Writing letters has been my passion since childhood. While writing to friends and relatives, I always paid attention to the choice of words, using humour with great interest and skill. I would fill up the letter with a lot of information. But in the last decade or so, letter-writing has vanished from the scene. The wave of mobiles and emails has overtaken the fragrant breeze that letters used to bring.
Kala Chary,Gurgaon
Email is indeed impersonal and ephemeral. It is cold, lifeless, flat, starchy and telegraphic. But a well-penned, better still a fountain-penned, letter flatters the receiver. It feels like a warm handclasp across thousands of miles. Good letters assume value as years become decades.
Letters from V. Saranatha Aiyangar, Principal and Head of the English Department, National College, Tiruchi, written to my father unmistakably exemplify how and why good scholarly letters gain renewed relevance. William James was right when he said: “As long as there are postmen, life will have zest.”
P.R. Krishna Narayanan,Chennai
Can the art of writing a letter be taught and learnt? The answer seems to be ‘yes.' Otherwise, how can one explain the continued existence of letter-writing as an exercise in schools?
Not everyone is regular in replying to letters. Many use reply cards. One must not offend the sensibilities of the addressee by sending a reply card. I vividly remember the letters written by my elder brother, who had so many afterthoughts to pen that he would make use of the margins. In most houses, the storing device for letters used to be the iron spoke of an umbrella.
K. Vaithinathasamy,Kumbakonam
The sublime details which a painstakingly composed letter conveys cannot be matched by a hastily typed e-mail. I remember when I was sailing with my husband on a merchant ship, writing letters used to be my favourite pastime. Describing the details of the places I visited would fill my letters. I received the ultimate compliment when a relative said, “I have seen the world through your letters.”
Sharada Sivaram,Chennai
It is a nostalgic experience to go through the handwritten letters of our ancestors. They stand out for the sheer brilliance of wisdom and good handwriting. I still communicate through handwritten letters although I have modern technology at my disposal.
C. Varadarajan,Chennai
I still cherish my father's beautifully handwritten draft he sent to the PWD officer in the Nizam's government in June 1945 in impeccable English. I also have a personal letter he wrote to his elder brother in Kannada in 1951. But when I show these treasures to my grown-up children, they think I am a sentimental fool.
J.S. Acharya,Hyderabad
Each person's handwriting is unique. It sets people apart. The written word conveys the writer's feelings, character, personality and identity more vividly than the homogenous-looking word typed or printed or produced in any other manner using technology. Indeed, we feel a sense of loss with the email fast replacing the centuries-old practice of writing with the pen.
G. David Milton,Maruthancode
