Messengers of kindness

Here’s The Goodwill Tribe Chennai, which sends handwritten letters to your loved ones on your behalf and presents messages in bottles to remind people to smile and be happy.

August 06, 2016 01:46 pm | Updated 01:46 pm IST - Chennai

The volunteers and members of The Goodwill Tribe Chennai

The volunteers and members of The Goodwill Tribe Chennai

Imagine a team that would ghost-write a message on your behalf and have it delivered to someone you care about! Felicitous in the choice of words, this team will say just what you want said!

Does this sound too good to be true? Or does it seem more like a scene out of Spike Jonze's Her , in which the protagonist, a professional writer, composes letters of a personal nature for people who cannot put down their thoughts themselves?

Well, it just got real, that too, in Chennai!

The Goodwill Tribe (TGT) is a three-year-old initiative that is committed to spreading and promoting kindness in this manner.

This goodwill initiative was born in Dubai, when two college friends — Sonia Parekh and Chandni Sawlani — found themselves on the same page, while discussing what was most worthwhile in life. Both agreed that the best thing to do in life is spread smiles — or smileys, if you like — and happiness.

They felt — and rightly — that people were so locked in their own lives to see what others had to offer. They hardly took the time to pause and appreciate life, to acknowledge one another, and to smile and greet a random person or even a colleague for that matter.

Based on this perception of modern life, these young women started TGT, a social initiative that has now spread to others parts of the globe. In addition to Dubai, it has chapters in Bengaluru, Singapore, Sydney and Sri Lanka. And, now there is a chapter in Chennai, too.

When Sonia and Chandini discussed this noble initiative with their friend Shashi Kiran, a former quality and regulatory analyst, he was only too happy to join. And he started the Chennai chapter in January 2016, along with three other goodwill ambassadors — Mohammed Osama, an interior designer; Swathi Arumugham, a member of Green Peace; and Archana, an entrepreneur.

Like all the other chapters, TGT Chennai has a simple agenda — “to host events/activities every month that tap into the quality of kindness of the people and make it an everyday habit.”

Handwritten letters

One of TGT’s spectacular initiatives is: Letter Earthlings.

The brainchild of Nivendra — a psychologist in Sri Lanka and a friend of TGT’s founders —Letter Earthlings is a letter writing community that gathers every month and writes letters based on requests raised by the people.

“We created a Google form and put it up on TGT’s Facebook page. People can raise their letter requests here,” explains Shashi. “Requests come from people who have loved ones going through a rough time; people celebrating anniversaries and birthdays; or simply to appreciate or tell a good friend how they much they mean to them.”

In a month, TGT receives approximately 10 to 12 requests per month. “Of course, we screen all requests and prioritise the ones that are genuine. We do not entertain requests to write to someone’s former love interest, as we once received,” he informs.

They gather at a café or park (such as the Semmozhi Park) on the first week of every month and start writing letters based on the requests.

“The person with the request will have to mention to whom he/she intends to write to, give a brief description stating the purpose/reason for writing, and the address of the recipient,” says Shashi. Some prefer sending an anonymous letter too.

The letters, written by volunteers on behalf of the requesters, have to be handwritten. If the volunteers are unable to find the right words, they could make the letter ‘visual’. They can create a doodle, a postcard, an artwork, craftwork or anything hand-made.

“We give them the freedom to unleash their creativity and create positivity through any medium. It’s about enhancing human interaction and connection. It’s a wholesome experience not just for the reader but for the writer as well,” says Shashi.

While conveying a positive message is an ecstatic experience, it’s not easy all the time.

Writers are sometimes faced with challenging requests — for instance, writing a letter to a person suffering from a life-threatening ailment like cancer.

“Once, we received a request to write a letter to a person diagnosed with cancer. We did not know how to respond to it. In such situations, we put our heads together, gain a perspective and shape our response,” says Shashi.

It’s always encouraging when the recipient replies to these handwritten letters.

“The person suffering from cancer wrote back to us, expressing his surprise on receiving a random letter of encouragement. In addition to thanking us, he also said it gave him more strength to take the illness head on,” smiles Shashi, adding, “Such responses give us the assurance that we are doing the right thing.”

A reminder to smile

TGT also believes in reminding people to count their blessings and smile. To enable them to do so, it organises various activities, which include Confetti Drive, held at the end of every month.

At the maiden Confetti Drive held in Besant Nagar, team members distributed bottles containing positive messages to passers-by.

TGT also organised “Blind Date with A Book”, in which they gave away old books wrapped in gift papers that bore the synopsis, without giving away the details of the author, title and genre.

At the recent Confetti Drive in Anna Nagar Park, the walkers, mostly elders, were given sticky notes and asked to write what makes them happy or what happiness means to them.

“In return, we gave them smiley badges as a reminder that they are lucky to be where they are and a reminder to keep smiling,” says Shashi.

TGT members have a packed schedule on the personal as well as the professional front, but manage to set aside their weekends for the cause.

“If any member is free, we designate the work, including gathering all material for our monthly meeting,” he informs.

Now that TGT has managed to tug at people’s heartstrings, they soon plan to register the project as a non-profit organisation.

“This can help us expand and define roles for our co-members in the future,” explains Shashi.

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