Letters from home....

Whats with handwritten letters? Everytime I get a handwritten note or letter or card from my family or friends, I become the unstoppable. The condition is provoked if the letter is from home, my parents!! Yesterday I got one such letter with a package from home.

Usually whenever I get a package or letter from India, my mom makes it a point to write to me a few lines about anything/something/everything. This started...ever since she sent me stuff once(I think in 2002) days before my birthday and since she was in a hurry, she posted the package without any note or letter. I moped around with it for weeks telling that the parcel did not have her personal touch and probably her assistant at work just posted it. I mean, it was a complaint way over the hill but I was a little crushed...So, nowadays she makes sure that she sends to me one of these - general quips, family news, some inspiring article cut from local newspapers, a collection of letters that she had been writing for me for a long time, or pictures of my dog. She is really good in writing and so, whenever I see her handwriting, I know that I am in for some treat.

[All this happens inspite of emailing each other atleast 5-6 times a week and spending $400 on phonecards every month. Dont ask me what I write or talk..I just do...Not that I get homesick...just that, things just happen.....]

Unlike my mom, my dad is not too fond of writing. I am not sure even if he has written letters to anyone, other than to my mom (ofcourse!!). So, you can imagine my surprise when I opened the package that I had received and saw my dad's handwriting. I got scared first and then delighted after reading it. It was a two page letter, back and front. I know my dad really well. So, if he had actually written to me, I can imagine how much time he must have spent on it. I was a little homesick after that. MY DAD WROTE TO ME. Nothing else matters, right??

Technology has progressed...but, even today, there is nothing like receiving a handwritten letter. Emails - quicker, easier, affordable...still, a little impersonal. Don't you agree?