Letter boast for writers

Almost a decade ago, one conveyed their feelings and emotions by writing them — handwritten letters carrying one’s sentiments and thoughts. 

With technology, there is urgency in our lives. Slowly and steadily, letters, the slow form of communication, were replaced with emails, SMS and instant messaging. This lost the charm of letters, as well as the flare to pen one’s feeling.

Sonia and Chandni

Reviving the old charm of handwritten notes, Half Baked Beans, a publishing house, has collaborated with The Goodwill Tribe and curated a platform where strangers are welcomed to write (with a pen on a paper) encouraging letters to aspiring writers and authors, called Letter Earthlings.

Chetan Soni, founder of Half Baked Beans, believes that even though we have gone digital, there still is a need for handwritten letters. “People crave personal touch. During the 90s, we wrote letters to friends and family. But nowadays, there is instant messaging. We express ourselves better by writing words and it brings back that nostalgia and good old memories,” says Chetan.  

With the aim to discover hidden gems, Chetan felt there was no better way than sending them handwritten motivational notes. “A lot of these aspiring writes and authors face writers’ block — they need to believe in themselves. These letters will push them to keep writing. As a result, we will have good writings that we can publish,” he smiles.

The Goodwill Tribe, having worked on the same lines for years now, has encouraged people across the world to send heartfelt letters to strangers. For Chandni, co-founder, The Goodwill Tribe, it is the feeling of being 100 per cent with the person while writing the letter that makes it a worthwhile experience.

“It is something we all have done a lot while growing up. When writing letters, we are dedicated to that one person and not anywhere else. As with the modes of communication used today, our brain is not in one place — we are always multi-tasking,” says Chandni.

You know a budding writer going through a writer’s block or not able to finish the book, send your request to them explaining the situation. On the day of the event, participants will be given a brief of the person and an encouragement will be penned down for them. Later the letters will be posted to them.

With around 12 requests so far, the organisers want to keep the list short and will filter it down to five or six only.

“We want at least four to five letters to go to one person. If I have five people telling that me I can do it, I definitely will believe in myself. It will have more impact than one letter,” says Chetan.

From school children to working professionals, anyone is welcome to be part of the day. 

Talking about the response in the city Shreya Shah, the Goodwill Tribe Mumbai chapter leader, says the response is    amazing.

“Some people aren’t attuned to letter writing but they have love the concept — people are excited about writing letters,” concludes Shreya.