Kathmandu, January 7:

A political personality as a chief guest in a Haiku (Japanese form of poetry) recitation programme may seem irrelevant, but not when the personality is none other than maverick KP Sharma Oli, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs.

Not to be outdone by Haiku poets, Oli inaugurated the First National Haiku Festival reciting his own Haiku creation: “Choto Chharito/ Haiku Jastai Udghatan/Garnuchha Nepalko” (We have to start building Nepal as short and succinct as Haiku).

The function was organised by JICA Alumni Association of Nepal (JAAN) at the Russian Culture Centre. Oli recited the lines after JAAN president Shyam Bahadur Shrestha repeatedly asked him to inaugurate the programme with a line of Haiku.

Oli also released a book Suryodayadko Sat Din (Seven Days in the Land of Rising Sun) written by Dr Ram Dayal Rakesh.