings,' said poet Mukunda Prayas. According to him, the camp was organized with the aim of taking literature to the villages, not just the cities.