IIM Alumnus Shares Touching Letter From Mom During First Year Of College

In the era before the prevalence of mobile phones and WhatsApp, handwritten letters were cherished for their sentimental value. Recently, an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Calcutta shared a poignant post from his past—a letter written by his mother in Tamil. Overflowing with affection and invaluable advice, the letter has gone viral on the internet.

“Amma’s letter to me when I was at IIM first year,” wrote Srikrishna Swaminathan while sharing the picture of it on X (formerly Twitter). In the next few lines, he translated what his mother wrote in the letter. “Call home, study, don’t waste time, think of Bhagawan [God] and Wednesday is Gayathri Japam. Appa is fine. Love, Amma.”

Since the post surfaced on X, it has rapidly gained viral status amassing over 1 lakh views. The comments section is inundated with sentiments of nostalgia and admiration for the wisdom in the mother’s words.

“Mom- always simple and innocent,” a comment read.

Another individual shared a personal connection, mentioning that they too have a similar letter from their mother when they embarked on their college journey for the first time.

“Simple and powerful words,” a user wrote.

“Super crisp. Moms only can speak/write in such precise manner,” one more comment read.

Another person reminisced about their college days in the 1980s, a time when letters served as the primary means of communication with loved ones.

Earlier, a student based in Canada pleasantly surprised her parents with the news of her acceptance into a prestigious optometry school. Gurjiv Kaur ingeniously orchestrated the reveal by pretending to assign them a task related to reading a tongue twister for a school assignment. The emotional moment was captured on video as her father began reading the letter, initially thinking it was a tongue twister. However, as he continued, he discovered it was the acceptance into the University of the Incarnate Word Rosenberg School of Optometry in Texas. The parents’ reaction shifted from confusion to pure joy and emotion as they realised the significance of the letter.

Since the video was shared, it has garnered over 9 million views on X.