The pleasure of penning a warm letter may be alien to the new generation. The young prefer the use of email and SMS to handwritten, personal letters. But they do not realise what they lose — the opportunities to build lasting relationships, master a language, the ability to express their emotions and the chance to improve their handwriting.
How will we ever make our children understand the joy we experienced when we received a humorous letter or the thinking evoked by an occasional letter from a relative with a philosophical disposition? Time has taken away many treasures, including the endearing concept of personal letter-writing. It is not too late though. If we make a concerted effort, we will be able to revive the charming art.
C.S. Mohanakrishnan , Thrissur
Some years ago, my father showed me a letter written to him by a college friend after many years. It was a formal letter which started off with the customary queries. I felt funny reading it. I always used to wonder how people could write a letter, post it and wait for a reply patiently. But now I realise the value of handwritten letters. True, today we can contact anyone instantly and say ‘hi,' ask ‘wat r u doing,' ‘had food?' and so on. But we forget the replies as soon as we receive them. The satisfaction of long conversations carried on through letters and the thrill of waiting for replies are missing. One hopes the practice of writing letters will bloom once again.
P. Ponni Priyadharshni , Chennai
