I remember when I was in school, in my teenage years, dad had a transfer to a remote place. It was my parents decision then, that mom and I would move to Delhi for my education sake. This was a period of 4 years from my 9th grade to 12th grade. After that dad joined us in Delhi and since then we have been there. My sis was already in a medical school then.
Dad used to write letters from where ever he was. Yes, those were the days of letters. No emails. Of course he used to call, but that would be mostly once a week or something. And I loved to write detailed stuff that could never be done on the phone. Moreover, my dad is a man of a few words. So you cannot talk with him for very long.
So back to the letters. He would be extremely regular in writing. And you would always get a reply to your letter. Always. But the contents of his letter were very predictable. The letter would never be more than half a page long. Sometimes it could even be 4-5 lines. There would be a basic skeleton of the important matter that would repeat much through all the letters. If he had anything new or interesting he'd add a line or two about that. But mostly this.
Dear MyNickName,
Hope you and mom are doing well. I am doing fine too. How is your health? Hope you are eating fruits, juice, milk regularly. Do take care of your and mom's health. How are your studies going on? Work hard. You know time is very important. Put in your best effort.
Rest everything is fine. The weather here is ... I will call you on ...
[Space for anything new and interesting]
Your Papa.
So I guess it boiled down to health, studies and weather... But you know, however predictable it was, I always enjoyed it thoroughly. And he had a beautiful hand writing. He still has. Sometimes I used to play the game of guess what's written before I read the letter. Mom used to laugh at me. And hey... come to think of it, I do miss letter writing sometimes. I mean telephone and email are great, but there is something beautiful about a letter that is not there in this neo digital era of communication.
Dad used to write letters from where ever he was. Yes, those were the days of letters. No emails. Of course he used to call, but that would be mostly once a week or something. And I loved to write detailed stuff that could never be done on the phone. Moreover, my dad is a man of a few words. So you cannot talk with him for very long.
So back to the letters. He would be extremely regular in writing. And you would always get a reply to your letter. Always. But the contents of his letter were very predictable. The letter would never be more than half a page long. Sometimes it could even be 4-5 lines. There would be a basic skeleton of the important matter that would repeat much through all the letters. If he had anything new or interesting he'd add a line or two about that. But mostly this.
Dear MyNickName,
Hope you and mom are doing well. I am doing fine too. How is your health? Hope you are eating fruits, juice, milk regularly. Do take care of your and mom's health. How are your studies going on? Work hard. You know time is very important. Put in your best effort.
Rest everything is fine. The weather here is ... I will call you on ...
[Space for anything new and interesting]
Your Papa.
So I guess it boiled down to health, studies and weather... But you know, however predictable it was, I always enjoyed it thoroughly. And he had a beautiful hand writing. He still has. Sometimes I used to play the game of guess what's written before I read the letter. Mom used to laugh at me. And hey... come to think of it, I do miss letter writing sometimes. I mean telephone and email are great, but there is something beautiful about a letter that is not there in this neo digital era of communication.
