BY MAHADEV DESAI

When was last time you wrote a letter to a relative or a friend? Today is the age of technology and instant communication. Before the advent of the computer, fax machine and hand-held cell phones or Blackberrys, majority of people communicated through letters.  

Looking back, I fondly recall writing and receiving hundreds of letters to and from my family, relatives and friends. I remember my visits to my maternal uncle who lived in a small village in Gujarat, around early 50s. Every afternoon, as soon as the village postman in a khaki uniform carrying a heavy postal bag was seen arriving, villagers who had been waiting in eager anticipation of a letter or money order came out and stood around him as he sat under a tree.  One of the ladies would offer him a glass of cool water as he wiped sweat off his forehead, and began reading out names and handing out the letters , money orders sent to old parents by their grown up children living i9n cities or abroad. He even helped read out postcards or letters if requested.  

I began writing regularly when I left home in Kenya and began living in a hostel in Mumbai, and continued writing letters for over four decades till I learnt communicating by ubiquitous e-mails. ‘Don’t forget to write me a letter” was the constant refrain one heard during those days, whenever a family member, friend or relative went away. In the hostel I was in good company.  My room mate Akshay had a sweet heart  Sonya in Jaipur. I guess the two love birds did nothing but write lyrical love letters to each other.Akshay used fancy perfumed stationery, envelopes and stamps for his romantic wooing of Sonya. He would even try to match the color of ink to the colors of writing paper! Sometimes he missed college lectures-many a time when I returned to my room, I found trash basket full of scraps with Akshay’s jottings. He would even ask me to help him write heart tugging shairis!  Or translate Bollywood’s popular filmi songs and dialogues between heroes and heroines. ‘Sonya,mere sapno ki rani, kab milegi mujhe tu (Sonya, queen of my dreams, when will you meet me) etc. He eagerly awaited Sonya’s replies.  He would sulk and look dejected if Sonya was late even by a day in replying, but be in cloud nine when he got a letter from her. He would kiss it, keep it under his pillow and read it over and over.  I had lot of fun listening to juicy excerpts from their epistolary ping-pong.
   
Years went by. Our joint family in Kenya split up in the late sixties, with some mebers moving abroad to different countries. Through letters we kept in touch with each other. Like photos and other mementos I have saved a few letters as keepsakes. Among these cherished letters are two from my father, written in immaculate long hand, just before he passed away, and two letters written jointly by my parents.  I cannot help chuckle when I read my mother’s letters. My father would sign off after filling about 85% of the letter, and ask my mother to add a few lines. She would put on her glasses, take a small pencil stub in her left hand and painstakingly scribble a few lines slanting from right to left.  She hardly used paras or punctuation, not even full stops! She tended to repeat herself as if she had a letter-writing template in her head. But her letters were full of motherly concerns and advice, and I never missed reading them. I am sure she felt innerly happy at having expressed her love and feelings in words.
   
Well, it looks as if letters, telegrams and post-cards (at one time very popular means of communication among villagers and at present somewhat popular with tourists) are a dying species. Writing a letter takes time.  Then you have to put it in an envelop. Then stick a postal stamp on it and mail it. And pray that it reaches the addressee without going astray! No wonder e-mails are preferred by the majority.  Haiku like e-mails with ‘smiley’ emoticons and fancy fonts, punched on the run without worrying about grammar or spellings are pushing out letters. Abbreviated text-massaging with its unique vocabulary, ‘cul8R (see you later); ltsgt2gthr (let us get together); 4evryrs (forever yours); are a rage, especially with younger crowd.

Letter-writing is sadly a dying art form but it needs reviving. If not long winded letters, one should at least consider writing notes. I read somewhere that Hallmark Cards Inc.’s two young female writers, Keely Chace and Angela Ensminger have written ‘On a personal note: A guide to writing notes with style’ the book shows how to write notes expressing gratitude, congratulations, sympathy, etc. And from writing notes, one can try his or her hand at writing letters. Unlike e-mails, letters have a longer shelf life. Letters written to a close one at regular intervals is like a continuing autobiography. Letters reveal the innermost soul of the writer. Letters like the one written by Gandhi still touches the hearts of the readers world over. This episode reveals the ingrained honesty and strong character of Gandhi. Even as a young man when he once stole a piece of gold from his brother at the age of fifteen, the deed pricked his conscience and he decided to admit it. He wrote a letter confessing to what he had done and gave it to his father. He did not only confess his guilt but asked "adequate" punishment for it. He went to his sick father who was bed-ridden and gave him the letter. Gandhi expected his father to explode in rage and punish him. Quite the opposite! His father read the letter and tears -which Gandhi said 'cleansed his heart and washed his sin away'- trickled down his face. In his autobiography Gandhi wrote about that day," This sort of sublime forgiveness was not natural to my father. I had thought that he would be angry, say harsh words and strike his forehead. But he was so wonderfully peaceful, and this was due to my clean confession. A clean confession, combined with a promise never to commit the sin again, when offered before one who has the right to receive it, is the purest type of repentance. I know that my confession made my father feel absolutely safe about me, and increased his affection for me beyond measure."  

Some famous letters and diaries of celebrities, literary figures and political figures have become collector’s items or gold dust for the biographers and historians.

I guess even at the risk of being labeled as a dinosaur, I will be on a crusade to promote letter writing. I may even get commission from the post-office!   

 

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