A T-shirt Is on A World Tour, To Reignite Hope and Connect People

In the year gone by, most of us may not have ventured out of our homes, let alone out of our towns. However, there is an object, that has set out on a journey of its own. This is a journey of a T-shirt. Yes, you read it right, a T-shirt name “Hope”. And this journey is taking “her” across the globe to cities, and to meet people with one single objective in heart– to rekindle Hope. Here is a story that you may not have heard of ever before.

How was Hope born?

Hope, is the creation of 24-year-old Siddhant Agarwal, a former events’ executive from Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh. Like many others, the pandemic hit him hard. He had been sent back home, from Delhi, with an extended unpaid leave, owing to a complete halt on public events and functions. This low phase of his, peaked when he had an anxiety attack late one night in June 2020. This was the wakening call for Siddhant, who decided to help himself and many others try and get out of this situation that he was in.

When he asked his friends and family what they missed the most in the lockdown, the majority response was “Travelling”. Which is how he came up with the idea of sending this T-shirt on a world tour. And so was born, Hope: The Travelling T-shirt. Through this project and the simple black T-shirt, Agarwal wanted to spread a message of solidarity, reach out to people globally and tell them that wherever they are from, we all are in this together. Siddhant set out by making a list of all the places that he wanted to visit – be it the urban cities of Singapore and Hong Kong or the snow-clad peaks of the Rocky Mountains in Canada. He then reached out to unique content creators in these places – vloggers, skateboarders, free climbers, graffiti and parkour artists and the like. Everyone that he is collaborating with on this project and doing it free of cost, only because they share the same passion for doing something different.

So, How did Hope travel?

Well, you must be wondering how will the T-shirt reach and explore all these cities. Siddhant has assembled a box with several black T-shirts and a stencil set of the “Hope” logo. The vloggers who get the box, can paint the logo on the black tee and spend the day / days creating the content, wearing the t-shirt. Once done, they would be sending the box to the next recipient in the next city. In most cases the content creators themselves are shipping the box ahead.

How were the collaborators chosen?

Siddhant wanted to collaborate with creators who can take people on virtual journeys of the place, and showcase local culture and people in a unique perspective. For example, the "Hope Bearer" from LA is a freeclimber who climbs astounding heights without any safety gear. The climber took Hope to view LA from atop a 500 foot skyscraper.

After travelling a distance of 25,000 kms from New Delhi – Singapore – Hong Kong – Tokyo – Los Angeles, Hope is currently in New York, where she is accompanying skateboarders who shall showcase life in the Big Apple, from a street artist’s perspective. Next, Hope, travels further north to Alberta, Canada, where alpine climbers will take her on a climb up a frozen waterfall.

Siddhant says that despite initial logistical hiccups, and some delays in launching the project, Hope set out on her journey once all the collaborators and everyone involved were convinced about the cause. Some of us were more affected than others, by this pandemic. But all of us were, in some way or the other. And Hope represents every such person that wanted to travel and explore in 2020, but could not, as well as every such person who is looking for a beacon of hope amidst these very tough times. As the logo of Hope – two square brackets facing each other – stands of darkness and hope.

You can follow Hope’s journey on her Instagram page and Youtube channel.

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