The Ink won't dry out: Forgotten Art Of Letter Writing For Digital Generation

Over the decades, as the modes of communication evolved, we slowly moved from postcards, telegrams and inland letters, to phone calls, WhatsApp, emails, Instagram, video calls and an all-new version of ‘telegram’.

One can’t blame anyone for the traditional telegram going extinct, because it was a purely functional format of instant communication, which phone calls and WhatsApp covered much more efficiently. But, with technology, while messages today get transmitted much faster, even in this day and age, there is no medium as efficient as a handwritten letter when it comes to capturing emotions. Letters are not merely about nostalgia. There’s that and a lot more to them.

Letter Writing: Today, letters are a novelty.

Till around the 70s or 80s, people wrote letters to a lot of people, as a hobby or simply for communication, as there weren’t many other options. Fortunately, today, we can choose to write only to the most special people in our lives. Because a handwritten letter demands time, which is scarce in this fast-paced world, making it all the more valuable.

50 years back, letters from loved ones were special. Today, amidst everything else, they are still special, in fact all the more special because they’re a novelty now.

No cut, copy, paste.

When you write a letter, it’s a very different experience compared to exchanging messages with the same person. You have him/her at the centre of your attention. And you think well before putting your words down on paper. Because you don’t want to look untidy and scratch out words. You don’t have the freedom to delete, cut, copy, paste. You have to structure things much more clearly in your head before penning them. It’s also a good idea to keep the phone away, to avoid distraction.

And by the end of the letter, you’ll notice that what comes out on paper is very different from what you generally write to the same person on the phone.

Postcards v/s Posts

Writing letters to friends and family, mostly uptil the 90s, was a meaningful way of bonding and being creative. Using different coloured pens or making a small sketch, like a work of art. And adding special stamps of choice. Or sending a postcard from a trip.

It was very different from today’s Instagram post. They each have their own purpose. On Instagram, you share it with the world. On a postcard, you share it with one specific person and remind them that you were thinking of them at that moment. And, of course, there’s no rule that you can’t do both!

Only when you write, does someone receive a letter.

And when you write a bunch of letters, you begin to receive them too.

Receiving letters specially addressed to you is so joyful! And you don’t necessarily have to write long letters. Even little sticky notes to make the next person smile can be a wonderful gesture. Whether it is an expression of love to your spouse in your own house, or a thank you note to your colleague, or to the waiter who served you some delicious food, it all counts! And the fact of the matter is that everyone loves to receive a letter/note in their name. But if we all stop writing, no one is ever going to receive anything.

You can touch it, feel it, smell it!

The physicality of letters is undeniable and incomparable. While there may be thousands of font options, every single handwriting is unique. And sometimes, not just your thoughts but even your DNA travels with your letter when you lick and stick that stamp on the envelope! Another seemingly mundane but unique thing, if you think about it, is that you can switch to a different language any time in a letter, and freely doodle or scribble around it in any direction, make cuts and folds as you wish. You can play with it in a much more hands-on way.

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Letters are also fewer, so you tend to safekeep them, while special messages can easily get lost in the digital clutter. We can browse through letters again at leisure to re-ignite memories. Because the written word has a special significance, and touches our emotional chords.

Letters capture feelings like no other medium of communication. That’s what they are, a medium. Just as all its other digital counterparts. And if people have experienced writing and receiving a letter, they will know when to choose it. It’s all about matching the message to the medium. Some things are best said in a quick WhatsApp message, some in a long call. And some can only be done justice through a letter.

Shivani Mehta is the co-founder, Daakroom. The views expressed are the author's own.