In an attempt to encourage and inculcate letter-writing habit among youngsters, Prof. Farhat Basir Khan of AJK MCRC, Jamia Millia Islamia conceived and curated a multimedia project #ChitthiAayiHai, where people photographed themselves and got it printed on a postcard, which they posted with a personalised message to their loved ones and soldiers.
UGC chairman, Prof. Ved Prakash, former Chief Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi, and Jamia's Vice Chancellor Talat Ahmed were among those over 3000 people who graced the event by writing personalised letters to their loved ones and soldiers at the 96th Foundation Day of Jamia Millia Islamia. Through this multimedia project Prof. Khan also motivated visitors to send postcards expressing gratitude to our young brave soldiers in consonance with the Prime Minister's call for #Sandesh2Soldiers. “They face great odds but they selflessly continue to serve this great nation. All of us owe them our support filled with warm wishes of Diwali,” said Khan.
The postcards, featuring pictures of famous landmarks and scenic seaside views, blue skies are believed to have been created in 1894 when Royal Mail first allowed them to be sent through the post. But with the emergence of the Internet and smart phones, people have stopped contacting friends and family through them as technology offered them a faster, cheaper and easier option.
"The idea was to revive personal letter writing along with co-creating art through a participatory exercise. A photograph on the postcard turned them into works of art and a personal memoir which can be kept as a souvenir for those who receive it. This made the photograph assume meaning, taking it beyond the aspersions of vanity and self-indulgence of a selfie,” said Prof. Khan. He is also believed to be the father of modern photography in India for he has also invented new walk in formats for art. He has also investigated photography as a 'folk art'.
“The human brain sees the world through images and letter can do much more than just communicating thoughts, it captures the nostalgia, bundles memories and also fosters the love for reading which is somewhere lost in 160 character format in phones and over social media. People at the stall even wrote letters to their infants and toddlers with messages which they will read when they grow up and there won’t be any postcards left. It made the exercise very emotional,” said Saumya Tiwari, one of the student organisers.
People wrote postcards to their friends, relatives, soldiers and even to those to whom they are hesitant to talk to. “To carve out time to handwrite a letter is like telling the recipient that they are worth the sacrifice of time. The Maharaja golden colour of the postcard also gives weight to your words making them golden memories for life which you cannot achieve in the electronic medium,” said Sumit Singh, one of the visitors.
In an age where cameras are everywhere and digital photography has become affordable that this most photographed generation will not have physical prints of photographs in future as the habit of printing the photograph is on the wane. “Families no longer go to the professional photographer for their family portraits which is an unhealthy change as memories are expensive which should be treasured,” laments Yogesh Kumar, a photographer at the event.
Professor Khan intends to take thisexhibition to different parts of the country to spread the love of portraits and writing which can be combined through this medium. “This can be an experiment in liberating the art from closed confines of privileged private galleries and opening it up to people in a public space which can give families an opportunity to pose together thus creating a bond which can be treasured through a photograph on a postcard,” concludes Prof. Khan.
