KOCHI: Cherished writing a love letter in your teens but couldn’t? Here is your chance to write your heart out.
The ‘Changampuzha Smaraka Grandhasala’ in Edappally has announced a love-letter writing competition that calls for contestants to demonstrate their “love for anything” in lurid prose and lively poetry to celebrate the birth anniversary of the legendary poet Changampuzha Krishna Pillai.
Already, 56 persons have registered for the competition in the past two days. Guess what, a majority of the contestants are aged over 50!
“We’ve received an overwhelming response. A majority of the contestants are elderly citizens, proving that age is just a number. Changampuzha is credited with bringing poetry to the masses with his simple romantic style. His celebrated work ‘Ramanan’ deals with love. Hence, we thought of holding the contest to celebrate the birth anniversary of the great poet,” said Shajil V D, secretary of the Changampuzha Smaraka Grandhasala.
The love-letter competition will be held from 11am to noon on October 2 (Wednesday). A music video contest will also be held on the same subject - ‘love’. “Here ‘love’ can be for anything, including one’s passion,” points out Shajil.
“Mine was a love marriage. When I heard of the contest, my mind wandered to the good old days. I simply want to write the thoughts that would come naturally to me, which makes me happy. I’m coming all the way from North Paravoor,” said 56-year old Edison Michel who runs a TV repair shop there.
There are certain conditions the contestants must follow. The prose should not exceed one page (A4 sheet) and should be written in Malayalam. Only one hour will be allotted. Likewise, the video, also in Malayalam, shouldn’t exceed four minutes. It should be in mp4 (HD) format and should be submitted before October 2.
The top three love letters and videos will be awarded. The first, second and third prizes for the videos include a cash prize of Rs 5,001, Rs 3,001, and Rs 2,001, respectively.
The three-day celebration of poet’s birth anniversary will be held from October 8 to 10 at Changampuzha Park. “The top three letters will be read out before a large audience on October 9. Similarly, the winning videos will also be played on stage on the day and a talk will be held on the subject ‘love’,” said Shajil.
The likes of poet C S Rajesh, and Vijayarajamallika (transgender poet) will participate in the discussion.