The case of ‘missing’ letters

PPS Gill

PPS Gill

OUR postman rings the bell only when he is to ensure the delivery of a letter; and asks you to sign on the screen of his Android phone. He sighs: ‘At the fag-end of my service, we are being coaxed to become tech-friendly, while traditional dak delivery — postcards, picture postcards, inland and foreign letters, New Year greeting cards etc. — has become a thing of the past.’ And he pedals off, rekindling memories of yesteryear.

When did you last write a letter to someone or received one? We all at one point of time or the other have not only written and received letters but also preserved some of them, which we value and cherish. I remember while at Punjab Public School, Nabha, in 1962, it was compulsory for every student to write a weekly letter home — to our parents.

On Saturday afternoons, our English teacher, Joginder Singh, would distribute the light green-coloured inland letter sheets, now extinct. Then he would write an opening paragraph on the blackboard — common to all of us — which we would copy. Each week, the opening paragraph would be differently worded. Thereafter, we would be free to write what we wished. That helped us improve our handwriting, learn the art of letter-writing and grasp the power of the word.

For years, my parents preserved those letters. Sometimes, interspersed with sobs and smiles, we would re-read that treasure trove. It reignited memories of schooldays. With the passage of time, the medium has changed. Innovative information technology has pushed letter-writing into oblivion.

Letters have been written and sent since antiquity. Letters contained personal and professional messages. These brought happiness and sadness; made us laugh and cry; led us to hope and despair; informed, educated, awakened and inspired us. These told us stories; taught us history. Letters were literature, prose and poetry. These revealed secrets, conveyed emotions. These were even written in code language, invisible ink.

Handwritten letters were preferred over the typed ones in one-on-one communication, as these were personal in nature; friends and lovers ‘talked’ through the handwritten letters. These were kept away from prying eyes, across decades.

Letters have been compiled into books. Sukh-Sunehe (2014) is a compilation of letters that former Ambassador Bal Anand published, as did my English teacher, Amarjit Singh Hayer, Chithian Mittran Dian (2010). And then there is Jawaharlal Nehru’s famous book, Letters from a Father to his Daughter.

Today’s young generation is missing out on this art as well as the nuances of the language, particularly English, as the texting language has a shortened form and restricted characters. Can the spirit of letter-writing be revived!