I’m doing The August postcard poetry fest this year. Poets and writers from various parts of the world come together in this exercise. We send each other colorful postcards adorned with original, handwritten poems.
When I was in school, my grandfather used to write letters to me. He wrote to me on long white sheets of papers, on the empty side of used and printed papers, on postcards and blue inland letters.
Picture Reference - http://www.indianstampghar.com/2008/12/new-inland-letter-by-india-post-5/
He was my mother’s father and I called him Thatha, grandfather in Tamil. Thatha was a retired Indian army man and a World War 2 veteran. I owe a lot of credit for my writing skills to my grandpa. He was a high school graduate. Thatha didn't have a degree in English. That said, his command over the language was impeccable. He always critiqued my letters and suggested areas of improvement.
He would write a letter once a week. The letters carried a lot of information. Sometimes he wrote about family, sometimes about life lessons and sometimes about world issues. He always wrote something nice about my grandmother in every one of his letters. Thatha wrote them because he cared about me and he was willing to spend time writing to me.
Picture Reference - http://writing.wikinut.com/img/3bbjcr7rh_19fsau/writing-letters
I miss the feelings when I’d wait for Thatha’s responses, dig his letters from the post box, recognize the blotted clots of ink from his pen and his familiar cursive handwriting on either sides of the envelope . Images of Mahatma Gandhi or the Indian national emblem filled the postage stamps.
Picture Reference - http://youcanstart.blogspot.com/2010/10/mahathma-gandhi.html
These days, getting a personal letter is such a rarity. All I see in my mailbox are tons of marketing leaflets. Writing letters as a traditional way of communication has become history. Emails and sms messaging are inevitably the fastest means of communication. We also have various options to keep in contact with our friends and relatives. It’s all just so convenient and quick.
Picture Reference - http://technorati.com/blogging/article/has-social-media-had-its-hey/
Personally, I embrace technology. Yet, I would still love to write and receive personal letters once in a while.
Which side of the spectrum do you belong --- Technology or reminiscence? When was the last time you wrote or received a personal letter?
Best,
Suma.
8 comments:
Nice article, Suma!
I want to share with you a story that comes to my mind reading this article. This is the story of a young boy and a girl who are deeply in love. This story is set in the future where the world is at war with an alien race. We are beaten badly and are at the verge of destruction when the Air force invents a new weapon that will give us an edge. They start recruiting pilots for an offensive. In this case, the girl is a natural and, she gets enlisted. Our force launches a massive offensive and, the aliens are driven to the moon. Our govt makes the decision that we should win this for once & for all and so, we need to annihiliate the aliens. So, the girl follows the aliens to the moon where they fight. All through this trip, the girl & the boy keep in touch with email, SMS and cell phone. What was instantaneous starts experiencing delays as the communication needs to be routed all the way from the moon.
The aliens jump to Jupiter now and, our force follows. The boy and girl still in love keep in touch all through out the attack. The delay has now increased though.. instant chat is not possible now and, so they resort to offline messages. We win Jupiter only to realize that the aliens have jumped to the Andromeda galaxy! A hyper space jump gets our force to Andromeda instantaneously and the fight continues. However, the delay for any light-speed communication is 4years! The boy on earth has also become more older than the girl who is traveling through hyper space and close to light speed chasing aliens. A message takes 4 years to reach and 4 years to come back. The girl is still in her teens now, but the boy has aged to over 40... but their love remains unchanged. Every day, they search through 100s of messages and govt instructions before they can find that 1 message from their love (sent years back).
The earth force starts losing advantage now. It looks like the aliens were strategic in luring our force far away from earth.. they have another force now ready to strike earth at the same time when the force near Andromeda would be annihiliated. A great fight takes place and, there comes a moment - where the boy and the girl both come to realize they are going to die. And, at that time, there is only one thought on their mind - 'my love' and, here in thoughts they stand unified - across time and space.
Just for disclaimer, this is not a story I wrote, but a summary from a sci-fi cartoon I watched long time back.
Your article reminded me of this story because of the underlying context - the connection with the person and the unification of thought transcending the time and space separation. Snail mail gave the physical connection (kinda) where you can hold and touch the letter the person wrote and feel the oneness. However, I don't think that is lost in this e-age. Writing in any medium is just a representation of an idea, a thought - which is beyond the material it arises from. After all, it is the connection that matters. :-)
I love the photos you posted here. They look so nostalgic.
In the past, my family and friends and I have used to send a lot of postcards from our trips. It was an important custom in Poland. My dad still mails them to me, when he travels - just so I can hold on to our little old tradition. I love getting those in the mail. I keep them all in an old shoebox and look at them sometimes. It’s very sentimental and I hope, despite technology, I will continue this little bit of our family custom with my own children, when they grow up and travel on their own.
@ Koushik - Wow! Very interesting story. Thanks for taking the time to post it. I look forward to seeing this movie soon. I agree that the connection we make with people is all that matters. The experience of a handwritten letter is just more personable. It has character. For example, even the strokes of the writing in the letter take on a special significance. I'm glad the post created ripples of thought.
Best,
Suma.
@ Angela - I would love to see pictures of your postcards. So nice to hear that you preserve them in a shoebox. They must be very precious and dear to your heart. I wish your children the time to continue the tradition.
Postcards are just very special.
Best,
Suma.
I know what you mean about the specialness of a hand written letter. I do like technology, however, I miss the slower times. blessings,Kathleen
I only have a few old postcards and letters. I foolishly threw most of them away in college, and now I miss them...the stamps, the yellowed paper, people's cursive writing.
I go for technology today because of the convenience. The only things I write on are greeting cards, usually thank you notes.
Aw, what special memories!
I love technology, but there is something so special about letters. The last time I wrote a letter was to my daughter when she was at camp. Most days we texted back and forth, though.
@ Kathleen - so glad you do! There's definitely "a specialness" to a handcrafted personal letter.
@ Medeia - Oh losing those postcards must feel awful. The good part is you do have some precious ones left to keep.
@ Dawn - Wow, writing to your daughter must be really special, even if its a simple greeting.
Best,
Suma.
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