“Letters have always been the most important and effective medium of communication for me,” says Meeta Singh (48), a home maker.
Physical letters and postcards were the only means of communication that was accessible and affordable till the advent of communication technology. The charm and warmth of writing and receiving letters from each other was unparalleled.
While this era vanished right before our eyes, some Puneites still regale in the warmth of physical letters and share their own stories with Pune365.
“I remember I started writing letters when I was in the 6th standard. I was always fascinated by the concept of sharing a personal message with my loved ones through these letters,” says Meeta.
I recollect, it was in the 6th standard that I wrote my first letter, addressed to my father. While he was sleeping, I kept these letters besides his pillow and he would respond to them in the same way, when I was asleep.
“I remember writing letters to the love of my life, who went on to become my husband. Before our marriage, we were in a relationship for 7 long years. I lived in Bhopal while he was studying for the IAS exams in Delhi. As the telephone rates were exorbitantly high, we preferred communicating via letters. We wrote letters to each other once a week.
I use to eagerly wait for his letter, and so did he. After 25 years of marriage when I look back now, I consider this our best time. Communicating through letters and waiting for a reply grows your love in an unimaginable way.
Nevertheless, with the passage of time and the advancement of technology, Whatsapp in particular, physical letters have been replaced by Whatsapp chats now. Despite this, I am happy that the love remains the same,” she smiles.
“My parents still prefer writing letters over calls, when they wish to communicate in detail with the family living outside Pune.
I was very fascinated with them writing letters hence I started doing it myself,” says Manish Khadilkar who also has been writing letters for over 30 years now to his penfriend Sylvia Watter Meyer who lives in Germany. Both of them have been communicating via letters and exchanging post cards and gifts, the conventional way and have never met even once.
While the older generation find sending hand written letters very personal and warm, most young Puneites haven’t ever experienced this charm.
I have never been to the post office to post a handwritten letter to anyone, or even send a post card. Actually I don’t need to. Communication is now so easy. You can talk to a friend who’s living far away through a Whatsapp calls or even a video chat.
The last time I used the courier service was to send a couple of documents to my father back at my hometown. There wasn’t any issues of postage stamps etc as I had sent it through a private courier service.
Moreover, with online shopping made easy, you can send them them gifts directly without any hassle,” shared Hussain (20), a BCom student.
Priya Kumari, (25) a Management Graduate shares, “I love writing letters to my loved ones, but I hardly ever send it to them…
I write all my conversations in my diary and preserve it like a treasure. I was fascinated with writing letters since the time, I started reading novels.
I hardly use any of the social media sites and prefer speaking over a call over messaging. I think, I ought to start sending letters now. It may seem strange in the beginning, but over time people will understand my love for writing personal messages.”
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First Published in April 2018. Reproduced for reader interest.
Reach her at loveleen@pune365.com or tweet @KaurKaur18
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