I am definitely sure, each one of you long to receive that heart rending, emotional hand written letter, filled with words chosen especially for you. But this letter writing is becoming a lost art and an endangered skill. Do we remember the last time when we wrote a letter to someone, I do not mean to say one through email or text; but a real handwritten one with pen and paper and mailed in a stamped envelope? I remember writing during my school days to my friends and grandparents. But now sometimes even if I take the effort to do so, I fail to get a response.

There was a time, when writing letters was the only means to be in contact with friends and relatives over long distances. But in recent times we have become so addicted to instant communication, and some people even think that writing a letter is old fashioned. Instant communication definitely lacks that personal feeling of keeping in touch, even if you communicate several times a day. What makes me worried sometimes is that some people are not even satisfied with the speed of these instant communications that they have come to a point where they have started communicating using a list of abbreviations, which I sometimes can not even keep up with. We have failed to realise the outcomes of this type of communication, where the younger generation is in a great danger of loss of letters and above all in a situation where they do not know how to spell an easy word.

In olden days, so much history could be learned about a person through   their letters and diaries that were written with so much thoughtfulness. But the present situation clearly indicates that we might be the first generation in history to leave no records of ourselves. For example, if George Washington or Abraham Lincoln had communicated via emails, would we have got so much of records or history about them that we possess now through their letters and journals? Today with our busy lives we do not have time to sit down to write a letter that we have started to communicate through cell phones and emails. But I do not think that they can replace the thrill that a thick envelope filled with news from a friend or relative can give. Letters definitely need not be specific with some sort of reasons. Anything that rambles in your mind can be put to writing to your dear and loved ones, and it is a great feeling to get a letter through your door and you will love reading it and definitely write back too. They are totally personal and are written with great effort putting in a lot of time. Our great grand children might read them some day and realise what sort of personalities we have been apart from what they have witnessed or experienced.

The best part of writing letters is waiting with anxiety, waiting for letters for days or even weeks, whereas now emails can be written in minutes with responses in hours. Also these letters can be read by curling up in any favourite corner of the house creating a mood for yourself, whereas emails are read off the computer screen amidst a lot of interruption most of the times. We pick up a phone rather than a pen, if we need to contact our dear ones. A personal conversation is necessary, and is an essential component of conversation, but sometimes writing a letter is better. It is nice to hear someone call you “Honey”, and say “I Love You”. But if a person takes an effort to write it to you, it becomes even more meaningful and a permanent record, even if the person sometimes may sadly take the word back in the future. You can read it over and over again as many times as you need and cherish it forever, since it was written with lots of effort and concentration.

• Writing a letter tells the recipient that you took some precious time out of your life to write to them, which gives them a feeling that you have included them into your life essentially.
• Letters last longer and they can be read again and again and they are more than just words.
• A letter is a clear record of any incidents and there is no chance that it can be accidentally deleted.
• A letter is something in which you do not express your instantaneous anger and make the other person feel hurt or rejected, you carefully choose what to write and so it becomes emotionally safer.
• Acknowledging a letter or other invitations can strengthen the relationship failing which may sometimes offend the other person.
• A letter can bring a smile and lot of energy to someone’s life.

A letter does not have to be in any specific format, you can ignore grammatical errors, and write whatever you feel like writing to that person. They can be written for any occasion like, birthdays, anniversaries, condolences, for getting well soon, thanking someone, invitations, announcements, congratulations, etc.

Why don’t we take some effort to revive this dying art, by encouraging our young children to write to their grandparents and family members who may not possess a computer? Letters from children can become their treasured possessions. Else our children may end up having never written a letter by hand all through their life. Children can make the letter artful and show their creativity in it. Before we might even come to know or think about it, writing a letter to Santa might be done on word processor, ignoring the entire creativeness with paper, pen and crayons.

So why don’t you turn off our computer and write someone a letter today. You both will be glad that you did it. To be honest, I definitely long for a letter from my dear ones some day. I have sometimes written continuously with no response from the other person at all. Nothing can be better than the sense of anticipation awaiting a letter full of thoughtfulness and personal messages from a far away place or even from another country. You can also rediscover things about your family and friends, and find little secrets shared in loving letters, which will definitely bring the family and friends close with each letter.