A young Bengaluruean writes letters to strangers for Valentine’s Day, to assure them that “they aren’t alone during the season”.
A recipient can be suggested by friends, and in many cases, the recipients suggest themselves, says Udita Pal, co-founder of Salt, a fintech company.
She started writing these letters in February 2018. “I was not dating anyone then and my life felt very empty. I wrote on Facebook that if anyone was single on V-Day, I would send them a love letter. I wrote 40 handwritten letters and 100 emails that year,” she says. The following year, she wrote 110 letters and 800 emails.
This year, she has received over 1,800 requests. “I accept requests for sending emails till February 14, 8 pm, and the deadline for requests for handwritten letters is February 10,” she says.
She spends Rs 60-200 on the stationery and courier charges for every letter. “I use scented pens and stickers,” she says.
All her letters stick to the core idea — loving oneself. Udita’s first letter mentioned how she had gone through a breakup, how therapy didn’t help, and how, like herself, everyone could get out of a bad situation. “All they need to do is love themselves,” the 26-year-old says.
Along with names, some also share their quirks, which Udita uses to personalise the letters.
“In 2020, I suggested movies the receiver could watch, quoted my favourite songs from Queen... In 2021, I sent people flower petals and asked those who wished to be my Valentine to write back. I graduated from having no Valentine to a 1,000 that year,” she says, with a laugh.
An Indiranagar resident, Udita has written letters to most states in the country and to the Andamans too. She bonds with many people she wrote to.
“I wrote to a girl in Sikkim, who confessed to having feelings of self-harm. She felt cherished after receiving the letter. Each year, many write back. Some send pictures and say they felt better after reading their letters,” she says. A few have offered to collaborate with her on this yearly project. “I hope to look at it next year, as I want to be sure that everyone who has requested a letter gets theirs from me this time,” she says.
Udita can be reached at twitter.com/i_Udita