I spent this weekend at my mother’s place. While I am there, my mother always asks me to go through all the memorabilia that still resides in my old cupboard and discard unnecessary stuff. I like doing it because it always proves to be a wonderful trip down the memory lane. While clearing out old greeting cards, I came across a bundle of letters. It took me an entire afternoon to go through all the letters by my friends and cousins. Writing letters was a passion when we were in school and it was the most preferred mode of communication to keep our conversations away from the parents’ prying eyes.
Back then, we didn’t have access to emails or cell phones. The land line was mostly used for urgent communications and under parental supervision. So it wasn’t really a lucrative mode of communication. What do you do then when your friends and cousins are in different town and you wish to keep in touch? Write letters….of course.
Writing letters was one of the most joyful experiences of my adolescence. We wrote letters with a passion. We wrote regularly every week and we knew that the recipient will write back immediately. It took around 4 days for the letters to reach and another 4 days for the reply to come back. Waiting for the postman was a regular and integral part of my growing up. I knew when the postman would arrive and I made sure I was home by that time.
What did we write? Well, every little thing that happened in our lives. Tiffs with parents, our insecurities and our daily routines. We shared all our feelings and we were open about our emotions. We didn’t mind telling friends who were studying in other cities how much we missed them. We shared our daily routine, adventures, advice and even heartbreaks. There was a lot of simplicity in our lives then and a lot of time to think and reach out to others.
I am going to keep all these letters and maybe I will use that as an excuse to gather all the old friends around! We will have a good time refreshing old memories! :)
thank you for sharing this...i just thought of myself...waiting for the postman was really exciting during that time...i don't have that feeling when i open my email every morning...
ReplyDeleteWonderful post. I also love hand written letters and have kept a few.......so glad, because some of those precious people who wrote them have gone on. I have one friend who refuses to email.........she sends me long letters, which I enjoy and answer with a long handwritten letter of my own. I love email also because it is wonderful to keep in touch with someone every day. Enjoyed your post. blessings,Kathleen
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments guys! Kathleen i sincerely hope you get your new computer soon. I am addicted to your work now.
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