BENGALURU:“I love handwritten letters. The way the words get jumbled up when the writer is excited. They way the words are neatly written when the writer is trying not to make a mistake. The way words get pretty because the writer is in love. I love handwritten letters,” reads an anonymous post on social media.
In a day and age where convenience trumps sentiment, we're settling for the bare minimum when it comes to communication and emotional expression. Writing someone a letter is the rawest and most genuine way of showing them the importance of the words you have to say. Unfortunately, this method of communication is seriously underrated today.
The new generation is all about speed and convenience. While phone calls and text messages are easy ways of letting someone know you're thinking of them, there is magic in the permanence of a physical, handwritten note. Bengaluru-based start-up Chittii is all set to bring back the essence long-lost handwritten letters.
Started by city-based duo – Srini Ramaswamy, CEO and founder, and Chetan, co-founder – Chittii gives an opportunity for people to express their emotions through handwritten letters in not just one, but 10 different fonts. The team has roped in 20 handwriting artists from across the country. Most of the artists have full-time jobs and are partnering with Chittii part-time. Qualification? Just an impressive handwriting.
A to-be mother and a person with disability are also among the handwriting artists. The chittii team is also planning to hire 20 more handwriting experts in next month. Srini says, “Because of telephones, email and WhatsApp, we have lost the era of exchanging emotions by writing letters. When you send or receive a letter, you feel loved, you feel affection and warmth, because the person has sat down and poured his/her feelings onto paper. Reading a letter invokes a different personality in you. I wanted this generation to experience that. We want to deliver emotions.”
Chetan says, “When a client explains the nature of the letter to us - be it to a friend, a lover or a mother - we have an in-house team of experts who give them ideas about how it can be made better. We have realised that some people are very good at speaking but when it comes to writing, they can’t go ahead of four letters. We help them express through letters.”
“Soon we are planning to collaborate with writers and exclusively write their books with different fonts, say some 100 copies, and put it up for bidding,” adds Srini. A part of the profit from Chittii goes to Chittii foundation, a non-profit organization, which will be used to educate boys and girls from the marginalised group, he adds.
The letters are written on recycled papers. Through Chittii, the duo wants to build a community of handwriting artists. “People who have good handwriting aren’t using it anywhere. This is akin to killing an art. With Chittii, we want to build a community of handwriting artists and empower them,” he signs off.
Letters to cancer survivors
The team also offers to write letters to cancer survivors for free. “It could be a heartfelt message or a motivational quote or a ‘you made it’ letter, whatever people choose to communicate to the survivors,” says Srini.
30 Letters of Pride
Following their successful campaign #7letterstoMaa during Mothers Day, their next campaign #30LettersOfPride, starting from June 1 celebrating Pride month, aims to bring visibility to the LGBT+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual and Transgender) community. The team has zeroed in on 30 stories from Ramkrishna Sinha’s blog '101 Coming Out Stories from India', and will send a personalized letter, of their coming out stories, to the narrators. “Our aim is to empower this community through this initiative” adds Srini.