New Delhi: On the 84th birth anniversary of former president Abdul Kalam, a nonprofit organisation has hit upon an unique idea to pay tribute to the late 'Missile Man of India' through handwritten postcards.
The Kochi-based LetterFarms, a community art project is inviting people from all walks of life to participate in a project where they pen handwritten postcards expressing their sentiments about the late President.
The campaign 'dearkalamsir' aims to create an anthology of postcards.
"The campaign has been launched today and we aim to reach and get letters from across all the 30 states of the country. This event will finally culminate on the first death anniversary of Dr Kalam on July 27, 2016," Jubie John of LetterFarms, a Kochi-based NGO said.
The campaign aims to call on students, corporate, celebrities to send to pick up a simple postcard and add their unique voice in form of a letter or a drawing or a sketch or a poem.
"Even though we live in a digital age where communication is ruled by technology, yet a handwritten note is still the most impactful way to communicate" John said.
"We are leveraging on people's handwritten power for creating a tribute in a very personal way, making Dr Kalam the only public leader for whom such a people-powered movement was ever created," John said.
The campaign aims to reach to a number of 84,000 postcards in the first 84 days. An expected number of 10 lakh students will participate in the first phase of the campaign.
"The campaign is divided in to two phases. First being the mobilisation phase. Right now students and corporate from 22 states have come on board we are expecting to get a good response from all the 30 states. Second phase is essentially exhibiting the best of the best messages, illustrations and creative pursuits of people who have sent the post cards," John said.
The NGO, which was set up a year ago says it plans, through on-ground and online efforts to create a hybrid of online and offline tributes to Kalam.
"Our aim is to equally engage the rich and the poor, the rural and the urban, the online and the offline, the young and the old - literally everyone. We're thrilled to see the amazing handwork of people on a simple postcard and how it's indeed as unique as their figure prints" Saji Mathew, co-founder of LetterFarms said.
