Almost seven years ago, an enthusiastic poet, Shweta Mainali, published a collection of poems titled Prembasti. Shweta came to Australia with a young heart, a learning aptitude, curious eyes, and a careful observant nature of her environment. She expressed all these experiences through the 33 poems, gently and beautifully composed in this collection.
Through her poetry collection Prembasti, creates a vivid and intimate world centred around the themes of love, community, and emotional connection. In English, Prembasti can be interpreted as Village of Love, Settlement of Love, or Love Colony. As the title suggests, most poems are infused with a romantic vibe and an aspiration for peace, such as: despite the contradictions and differences between “me and you,” our opposite poles draw us closer, like a magnet (We Are Like a Magnet).
Love doesn’t have a destination where we can arrive and end the journey; rather, it is a tedious and continuous process (Love and Destination). Other heart-warming poems are: I Became a Queen Bird, Just Like Your Memories, Love’s Day, You Are You, My Morning and You, My Dear Person, My Song, Smile Once Again, You and Me, You Are My Sunrise and You Are My Sunset.
Through her words, readers can also sense a level of social and spiritual awareness rooted in her thoughts. She advocates for women’s issues and empowerment in poems like White Teej (a festival celebrated by women but excluding widows), Types of Shapes, Different Angle, and Let Me Become Strong. She also expresses her emotional relationships and dutiful wishes towards parents and motherland in poems like Mother, Love of Father, Light of Country, and They Say I Have to Return.
In her final poem, which shares the title of the collection, Love Colony, she envisions creating a village where every wound can be healed by love, and every heart is filled with affection. A place where there is no room for fear, hatred, deceit, grief, or sorrow. Undoubtedly, this is the same colony where everyone in love wishes to settle. She writes:
Let the lights of joy shine bright,
Let the tormented hearts turn around,
May the creator himself wonder,
Let Love Colony become a more loving heritage than heaven,
And let even the deity glance with envy once more.
By profession, Shweta is a health professional, but at heart, she is a poet and writer who has demonstrated her capacity to soothe human emotions with her comforting poems and lyrics. Several of her songs have already been sung by renowned Nepali singers. She is also the recipient of the Best Song Award 2023 at the National Open Modern Song Competition 2023, organized by Radio Nepal. She is currently working on a new novel. I wish her all the success in her creative endeavours.
“I see you like that,
That’s why,
Instead of writing poetry about the rain,
I write the rain in poetry.” (Rain)
Book Title: Prembasti
Author: Shweta Mainali
Language: Nepali
Genre: A collection of poems
Publisher: Gorkha Publication Inc., Kathmandu, Nepal
Published Year: 2017
Pages: 96
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