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A pal for keeps

Tomorrow is Friendship Day. In today's hi-tech modes of communication, pen friendship still brings the postman to some doors

A FRIEND IN INDEED Pen friends is the unseen friend who is a letter or a post card away

If you thought the era of pen friendship is over it's not, though undoubtedly on the wane due to more hi-tech, faster modes of communication. The joy of writing letters and having a friend, a complete stranger in terms of physical attributes is something many still cherish.

Jyotirmoy Dutta, lecturer in Himachal Pradesh University (State University), Shimla says, "My pen friend whom I am corresponding with for the last 12 years has stood by me in the thick and thin of my adolescent years, understood my emotional requirements and given me the right guidance when nobody close by understood me."

Letters are the only way to know about your pen pal's thoughts, opinions, family, customs and so many other small and big details.

"Receiving letters is like receiving a gift. You can't wait to open it and read the news it holds. You are anxious to hear any new stuff or to find out answers to your questions, to see what his/her response is, the latest happenings in their life etc.," says Daisy, a Keralite who eventually married her pen pal, a man from Trinidad and is now a mother of two grown-up children.

"Some pen friendships go beyond sharing regular news and information. They become personal where you feel comfortable enough to tell a person, you haven't met face-to-face, the private aspects of your life," adds Daisy. Now arises the question of lasting pen friendship.

Knowing a stranger only through letters makes a lasting impression on the minds of the people who correspond with each other.

Long-lasting

"For example cyber friendship begins and ends quickly as there are many friends over the Net but when it comes to pen friends they are few and this friendship is so special in its very style of acquaintanceship that it is for keeps," says Rajesh Menon, senior executive living in Kochi.

"What interests me about writing and receiving letters is that letters are so tangible; you tend to read them and re-read them reminiscing all the contents. Hence you remember the messages conveyed better than what would have happened if the communication was only verbal," opines Lakshmi K., working with a MNC in Bangalore.

Transparency

"Pen friendship is the purest form of friendship, in fact of any relationship. It is beyond the physical attributes, language or religion," adds Jyotirmoy. He confesses of possessing 90 per cent of the letters from his pen pal though he has never re-read them. Writing letters on a regular basis is a hard job in the present times. Pen pals gradually give into the more modern way of communication like emails and phone pals.

Says Daisy, "Picking up the phone and conversing is easier." However, pen friendship is stronger than friendships formed through chat or friends club on the Internet. Unlike cyber pals, where a large percentage of communication is for its sheer enjoyment; writing letters takes more time and patience and is mostly done with a sincere effort to know a person and share viewpoints.

The joys of pen friendship are definitely rewarding. And who knows, you might meet your best, life-long friend via a letter!

RESMI JAIMON

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