Letters

When I say the word "letter", I have no clue what u ppl are reminded of or how important it is to you all. But that word takes me down the memory lane (not very deep, may be 7-8 yrs in the past :)), when I used to receive letters regularly from one of my very sweet friends. And believe me, I used to wait eagerly for the reply after I had sent one …Was staying in a hostel at that time and used to check regularly with the warden if there was a letter for me. Those letters used to be special, because they were from a special friend, a friend with whom I used to share all my joys and sorrows. And I used to get a reply to each and every statement I had written. And ya, another specialty used to be the length of the letters ... They used to be min 2-3 A4 sheets, written on both sides :)… I just love to read and write such lengthy letters…

Well, I don’t receive such letters any more as they have been replaced by the “e-mails”…
But this post is not written to debate about “which is better- e-mails or letters” …
Both have their own advantages… Also, I won’t be the right person to give my say on this topic as I enjoy reading or writing mails as much as I used to enjoy letters…

E-mail is obviously a better way of communication in this era and blends well with our lifestyle as it is faster, easily accessible to all (as internet is nothing but a basic necessity now-a-days and almost everyone has it) and more economic too. Also, you need not take the pains to buy an envelop or cover, write letter and then search for a letter box to drop it in. Yup, e-mails, in this context, save your precious time too.

But, somehow, letters have something more to do than just convey information. It has that personal touch to it. I am a sort of person who likes things which are personalized.
I still treasure the hand made card that my lil nephew made for me, another one that my cousin sis made for me…

When, we buy cards for friends or family, we search for the ones which have the best words in them. But we tend to write just “dear so n so” at the top, and “with love, so n so” at the bottom… We feel that, whatever is printed in the card is more than enough… But it is not so. May be , the card you chose is very beautiful, the wordings may be very touching but if you write some personalized message in it, its value increases… It gets closer to the recipients heart. Well, it holds good in my case but don’t know if I can use it as a generalized statement.

Whenever, I used to receive any parcel from home, it usually didn’t used to contain any letter from mom or dad. I used to open each time expecting a small letter or note inside but never used to find one. Well, there is nothing to blame them. Actually, there was no need to keep a note as we talk over the phone daily and so there is nothing left to be informed via a letter. Well, once dad had left a small letter in one of the parcels, and I have that letter with me even now :).

Well, in case, any of you is wondering what made me think about letters today, then it’s because of one of my friends again… Yesterday, I received a b’day card from one of my close friends which had a letter in it. I was touched. It made me nostalgic… Felt very good and wanted to thank the friend immediately for the very special gift by calling up but thought that this would be a better way to thank my friend.
The card was not exceptionally beautiful but what was exceptional was the emotion in the words that my friend had jotted down…

My friend wrote:

" Friends are a lifetime of shared experience and memories, laughter, caring, fights… A true friend is a gift to cherish and you are my BEST FRIEND…
I wish u a wonderful b’day filled with lots of fun, surprises and warm wishes… adding to that is my small b’day card for you and I hope that it brings the warmth of a true friend.
I hope that wherever we are, who ever we may become... our friendship lives forever..."

Well, ours is a friendship that literally has lots of memories, laughter, caring and not to forget... “The fights” ;)

Well, dear friend… would like to tell you, that this "small b'day card" of yours was the sweetest gift I got on my b’day this year…