The art of letter writing

orld Postal Day is celebrated on October 9 each year. A day on which we need to remind ourselves of days when postal letters, telegrams etc. meant everything and were the only means of communication. A letter from a loved one brought joy and happiness. I still love to write long letters to friends, relatives and colleagues. It connects minds.

With time and technology new means of communications have come into effect like emails, faxes, sms and now WhatsApp. People do not now write letters as often as they used to in the past. The volume of personal letters sent has drastically fallen and is limited to official ones like bank and utility bills, communications, invitations or printed materials like periodicals.

The young generation end up learning the art of letter writing only as a chapter in their grammar books. It may end up as another school activity to score marks in their exams. They may not ever write and post even a single letter in all their life. They would definitely resort to using emails, sms or even WhatsApp to communicate. We cannot blame them as these are faster means of communication.

Perhaps because I belong to the older generation, which lived through the era of letters, I still prefer holding and reading a letter. I therefore make it a point to physically write and post at least one letter per year and send out cards during festive season. Last year I missed an opportunity of receiving a wedding invitation, which was sent to me, it still disturbs me a lot. Anticipation is one of the best joys in life and to experience it we should resume sending and receiving letters.

The reader is a logistics manager, based in Dubai.

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