Skip to main content

CHARM OF LETTERS!

I’m just a few pages into “My Name is Red” and it got me wondering when the last time I had posted a letter? It has been ages, probably I was in 6th class when we were told to send letters and telegrams to our relatives as a part of school activity. And I was so intrigued and fascinated with it that I decided to send one to my school friend too who happened to stay just a few kilometers away from my house! And even more interesting at that time was to get her reply back, describing what she did when she returned back from school, had for lunch and so on…
       A letter doesn't only communicate by words; you could actually get a vague idea by the manner in which the words are scribbled. A gentle and an eloquent handwriting for instance would suggest that much thought has been given as to what is being penned down. And a clumsy or over writing/cutting would be suggestive of written in haste. 
       Even more, in the book its shown that people could actually judge the kind of information that a letter would carry by the manner in which it was folded( for instance, a French pastry kind of fold would imply of secrecy and mystery); the scent of the letter(to allure the curiosity of reader) !!      
      I've not written a letter or posted a card in a long time now. A reason I could come up with is the postal rent or  the snail pace at which it gets delivered. Though text messages are a great means to communicate in our daily life yet I feel sometimes an old-fashioned letter shows sincerity as opposed to just getting on the computer and being tech savvy. Letters not only serve a purpose in the here and now, they also give us an incomparable window into the past. Anyone who has ever came across the old letters of parents and grandparents and suddenly felt transported back to another time and place, knows well the legacy-leaving power of letters. 
I’m so eager again to post a letter that I shall even get my ink pen in working state too :)



Comments

Post a Comment

You might want to read these~

Rewind 2024

In another 3 weeks, this year will come to an end. It is finally a good time to update something here, more out of guilt that I posted something (finally) and a reminder for me to improve upon this for the next year. This year was quite eventful, and I am extremely grateful for having the opportunities both at work and on a personal level to be able to see and travel to different parts of the world. If you might think this is bragging, then please excuse yourselves and do not scroll further. I often think about how many things one should share on social media, and every time I end up convincing myself that being active on social media is not my cup of tea. In some sense, I have become more of a recluse, and I think it has got to do with my conditioning of being here in Germany. People in general are a bit reluctant in displaying their private lives, and I seem to resonate with this thought. And anyway, people with whom I want to share stuff, reaches them anyway. And as for keeping myse...
Post a Comment
Read more

For the love of Libraries

 I have been fascinated with libraries for the longest time that I can remember. As school going kids, we had to buy at least one of the four books recommended apart from course material. And at the end of term, we had a reading quiz competition where the teacher basically prepared a short quiz of 40 questions from those 4 books, that you were able to answer only if you had read the books thoroughly. So, that ensured that you not only read your book but exchanged the books you’re your classmates. And one of the books was always in Hindi. I dreaded to read because that did not come naturally to me as our mode of education was almost entirely in English. What started as reading just 4 books annually in class 3 or 4 soon turned to lending books from school library that were issued for a period of 2 weeks to eventually making my own library card for the Central library in my city. My mom is a huge reader and would always encourage (and still does) me to go to the library and let me pic...
6 comments
Read more

Rewind

I had promised my friend(s) that I would soon put up a blog post. Here’s for you people  😉 Thanks for being ever patient, for the humiliation, for being stubborn, and for the constant nagging. You never know what works for me. I never know what would work but please continue with the same zeal as you have been. At least this way, I do end up writing one way or the other. And it does more good to me than to you. I cannot, however, promise how soon I will put up a detailed post for you about my stay in India this time but with your constant motivation and rebukes, I am sure it will see the light of day soon. First things first, it was lovely meeting you all after all these years. And it feels good to come back to the city and still find you guys there. And a little cherry on top, those of you who were not in the city had to be in the city because of work from home conditions. And a few of you just happened to be there on a given day or made sure you were there. Either way, know ...
9 comments
Read more