Chitthi aayi hai

If you’re reading this, I bet you still have a handwritten letter, handmade greeting card, a note or a memory gift wrapped in promises and joys that have stayed with you and are precious beyond words.

Heartfelt gestures never go out of style and that is why 39 of us gathered one waning winter morning in Lodhi Garden to sunbathe, make friends and most importantly write letters to the unloved – children from an Orphanage.

The majestic gumbads of the Garden stood witness to the care that flowed from the hearts to the beautifully and thoughfully curated letters, cards and tokens of love.

Each volunteer was assigned 3 children to write to along with their names, age and a generic background of their lives. They were encouraged to go back in time and pen down the encouragement and care they’d have liked to have received as a child and young adult.

The look of ponder, intermittent pauses to zone out and coming back to pour was a common sight. Colors, sheets and glue exchanged hands to create a shared space of nostalgia – sending us back in childhood when half our days were spent with stationary.

Volunteers came alone but walked out with new friends as they engaged in ice breaking activities, exchanged stories about themselves and promised to catch up in another volunteering activity.

A week later, the letters were delivered, envelopes unwrapped and the love from the letters unravelled. Volunteers sat with the children in smaller groups to get to know them better as well as handover their letters and read/translate them.

Sights of little ones finding their pen pal to thank them was a sight to behold. Children sent them thank yous with shy smiles and demanded promises to drag their pen pals to meet them the next time we visit them.

It is so easy to love and be kind – the more you give, the richer you become. We hope each that each volunteer and child who was touched by this infectious richness, passes on some more to others.