I miss writing Letters

I miss writing Letters

Today morning I opened a facebook message from a super old friend of mine, and to my surprise it was more than a sentence, it was a paragraph. She bought the topic of those golden days when you would write a letter and actually post it.

Reels rewind, 1995, not too long back. Just a mere 15 years and the art of communication have changed in light years. I would save up my pocket money, go to Archies and buy the thinnest most beautiful rice paper letter pads. Wait for the perfect moment of solitude, where the gears click, and my pen would start pouring my feelings, my thoughts, my ideas and write out my life on pages after pages. Than carefully you would fold it 2 times, and go to the nearest post office buy stamps and post it in the Red Indian Government post box. The above process would have taken atleast 2 weeks in total. Feelings are the essence of this form of communication.

Now starts the waiting, hopefully you will receive my letter in a week of two, than you will go through the above steps in a 2 week time frame. At my end, I would receive a reply in a few weeks and the process continues. This is how much time and effort was put into relationships and friendships.

Lets fast forward 15 year, 2010, today… I was elated reading her facebook message of more than a sentence. We have shifted from pages to sentences and even words to acronyms; we have moved from post box to mailbox, and than came the social networking sites. You know where all your classmates are, you know what their husbands and wives do, where did anybody go to spend their weekends, you know your colleagues and their family….You know all of this information. But, where is the care and connection.

You know more than you want to know but in the whole big process, soon friend list is all I have for friends, but do they care to actually know how I feel.  If you are really sad, in need of a friends advice, would you post it on facebook or twitter or orkut….I know the answer for me … NEVER.  In today’s fast paced technology savvy age, email is old too, it’s the one liners which you would have responded on your way to the bathroom or in the elevator. The art of communication has time warped. Time is of essence in today’s communication; if you do not respond within eight hours, forget it.

I miss those days spent on selecting the right greeting cards for different occasions. I miss holding a letter in my hand, rereading it, enjoying each word, looking at your handwriting thinking what would you be thinking when you wrote it. I miss the time that I dedicated to these friendships. I miss writing letters and greater than that I miss receiving letters in my postbox.

This post is to all my friends and family, who spent time on me.