Will I ever be able to write a letter?

 For a while, after the colonisation of emails, WhatsApp and the like, I tried my best to write and receive letters. I did that for a while knowing fully well that I was trying to fight for something of the past that used to once fill me with joy. Some of the ways I did this was trying to write to friends and coaxing a reply out of them, passing notes in books and attempting hand-written notes whenever I could manage. As the colonisation spread rapidly, I was also affected. I stopped writing letters while still romanticising them and trying to act like a 'Save Letter-writing' warrior. Though I was still reminiscing letters and coaxing people to write letters to me, I did not write them. Whenever my mom sent any parcel from Chennai, she used to send some hand written notes of love and care; Sometimes my sister would also chip in few lines or write a paragraph. The note always made the cockles of my heart warm and goey with love. 

I reconciled to the fact that save these notes, there won't be any letters in the future. But I make sure that I talk about the joy of letter-writing to everyone and sundry and make them yearn for something they don't even know (referring to my students who have never written any letters ever). I feel fortunate that I was given this pleasure and that I experienced to the fullest possible in diverse ways - through pen friends across the globe, post-crossing, letters to students/friends/strangers who promised letters and so on. I still possess some of the letters and time to time read them not for its contents but for the warm feeling of something that used to exist but has passed away.

Recently, I watched a film, The Six Triple Eight on Netflix which was a drama based on the first all-black, all-female battalion in World War II. They had the formidable task of delivering 17 million pieces of mail in two months. Watching the film, my nostalgia for letters was triggered making me teary and longing for those days of yore when there were no emails and WhatsApp to convey messages. How those days kept us grounded yet anxious without making us restless. Well, the film was a lovely one where the joy of receiving mail after ages made the soldiers yelp with joy and tears. 

Two weeks ago, I tried coaxing someone who I met in a book group to write to me whenever they send me books. They agreed but doing something out of the blue is something that does not come easily for us and so I (the eternal optimist) have still not given up though the realists would thrash my hopes of getting a letter by post.

What are your thoughts on my hopes of getting/writing a letter?

Revisiting Amitav Ghosh's 'The Hungry Tide'

 Revisiting a book once read is like visiting a lover from the past. The context remains while the person has altered. As a rule, I seldom read a book twice; I am afraid that the book will not hold my attention as it did in the past; Just like the past which has given way to newer selves! But alas! I had to revisit The Hungry Tide this time not as a curious reader but as a teacher. Several doubts assailed my mind - whether I would enjoy the book as I once did or would I be able to recreate the book as it unfolded in my mind way back. 

And so, I began rereading The Hungry Tide by Amitav Ghosh!

To my dismay, save the names of the characters and some important details, I seem to have forgotten most of the details of the book. But yes, I remember the conditions that surrounded me while I dived into the text. It was the halcyon days of my student years when reading a book meant no other responsibilities or tasks to compete and complete. I was free of deadlines and my mom would take care of my meals as I was still at home and enjoyed the pleasures of a warm and cozy abode. I allowed myself to be moved by the book feeling the pleasures of the book alongside partaking in the world created by Ghosh. How could I possibly recreate this for my students? When I delved further and further into the book, I realised that I gradually remembered the plot and the various entanglements that it led me into - in short, if revisiting a book could bring so much joy then I don't mind the past appearing before me! But I also knew that not all books could create the same pleasure. There are few other books which I had attempted to read but abandoned them due to a restlessness that bordered on part boredom and part agony. But The Hungry Tide was nothing like that. as I progressed into the lives of Piya, Kanai, Fokir, Kusum, Moyna, Nirmal, Nilima, Horen and Tutul, I felt as though I knew them earlier but now I understand them clearer.

Ghosh is a master weaver of stories. The mixing of history, story and geography is done quite deftly creating a masterpiece that moves the reader. I remember how the worldviews of Piya and Fokir were light years apart yet they find a common ground; I recollect the mad idealism of Nirmal and think of my own Professor with the same name and a similar madness; I remember the anguish that I felt when certain events occur in the plot. 

While revisiting the novel for a class seemed inevitable, I still don't know how to lead the students through the paths that I knew of The Hungry Tide. Will the tide touch their lives, is something only time will unfold. Until then, I revel in the stupor of the revisit!