Letters

"पनु मधु कश्या आहेत ..त्यांना अनेक शुभ आशीर्वाद.त्यांची खुप आठवण येते " as I read this in every letter written by my Nani to my mother it felt like I was meeting Nani in person.

While we are spending summer vacation at my hometown currently, I have been missing my Nani (lovingly called Mothiaai) who has left for higher realms few years back. So today mother handed over old letters written by Mothiaai to my mother during 1984-1985.

One hour session of reading beautiful handwritten letters made by day. It felt like I met Mothiaai in person .so much warmth and care..so much love.

In today's world of instant messaging and chats the personal touch and depth seems to be getting lost.Feelings are real but expression seems to be quite superficial.

I remember writing postcard to my cousins and grandfather during childhood.Till the time phone and mobiles became household feature, letters were written regularly and letter reading was so much cherished.

The personal touch in letter made it so much special.We had letterbox in our apartment and we used to keep on checking it. Cards and letters on birthdays were the best gifts and most treasured.After twelfth all friends got dispersed as per the courses opted.And for a year almost we kept on writing letters to each other till the time emails came in.

Letter written to and received from crush and besties ,letter motivating and appreciating received from grandfather ,secrets shared with married sister all were source of immense joy for years.

After internet came to homes email replaced letters to quite an extent. Creating mail id sharing it and then checking inbox had its own fun.

With mobiles and chats ,communication world has exploded.Constant and real time communication with dear ones and friends has taken away element of surprise,excitement and deep felt emotions.

Everything is so instant and short lived. There is no wait,no anticipation and no time for any feeling to sink in properly.Often we reply in not so good mood and it becomes reaction rather than response. Sometimes words go wrong, sometimes the timing.

Letters gave that space and time. Reading them again helped in reliving the moments.

Sometimes tears flowed sometimes we bursted out into laughter.But those feelings with letters are somehow missing in today's communication medium.

After reading Mothiaais letters I felt its time to resume writing letters .Rather than calling so often, lets write letter to our near and dear ones and express ourselves at our pace with correct choice of words.

Let's write letters and learn to be patient,to wait,to filter what we share,to enjoy what others share and be present to what's happening with more awareness and empathy.