Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Nostalgia

I remember the days back then
the postman used to come around ten
& drop envelopes with letters in them.


Stamp of the place from where the letter came
hinting towards the sender's name
& the scent of travels endured since then.


I remember the anticipation in my head
till the letter was opened and read; re-read
it was so difficult not to run ahead :)


What spoke from the letter weren't just words
the perfume, the paper, the handwriting spoke two-thirds
completed by the stains of tears absurd.


Crossed out what was felt but couldn’t be said
then again, wrote again; carefully tread
after all veils cant be completely shed.


Once the letter was signed & ready to go
what was earlier neglected was added in the 'P.S.' below
grateful to the margins that allowed the letter to grow.


Now of course we're in the 'e-mail' times
they're quick, clinical and used often times
but dont we miss the postman sometimes?

17 comments:

Unknown said...

Oh wow... pretty neat.

Now all the postman brings is bills bills and more bills.

Lotus Reads said...

Did you write that ode to the postman Radha? Very nicely done! Yes, it's been ages since I received a handwritten note, but due to our magazine subscriptions, I see the postman every day without fail.

Chica, Cienna, and Cali said...

:) the bills, the mags and an occasional parcel...but if i get a chance to i still drop by my mailbox to say a hi to the postman...u cant take away some memories, can you....and oh i love the cute post offices in hill stations back in India too!!! :)

And now I really am beginning to wonder what's with poetry all around on the blogs!!! and hey i'm not complaining..it's quite a treat to see so much talent around :)

Parth said...

We surely do miss the postman. I used to correspond regularly with my grandfather regularly as a kid, and I used to really love that. E-mails never compare, do they?

Radha said...

J, Lotus,
My bills & magazine subscriptions come to my office address (they get delivered in the mail room); so i never end up seeing mr. postman!

Moi,
Well I just started writing & realised midway that it was all rhyming :)

Parth,
I used to write & receive letters from my grand-parents, my cousins; it was such a highly-anticipated activity. Emails are not as personal, dont you think?

Keshi said...

I miss the postal letters so much! They r the best.

I still send postal greeting cards and hand-written letters to my friends..

Keshi.

darkside said...

Hi Radha,

Nice blog and neat composition on the charm of letters received through the mail.

Maybe I will write a letter today and mail it, if I still remember how.

Radha said...

Keshi,
Does it feel much better than e-cards?

Dark Side,
Hi welcome to this blog. Glad you liked it :-)

KAD said...

I will tell you what the postman brings for us. Loads of money in form of dividend cheque payouts and a lot of scrap books (read annual reports) that fetch good money with the raddi waala!!

What was that song Pankaj Udhas sang...Chitti aayi hain aayi hain..etc etc...

Lotus Reads said...

I am reading an epistolary novel at the moment, it's called "The Ginger Tree"...as I was reading it your poem came back to me and I realized with a shudder that with the advent of the e-mail we may no longer have epistolary novels...what a sad thought!

diyadear said...

wow radha..
that one was too gud.. n yes i do agree with u.. i used to write long letters to my school friends when in college. but soon it got converted into emails n it never felt as gud as it used to before..

Radha said...

Kanishka,
Wow you must be a millionaire if you get loads of money just from dividend :-)
Oh and I like that song...Chitthi aai hai... :)

Lotus,
That is a sad thought. I remember a play I saw back in Mumbai called Tumhari Amrita, in which the beautiful Shabana Azmi reads out love letters exchanged between two lovers who're apart from each other. Have you seen it?

Diya,
Hi there! Even i used to write long letters & miss them so much!

Al Nims Media said...

Nice one. Your previous post inspired this post? :)

Radha said...

Kishor,
Haha, not sure!

Megster said...

Very nice! The only advantage I can think of is that emails are instant and often more frequent. Being the impatient person that I am, it was hard for me to wait for the mailman sometimes although I did love the personal touch!

Anonymous said...

Lovely poem. and truly felt:). This is my first visit to your blog(from parth's) and I am already hooked!

-Sparsh

Radha said...

Sparsh,
Thanks :)