The Magic Of Nostalgic Nineties - 2

 

When was the last time I posted a letter?

In 2020, but frankly, it was more of a note than a letter. You see, it was my son's thread-ceremony (Janeu/Poonal/Munjan/Upanayanam). While sending out invitations, I decided to add a personal note to every recipient. It was just a note containing two to three sentences, but it felt like writing a letter.

"Has any letter arrived?" my father would ask everyday over the phone whenever he called from his office. Dad’s office was in CSTM. He would call home twice every day – once when he reached office and later during the afternoon while having lunch. Every afternoon, he would ask whether any letter has arrived. This question became a defining factor for my dad and my uncles would often tease whenever they called over the phone, mimicking my dad's voice and asking me the said question. This question still runs in the family, but as a joke. It feels like a long time since we wrote a letter or got one.

Although the post-office fascinated me in my childhood, I always dreaded going there. Mainly because there would be a long line to get the post stamped. If it was just a letter to be dropped in the post-box, I would do it happily. Given my luck, more often, it would be the former. I would stand in the line for hours and submit the envelope for stamping and postage. Somedays, by the time my chance came, it would be lunch break for the staff and they would tell me to come later. I felt like screaming those times!

Once my childhood bestie went to her native place during a particular school-vacation. And she wrote me a letter from there. It was the first and only time I got a letter addressed to me and I was super excited about it. Of course, the letter was first perused by my mom and my aunt to check the contents and by the time I received, it was well-read and well-used. I have still retained the letter with me after all these years. It is a precious reminder of wonderful times. My friend had described everything that happened with her on a daily basis (including a funny incident, where, she was trying to board a bus in Kerala but since she was wearing jeans, the conductor, without looking closely, advised her to board from the gents’ side. I laughed till my tummy hurt). Looking back, I cannot help feel that it was an innocent gesture by her filled with much affection and longing for friends and home.

The postmen who used to come regularly to my building knew very well, the homes to which I and my friends belonged. So, whenever they found us loitering beside the gate of the building, they would hand over the letters to us instead of dropping the letters in the letter-box. It felt like a very important task to deliver the letters to our home safely and we always took pride after a 'safe delivery'.

I remember an incident that happened after my marriage. I had shifted to a new home. There used to be a letter-box near the stairs of the building and I never checked it for some reason. One of the neighbours, an elderly man, gently reprimanded me that I should check every day otherwise I would miss out important notification. By that time, the mobile was in full swing and Messages were the new trend. I gulped a lump in my throat and nodded to the neighbor, not bothering to correct him that the only letter we would receive then was probably from the bank or the insurance company. With the advent of mobile phones and messaging apps, a glorious era of writing letters came to an end.

When my uncles call me today, they ask the familiar question - Has any letter arrived? And then they add laughingly - who will write today, when you have got sms, email, whatsapp and other apps to stay connected!?

Looking back now, writing a letter and posting it, required lot of effort. Writing it, crossing out the mistakes, maintaining a diary of contacts and their addresses, ensuring that the correct address is entered and then going to the post office to stamp and post it... as I said, a lot of efforts. But that is what makes a letter all the more precious today. That someone invested so much of their time and efforts in staying connected, shows the value of the relationship.

What is remarkable is that, the address and phone numbers of the sender and the recipient were displayed outside the inland letter for many to see. But I don't think there was ever, any issue of misuse of the information. Indeed, simpler and better days of life they were.

In 2020, when I went to the post office in Hyderabad to send out invitations for my son’s janeu, there was no line there. I wouldn't have minded one, I think. I looked around at the empty post-office in awe and wonder, feeling the aura of a lost time of life.

Sure, there are many quicker and better apps to stay in touch today. But the beauty of a letter is solely missing.