Kathmandu, September 22:

If one has the creativity and the willpower to learn, nothing can bar one from achieving goals. Shanti Tuladhar, 72, was born in poverty; she never got a chance to go to school but one year of adult literacy class in her thirties made her dream come true. As soon as she learnt to read and write, her creativity welled up. Even in the face of torturous struggle for a lvelihood, she nurtured her dream of becoming a well-read person. She came up with “Unko Samjhanama” (In Memoriam) — a collection of poems dedicated to her late husband in 2004. Not only that, her next poem collection is in the pipeline. “Today, living in Pashupati Old Age Home, I do not have to worry about shelter or food but there is this emptiness inside me which I fill by writing poems,” she said, “But writing a poem is very difficult, first one has to think of a theme and arrange words in rhyme.” Her talent for writing poems is a medium to express her bottled-up emotions arising at the loss of her husband, son and her loneliness. At this age, she has a flair for writing poetry, a sharp memory which helps her recount the old days and a keen observation power. Her poems narrate the loneliness of old people, the tragedy of unrequited love, the ups and downs of life.

She says that the popular actor Rajesh Hamal inspired her to write poems. “On a television show, Rajesh Hamal had expressed his desire to serve old, poor and homeless people,” said Shanti. “I approached him with a small poem depicting my life and feelings, and he then made arrangements for me to live at Pashupati Old Age Home in 1994.” Shanti was further inspired to write poetry when the former chief of old age home humiliated her because she had dared to ask for a newspaper to read. “I showed him my poems the very next day as a reply to his taunts,” she laughed. Everyone praised me and encouraged me to write more poems. Shanti still has relatives at Taudaha in Kathmandu. Every month, she collects her husband’s pension and donates the amount to the Pashupati Nath Temple as an offering for peace to her husband’s and son’s souls.