New Delhi: In an age of emails and emojis, letter writing is both a lost art and a forgotten habit. Once postcards, inlands, envelopes were essential home accessories; so was the man who brought them to everyone’s doorsteps, the postman. Writing letters and waiting for them were Side A and Side B of life’s routine often celebrated in songs and used as literary device.On a bleak Wednesday, when a shivering city was getting ready to bid 2025 goodbye, that slowly dying form of communication returned, albeit for a few hours, courtesy an India Post initiative at the Indraprastha head post office. Free postcards and pens were supplied as the young and the vintage sat on tables putting words on paper. For some, the moment was dipped in nostalgia. For others, a novel experience of how the past used to be.It wasn’t about just writing letters. This felt more like a festival. Songs on letter writing played in the background. Tricolour balloons coloured the sunless day. Decorated stalls sold coasters, stamps, cups, fridge magnets and other India Post merchandise. There was even a festooned e-vehicle that said, “#ForeverInLetters: Write a letter to your loved ones.”And they did. Maira, 11, slipped the postcard she had written into a postbox. Her father, Mohammad Haider, 38, a scrap dealer from Turkman Gate, said the family had come to the area for Aadhaar-related work, but Maira and her three siblings got so absorbed in writing that they missed their appointment.But he didn’t mind. “She has wished me Happy New Year on the postcard,” Haider smiled. Also wishing each other Happy New Year were 17-year-old Kripa and her 18-year-old best friend Arunima, who both wrote to each other. At another table, Shilu Kumari, 24, quietly watched her three-year-old daughter, Ishaani, scribble on a postcard addressed to her uncle in Patna. For Kumari, the moment felt deeply personal, a rare pause in a digital age, as she spoke about the joy of connecting in a way that leaves behind something tangible.Associate analyst Navya Sriram, 21, was another participant. She moved to Delhi from Mumbai just a month ago. The postcard she penned was all about living away from home, each syllable bridging the distance between them. Her colleague and friend, 27-year-old Ruchira Sakalle, chose a lighter, whimsical touch, addressing her postcard to the pawprints of her dog. “This takes me back to school days, when we used to write letters during exams and felt so restricted by what we could say,” Sakalle reflected, adding, “Now, we can write anything we feel.“Official statistics show a dip in letter writing. According to annual reports of Department of Posts, postcards usage came down from 1145 million in 2012-13 to 703 mn in 2021-22. Similarly closed letters declined from 3499 mn to 2838 mn over the same period.Senior postmaster Yogesh Papnai described the event as a tribute to traditional ways of connecting in the modern era. “People overthink what they post on social media, and it can always be deleted. A handwritten letter, however, becomes a lasting memory,” he said. Another organiser, Jeetendra Kumar Kukreja, highlighted another aspect of physical writing. “Even today, letters reach the farthest corners of the country where networks can’t,” he said.When 38-year-old Reet Ramanjeet was asked who her postcard was for, she simply replied, “My little brother.” When asked where he lived, she said softly, “Heaven.”
