Singapore
Shweta Verma Wins First Prize at Vishwa Hindi Geet Competition 2026: Singapore-based finance professional and cultural enthusiast Shweta Verma has won First Prize in the Asia (excluding India) and Australia region at the Vishwa Hindi Geet Competition 2026, an international contest organised by the World Hindi Secretariat (WHS), Mauritius, to mark Vishwa Hindi Diwas (World Hindi Day) and celebrate the global presence of the Hindi language. Shweta Verma, a naturalised Singaporean who originally hailed from India, is a finance professional and cultural enthusiast.
The World Hindi Secretariat, a joint international body supported by the Governments of India and Mauritius, coordinated the competition across five global regions—Africa and the Middle East, America, Asia and Australia, Europe, and India. The initiative aimed to encourage original creative expression in Hindi and to highlight its role as a connecting language across cultures.
Participants submitted original Hindi Geet compositions in the form of lyrics, songs, or melodies. Entries were evaluated by an international jury on the basis of creativity, literary merit, thematic relevance, and originality. Verma’s composition, titled “Ja Re, Ud Ja Re Hindi – Tarang Panchhi,” emerged as a standout entry for its poetic imagery and musical depth.
The winning Geet was written on the theme “Vishwa Bhasha Hindi” (Hindi as a World Language) and personifies Hindi as a symbolic bird that travels freely across borders and cultures, carrying emotion, tradition, and shared identity. The jury noted that the metaphor effectively captured the evolving global relevance of the language while remaining rooted in its cultural heritage.
The lyrics were composed by Verma and set to music by noted North Indian classical musician Jaywardhan Dadhich. The song was rendered by her daughter Kashish Singhal, a classically trained vocalist and Kathak dancer, whose expressive performance added depth to the composition. The recorded performance was featured during the WHS celebrations and broadcast on the organisation’s official Facebook platform, reaching audiences worldwide.
Originally from North India, Verma has been residing in Singapore for the past 16 years, where she works as a senior compliance professional in the insurance sector. Alongside her professional career, she has remained actively involved in Hindi literature and Indian classical arts.
Her engagement with Hindi Geet and poetry has been shaped by early exposure to the works of literary figures such as Rabindranath Tagore, Premchand, Mahadevi Verma, Ramdhari Singh Dinkar, and Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay. Over the years, this interest has translated into writing for cultural and thematic presentations.
Verma has previously authored verses on the life of 16th-century mystic-poet Meera Bai, performed during a bhajan recital led by SIFAS Guru Shibani Roy. She has also acted in Hindi plays including Pancham Ved, presented by the National School of Drama and Singapore’s Ugna Natya Mandali, and Bhagwat Geeta, staged during Hindi Diwas 2025 celebrations organised by WHS in Mauritius.
Although this award marks her first formal recognition in Hindi writing, she has long pursued it as a creative discipline. Beyond writing, she remains actively engaged in promoting Indian classical music and dance in Singapore. She has completed Level 6 in Kathak and continues advanced training alongside her daughter.
Together, they co-founded Bandish Beats Productions, a youth-led initiative focused on encouraging participation in Indian classical arts among younger generations in Singapore.
While Verma was unable to attend the award ceremony in Mauritius due to professional commitments, her name and composition were prominently featured during the WHS live broadcast, ensuring her achievement was recognised by a global audience.
