Can Emotions Be Electronic? : Email v/s Letter Writing

Pulse

oi-suparna-chakraborty Chakaraborthy

By Suparna Chakaraborthy

Monday, April 25, 2011, 16:35

This weekend as Bangalore was being bathed in mango showers, sipping on my hot cup of tea, I decided to take a trip down the memory lane. Taking a look at my untouched closet, I found a dairy dated 1995 and in the dairy was stuck all the letters which my sister has send me from Pune. It was the time when, my sister was pursuing her graduation in Pune while I was still in school. I used to miss her dearly and wrote letters to her. As soon as her reply would come, I read it and stuck it to my this very secret diary.

On looking at the dairy after so many years, unknowing a smile stuck on my lips and a tear rolled down. Days, age and time has changed but I still miss her dearly. Thanks to technology, now though we are still miles apart due to career commitments, we can chat over Facebook, send mails and e cards but reading the letters was a different feeling all together.

Usually in the debate of email v/s letters, letter writing often wins on the grounds of language. Email language is unruly while in letter writing language is given utmost importance but on that day while celebrating my nostalgia with the letters I understood that there is much more to the debate of email v/s letter writing.

Email has made communication very technical. One of the first email courtesy says not to write lengthy mails. One needs to restrict his feelings, emotions and words under the courtesy factor. While in letter writing, ten pages are no big deal.

Another important factor to letter writing and email debate is that, one cannot relax with a email, with a letter one can. It can be kept along and read whenever you want. For me, I used to sleep with my sisters letters and read it everyday in bed.

Email and letter writing debate continues with being an archive for memory. I stores these letters in my dairy and can relive those innocent days whenever I want to but email will all it's efficiently, cannot provide the similar benefit. Looking for one particular mail amidst several others, kills the mood.

The difference between emails and letter writing is like the difference between a handmade card and an expensive branded card. The handmade card often leaves a greater impact. It's the effort and the portrayal of emotions which count.

When we were in school, letter writing was one of the topics in our grammar session, on a student being sick we were asked to write letters to her. These days, email writing is the new academic topic. Letter writing is an art which should be retained.