Poetry can heal, is what Rohini Kejriwal, founder of art newsletter, the Alipore Post believes. “Poetry is a powerful medium of expression. It can help people work through the many emotions they might feel on a daily basis. There’s a lot to be learnt from it,” she says. It’s with this intention that Kejriwal launched the Heal With Poems fundraiser, a collaboration with virtual archive the Compassion Contagion. Set at a goal of Rs 40 lakh, the fundraiser aims to generate money for six organisations working in different aspects of pandemic relief like mental health, medicine, rations, vaccinations and more. The initiative is a kit containing 10 postcards with poems curated by Kejriwal, accompanied by an artwork printed on each card with a poem. Launched last week, the kit is delivered to all those who donate Rs 1,500 and above.

“Artists have really been stepping up, in terms of using their voices and platforms to help create change during this time. What we wanted to do with this initiative was to create a set of postcards that have messages of compassion, solidarity and hope. I picked up the curation aspect, of pairing a poem with an artwork. We have 50 per cent of the proceeds from this fundraiser flowing into these organisations, and the rest will go to other selected NGOs. Whatever is raised would be directed towards causes. We have printed out a set of 10 postcards but these aren’t empty ones that you can write on, the poem is the caption,” explains Kejriwal.