BENCH MARKER
In letter and spirit
LETTER WRITING is an age-old art. In the era of Internet and email, this age-old form has undergone a radical change. And yet nothing can replace the older form whose intimate tone and personal signature are unsurpassed by the tools of new technology.
But the fact remains that very few have the patience, energy and time to pursue this fine art, if not to perfection, at least as an exercise in creative composition.
We are not being nostalgic in trying to plead for the rehabilitation of this wonderful strategy to encourage students to discover their ability to communicate in a letter all that needs to be said about an issue. Voice and video have replaced most forms of communication either long distance or short distance. But neither has been able to rob the letter of its range and depth.
Remember the great writers who have used the form of the letter to communicate a variety of topics ranging from history to philosophy, politics to poetics. Gandhi and Nehru expressed the best of their thoughts through letters. The format of the letter is so flexible and inclusive that one could embody an argument based on logic, analyse a problem and offer a solution, influence a person through the rhetoric of persuasion. You could use brevity or levity and no one would object. In fact it is a discipline in itself to practise letter writing in order to improve your writing skill.
If reading makes a full man, writing contributes to the making of an exact man. Good old Bacon would like a man to be precise, apt and correct in expression.
You are used to writing an essay in exam conditions, sometimes under duress. But writing a long letter to a friend enables you to give free rein to your imagination. It challenges your creative potential in such a way that you would discover to your surprise hidden facets of your own being.
A new beginning
Very often we do not realise that our thoughts are unorganised and even undisciplined until we begin to verbalise them.
Even the greatest of writers have faced this problem and that is why it is said: "Every attempt at writing is a new beginning and it is a raid on the inarticulate."
Like the habit of reading books, writing also has to be cultivated as a regular habit. One cannot think of a better take-home assignment for summer for students than writing letters or keeping a journal. One need not write letters only to friends. One could write an open letter to the UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan. If that sounds a little too distant, you could think of writing to our beloved President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.
There are several examples of people writing letters to totally unknown persons on topics of national and international importance.
There are pen friends to whom you could write and confide your most intimate thoughts and feelings. Whatever you do, consider writing as a most exacting and exciting activity undertaken so far in your classroom.
The Department of Posts, on its part, should design special summer letter folders to enthuse young learners to practice this art form in good, legible handwriting with the active co-operation of Principals of schools and colleges.
By Prof. C. Subba Rao,
(c.subbarao@gmail.com)
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Education Plus
Karnataka
Chennai
Coimbatore
Hyderabad
Madurai
Tiruchirapalli
Vijayawada
Visakhapatnam
