My friend Jai Verma, who has died aged 75, was a poet, a writer and cross-cultural organiser who served as a bridge between her country of origin – India – and Nottingham, her chosen home.
In 2003, Jai co-founded Kavya Rang (Colours of Poetry), a multilingual poetry group with a focus on south Asian languages. Kavya Rang hosted several events each year, including a Grand Kavi Sammelan, which featured English-language poets alongside Hindi voices: you were just as likely to hear Keshari Nath Tripathi, the governor of West Bengal (a keen poet), recite as you were to see Henry Normal. Poetry, to Jai, knew no national boundaries.
