Words and Letters

We used to wait for days for it to arrive. The anticipation, the excitement was overwhelming. If the young generations want to relate to the feeling, they can imagine, the two minutes of waiting for the reply through text messages or WhatsApp from their special one is the closest thing to that feeling. But for them, it was much more than that. It was a personal token. The paper would have been touched by the one who wrote it. It was not only about romance.

Mothers would leave tears on the paper, where it would meet the tears of their child, who is away from home. You must have figured it out by now. I am talking about letters. Letters were real. They could be kept, physically, and not in some virtual space, where they could disappear into oblivion.

In those days, the postman used to be the superhero of the area. He would bring letters of joy and of news. The eyes would light up every time the postman used to stop by the house. Some people would ask the postman to read the letters as they couldn’t read. Not only did the postman read the letters but he would also absorb the emotions associated with it. The letters had a charm, a smell; the handwriting was the identity of the person’s existence. Encompassing one’s whole cycle of emotions would make each letter, each word loaded.

In those days, the postman used to be the superhero of the area. He would bring letters of joy and of news. The eyes would light up every time the postman used to stop by the house. Some people would ask the postman to read the letters as they couldn’t read. Not only did the postman read the letters but he would also absorb the emotions associated with it. The letters had a charm, a smell; the handwriting was the identity of the person’s existence. Encompassing one’s whole cycle of emotions would make each letter, each word loaded.

The letters reflected pride, nostalgia, love, happiness just by the words on the paper.

The letters took time to write, to post and then to be delivered. Yes! But that was the beauty of it! The effort put in writing a letter was the most special way one could convey how much the receiver mattered to them.

But not all is lost. Writing a letter today would make it even more special. Now, when quick messaging services are common, receiving a letter would be a sweet surprise. The letters had the capability to envelope the scent of the person, the tea that the writer was drinking, the perfume that they had put on or just some pulpy, smudged bumps, where the tears had fallen.

So how about writing a letter to your loved one?