24X7, round the clock, we are all time sitting on social media, facebook just scanning all kinds of stuff, baby videos, animal videos and most of the times ridiculously nonsense videos. Little do we realise the power that we have right in our hands.
A young poet and humanitarian from city beautiful, Amy Singh, used the armour just for the cause that let each and everyone of us to showcase our humane side. Her fellow poet and dear friend, Anam Narula, became fatally ill with leukemia and he has not enough money to pay for his expensive treatment.
Just 21-year-old boy, enormously talented and BSc student at DAV College, Chandigarh, Anam is the only son of a private firm employee and a teacher from Faridkot. His family raised around Rs 3.6 lakh, but he needs Rs 25-30 lakh for a bone-marrow transplant, as per documents, at Christian Medical College and Hospital in Ludhiana.
Amy Singh decided to seek help on Facebook, and posted: “Anam is a beautiful human and a poet. A lot of us would have heard him recite his poems in many open mics. Anam is diagnosed with cancer and of course it’s sad beyond telling, for me to break this news… It is possible for us to help him! I lost my mom to cancer and I know how this battle is.” She asked people to get in touch with her: “I’m quite helpless on my own.”
Can Poetry Save a Life?
An hour later, around 9 pm, she hit upon an idea, of writing poems. Not just to raise his morale, but to raise money. Her new FB post read: “If there’s a poem you want to be written for your girlfriend, your boyfriend, your siblings, teacher, parents, friends, anybody to convey anything! Please approach me. I would love to write it. But I will charge you anything from 200-500 rupees per poem. Because I am donating this amount for Anam’s treatment… PS: Can poetry save life? Yes, it can!”
She says, “I thought I’d raise whatever little I could. Rs 15,000 max!” That was May 28.
Joining Hands
Slowly, she was joined by some of the best names in Indian spoken-word poetry movement
Paramvir Singh, Shivam Dhall and Avleen Kaur, students and poets, came on board; and the big names include Bengaluru-based Shantanu Anand, co-founder of the Airplane Poetry Movement, which is India’s biggest spoken word poetry platform; Bharath Divakar, Daniel Sukumar, and Khawaja Musadiq. At least one photographer, Akshay Kapoor, offered free shoots if you donate Rs 2,000 or more. On FB, he too underlined the power of poetry in what has fast turned into a movement: “I think there’s no better way of helping someone and getting yourself something as beautiful as words and yourself.”
Donation Collected So Far
The donation figure stood at Rs 12 lakh, and counting, as on June 1. “We are halfway there already!” said an elated Avleen.
The poetry alone has gathered about ₹2 lakh. But the team sees that the rest of the money, coming through direct donations to Anam’s bank account or e-wallets, is because of the uniqueness of the pitch. A petition on crowdfunding website milaap.org has got stupendous response, and a Facebook page has been made too. Local clubs and philanthropists who wish to remain anonymous have put in a chunk.
Please make a contribution. The amount that you spend on a burger can in turn save a life.
Name: Anam Narula
Account No. 35914099344
Bank Name: State Bank of India
