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Andavilli Styanarayana

There was a time, not long ago, when the postman’s knock at the door was the most eagerly awaited event in the day. Normally, he is the messenger of good news.  It may be a letter from the near and dear ones in the family or from a good friend.  He may have brought MO from the father when you are away from him in the college hostel.  But not so in the case of a telegram man.  His very presence is dreaded most as normally he brings not so welcome news. He rarely brings, if at all, happy tidings.  He cannot help it, poor man, as that is his job.  When he shouts ‘Telegram�, it sends shivers to every member of the family.  More so, if they had any unpleasant experience earlier.

There are letters and letters and not all of them are of our immediate concern now.  There are some letters which are written for conveying some information or for transacting some business.  Though all of them serve some useful purpose or other, their scope is limited and their range is as varied as it is purposeful.  They are written only when there is something to write about and they contain normally not a word more or not a word less than what is required for the occasion.  There may be some skill in writing such letters but there is no art in it.  They are factual in content and prosaic in form. Such letters continue to be written, no matter what happens in all other spheres of activity as a result of rapid strides in technological development, particularly in the field of telecommunications.

But, there are some forms of communications which are intensely personal and are of the nature of heart to heart talk. Father to the son and son to the mother and brother to sister and so on are letters which are outpourings of human emotions and sentiments.  They are little pleasures of life without which the very meaning of life is changed beyond recognition.  That such small pleasures of life are being denied with tremendous advancement in global communications is a sad fact of the present by busy life and it is a pity that it is so now and will take a worse turn in the years to come. Letter-writing has become an out-dated form of communication.  When you can talk to your son on the other side of the globe as if he is in the other room or by your side, who will resort to time-consuming and lengthy epistolary form of communications?

There are a few letters which have become celebrated in literature and arts transcending all limitations of time and place and to the Telugu people, one such letter which has taken deep roots in their hearts is from Satyabhama to Lord Krishna in the Kuchipudi style of dance. It is not Satyabhama who is pouring out her heart in that beautiful letter.  She is representing the best of Telugu Womanhood, ‘Telugu adapaduchu�, placed in a similar predicament of separation from the beloved.  Is it difficult to imagine what she would do now with a ‘Cordless� or ‘Cell Phone� by her side.  She would give a ‘tinkle� and unburden herself as briefly as possible lest the metre should jump.  She would probably be very elaborate if it is a ‘collect call�, whereby she can make her beloved pay through the nose for his audacity in ignoring her.
There are letters of celebrities to their beloved ones or friends and admirers which constitute an entirely different dimension in the art of letter-writing.  The name that comes uppermost in the minds of everybody in this connection is that of Jawaharlal Nehru.  A man of letters in the true sense, he was also literally a master of letters, as his letters to his daughter Indira Priyadarsini are a fine example of liberal education in epistolary form.  In a way, it is the forerunner of the present Distance Education System.  With time hanging heavy on the head while in jail, and feeling terribly lonely and homesick, he might have thought of heart to heart talk with his beloved daughter through those lengthy letters. But, he might never have imagined that the contents would be of as much interest to all the children of her age as to his daughter herself.  In the words of Indira Gandhi herself:  “They were not merely to be read and put away.  They brought a fresh outlook and aroused a feeling of concern for people and interest in the world around� Most children idolise their parents, but all parents are not as good as mine were.  My father was interested in everything and delighted in sharing his enthusiasm. He loved to speak and write about our wonderful country, its early achievements and grandeur and the later decline and bondage.  One thought was uppermost in his mind and that was freedom-freedom not only for India but for all people of the world�.

It is a great tribute from the daughter to a father.  How many fathers now have time for their children?  In the hurly burly of this world, this sort of intimate personal relationship is perhaps the worst casualty.

Of the great leaders of yesteryears who were prolific letter-writers, mention must be made of Mahatma Gandhi and Rajaji. They both set apart for letter-writing a part of their waking hours.  They would reply to all letters from whosoever they received them. Mostly they would be brief and on post cards.  They were treated as prize possessions by the recipients of those letters.  They used the letter-medium between themselves for edification and enlightenment.  When Gandhiji was greatly fascinated by the poem ‘Hound of Heaven� by Francis Thomson, he sought some clarification from Rajaji who was in another jail far away.  Rajaji read that poem then and sent an excellent commentary on it to Gandhiji who was greatly impressed with Rajaji’s original and fresh approach to that beautiful but tough poem to understand.

Romain Rolland, the author of one of the greatest novels of the early twentieth century, ‘Jean Christophe�, was a great admirer of Gandhiji and he too had a very high regard for Romain Rolland. They wrote to each other frequently on various subjects of human interest and even now at this distance of time their views and concern for the people seem very relevant and reveal them as true ‘seers�, �rishis�, in their own right.  Writing a foreword to the publication of correspondence between them, Jawaharlal Nehru said : “I sensed a certain communion of spirit between the two. These two men with different grounds and experiences met on a higher level and recognised each other. Perhaps in this correspondence we can to some extent sense this communion of spirit of two great men.  I hope that this publication will give some people glimpses into their minds and help to lighten the burden all of us carry in this present-day turbulent world of ours�.

How true are Jawaharlal’s words.  They left to the posterity through their letters some of the most valuable clues into the workings of those two brilliant minds. Alas, like such leaders, the letters which throw abundant light on great minds, are also becoming a thing of the past.

Abraham Lincoln’s letter to his son’s teacher is one of the finest specimens of that genre.  Every word of that letter reveals the great and noble mind behind it. He says: “My son will have to learn I know, that all men are not just, all men are not true.  But teach him also that for every scoundrel there is a hero; that for every selfish politician, there is a dedicated leader. Steer him away from envy, if you can, teach him the secret of quiet laughter.. Teach him, if you  can, the wonder of books� But also give him time to ponder the eternal mystery of birds in the sky, bees in the sun, and flowers on a green hillside …in school teach him it is far more honourable to fail than to cheat…Try to give my son the strength not to follow the crowd.. Teach him gently, but do not cuddle him, because only the test of fire makes fine steel�..Teach him always to have sublime faith in himself, because then he will always have sublime faith in mankind..�

What a wonderful father, Abraham Lincoln’s son had?  How many children nowadays have such good fortune?  Where is the time for the fathers now to write to their sons, let alone to their son’s teachers?

The great leap forward in the telecommunications during the past decade or so has taken a very heavy toll of this wonderful art of letter-writing.  But it is not without its own blessings which are quite considerable.  The distance between persons has been annihilated. At the push of the button you can talk to your mother or father, brother or sister, however far away they are from you physically, anytime and any length of time and any number of times. It may not be a substitute for a letter but it has its own advantages.  With all that, a letter is a letter and that it is fast disappearing from our daily life is a pity and that perhaps is the price we have to pay for other benefits conferred on us and we have to reconcile ourselves to it and say, “Goodbye to letters�.