Kiran Mehta, an avid netizen, is reaching out to people across the globe through her personal website. Tina Aranha reports.
Personage: Kiran Mehta
While her friends were busy making retirement plans, Kiran Mehta was building her dream. When most of her colleagues are resting at home, she is working, sometimes through the night, to inspire thoughts and improve the quality of life of thousands around the globe. Belying tales of older people not keeping abreast of changing times, the 62-year-old is winning hearts through her website www.kiranarts.org.
Mehta’s dream began at the hospital. Nursing a handicapped sister, Kiran often witnessed others’ suffering, pain and sorrow in the hospital corridors. “I would spend months in the hospital. I had enough time to connect with people in grief,” she says.
Realising from personal experience that a positive attitude goes a long way in coping with sickness, Kiran decided to inspire others. And to do so, she chose the medium that offered the greatest freedom to reach out — the internet.
Her first step towards setting up her website, which contains articles and poems that are records of her thoughts on various emotions and events, was to purchase a computer from the accounts department of a company and learn the basic commands.
“I had never touched a computer during my three decades in the accounts department. But I learnt new programmes and regularly surfed various sites to get a feel of the medium,” she says.
Mehta was a fast learner, understanding functions and adapting them to the website. Now she can upload, download and administer the website — which was laid out by a site designer — on her own. Each article and poem on her website is well thought out, and appeals to readers.
Due to popular demand, she added poems in Gujarati and Hindi for the benefit of non-English readers. Every page has an interesting visual and appropriate music. Every item that is sourced from elsewhere is credited to the creator.
“I think it is crucial to respect other’s creations. In foreign countries, the laws are stringent about copyright. Moreover, I wanted everything to be legal,” Mehta says. She has also put a disclaimer on the site, stating that if ever any item is not credited, she would be ready to do so if brought to her notice.
With 43,400 visitors in two years, her website seems to be gaining in popularity with netizens from various countries writing to her regularly. So much so, when Mehta requested John Torp, a Swedish music composer, to add a tune to her poem ‘Happy Birthday to Angel’, he replied with a composition in three days. Mehta turns down all requests for ad banners on her site because she wants to keep it strictly non-commercial.
Apart from her website, Mehta has sent e-mails, e-cards and surfs the net at large to keep abreast of the latest happenings and connect with her friends. “Thanks to the internet, the entire world is in my home. I have the pleasure of reaching out to anyone, anywhere. Moreover, I am extremely fond of speed, which the internet is famous for,” she says.
Her age is no deterrent. “Age is no barrier. I had difficulty initially when I searched for each letter on the keyboard. But I was determined and am proficient today,” she says.
Occasionally accepting odd jobs in accounting, Kiran is working to better her website every day. And with her passion and exuberance, there is no stopping her.
