Epistolary ‘Mediums’ of Mindfulness: An Interview with Letters to Strangers Letters to Strangers (L2S) is a global youth-run non-profit seeking to destigmatize mental illness and increase access to affordable, quality treatment for youth aged 13 to 24. Through this platform, young people with no access to an emotional outlet can share their stories and feelings through a nameless letter, which will be exchanged with that of a complete stranger (through email) and appropriately responded to. The strangers are paired with each other carefully based on answers to certain questions in the sign-up form1. On September 30th, 2021, through the Google Meets platform, students of Manipal Centre for Humanities, Aatreyee Ghosal, Manjita Joshi, and Serene George interviewed Aarushi Kataria (Founder) and Nayomi Dave (Vice President) of L2S India. I: What was the motivation behind starting L2S? A: The idea was mostly born out of the fact that we (former cofounder Vaishnavi and Aarushi) were all away from home for the first time; it was a very overwhelming experience to be on campus and not be around the people who you were around every single day for the last so many years. The only thing that brought both of us comfort in a lot of times was reading letters that we carried with ourselves. 1
Taken from: https://www.l2sindia.org/about-us 85
Mediums
