- Leaving a mark of friendship and happiness
Three enthusiastic individuals launched an online talk show to interact with the public on issues that people are finding it hard to express. “Legacy of Love” is a talk show that was founded last year by Dimitri Cooray, an English language teacher at a leading international school in Colombo. The talk show happens via Instagram once a week, and the three hosts have managed to bring in engaging conversations that mostly concern the youth.
“We wanted people to know that they are not alone in the things they were feeling, like depression, anxiety, loss, heartbreak, and failure – things that are experienced by many but not given attention to help people battle through and eventually heal. This channel was designed to be an outlet for us to share our experiences, which in turn would impact those who could relate,” shared the team at Legacy of Love.
Along with Dimitri, Sandro Sathyajith and Vithara Mannage are the hosts of the talk show. Sandro is a news anchor/editor at Sun FM and Gold FM News, and Vithara is a public speaker, social media marketer, and an activist for gender equality. Apart from being a teacher, Dimitri is also a motivational speaker, guitarist, and an avid Pokémon trading card collector.
“Here is an interesting fact: The three of us have met only once, no thanks to lockdown, but we stay connected on a regular basis via WhatsApp. Most importantly, we discuss the relevance of topics before finalising them regardless of whether it is live conversations between ourselves or with a guest speaker,” said Dimitri.
Legacy of Love aims to discuss relevant topics regarding issues individuals face in their daily lives and certain topics that society considers to be taboo or spoken behind closed doors, which they believe is what makes their content unique “because we empathise and support people by sharing our personal experiences with the audience”.
“The name initially suggested was ‘Legacy of Love – The Live Show’, but we ultimately left it at the name we have today; we found it simple and catchy,” they shared. The episodes are live-stream discussions between hosts and sometimes with guest speakers from various walks of life, usually during the weekends.
Brunch learned that they believe the driving force that motivates them to release content is their focus on kindness, compassion, empathy, and love. “This is our personal roots and it is something we wish to see others nurture in their own lifestyles,” the team added.
The importance of how self-love, depression, stereotyped gender roles affect relationships and emotional exhaustion are some of the topics that have been discussed so far. When asked about the obstacles they have faced, they said: “Easy answer – work schedules. With all of us doing demanding jobs and working from home becoming exhausting, trying to fit in a 30-minute to one-hour live session during the weekend is one of our biggest challenges.”
Dimitri said that in the future they “hope to organise a meet-up once we reach 500 followers and the country’s pandemic situation has improved”, adding that they will be looking to get guest speakers of foreign nationality onboard, which is something that they are very excited about.
As a concluding remark, the trio added: “The legacy we leave in this world, each and everyone of us, should not be one of fame or power, but something more powerful and exemplary. Something that inspires – a legacy of friendship and happiness. The three of us came together to inspire a legacy of love and to leave a smile on all the beautiful faces who join us!
“Thank you for all the love shown to us during the past year, from embracing our talk show, trusting us with your deepest heartaches, and sharing with us the hope of being heard to empathising with someone who is going through something similar in their lives. Sometimes when things get tough, all you need is to open up to a good listener, and we are always here for you when you need that attentive ear.”
Instagram: @legacy_of_love_