Recently during Deepawali, I was faced with the herculean task of cleaning my messy cupboard. Inside it were bundles of papers, books, novels, and other stationary, jutting and jostling for space and asking for some urgent breather. But what I anticipated to be a tedious and a boring activity actually turned out to be quite delightful and enjoyable in the end.

As I started to put things in order, I lay my hands on a small folder containing a few hand written letters, personal cards, greeting cards and scribbled postcards. Some of these were notes from my school friends and postcards from people I had met in my travels but majority of them contained conversations between me and my mother. I reminisced those times when we both shared this rather cute bond of hand written cards and letters...


A collection of handwritten letters and greeting cards of birthdays and anniversaries for Mother
A collection of beautiful memories...

I think it had all started out with her. She loved to attach a personal touch to everything she did and highly valued the joy of connecting to others via the old-fashioned art of personal correspondence. In such a scenario then, the chances of me inheriting this quality from her among many others was very high, almost inevitable. As I grew up in her arms, it did not take much time for me to realize how magical this ‘personal touch’ was and before I knew, I was completely enchanted by its spell...

As a small kid, I developed a deep affectionate fascination for letters, notes and cards - all handwritten! I still remember how I loved writing them. I just needed an opportunity – birthdays, anniversaries, even moments of fights – I always rushed for a pen and paper and not only did it work but somehow always worked best! I remember those times when I would misbehave and she would stop talking to me; I would compose a small verse asking forgiveness and place it delicately in one of her kitchen shelves. Then at night, in the midst of my moments of sleep, a warm hug would envelop my body. And the day of her birthday... that thrill of gifting ‘my card’ to her and the joy of watching her radiant smile beam when she would hold it in her hands... And how could I forget that ‘I Love You’ letter that I had written to her on Mother’s day... Ah... Memories!


A hand written apology card for Mother
Look at this... haha...
One of my Apology letters, I think I was in 6th std then...

Cards, letters, and poems - they were all there... Oh, when and how I had forgotten about them...?! Soon enough, I found myself buried in a heap of memories, going through the scribblings, chuckling to myself, getting reflective over some, while finding others quite childish. I ended up spending the whole afternoon rummaging through the letters that had gathered dust over time and found utmost joy in wiping them off. These letters bought back so many bitter sweet recollections and I patted myself hard for having preserved them over the years.

All of a sudden, I could recollect the joys of writing on a neat piece of paper. I felt really sad that it had been ages since I did that. I wondered why?

As I grew older, in the winds of change amidst project deadlines, work pressures and hectic schedules, this love of mine drifted away from me and we both got lost in the wave of technological advancement. Text messages, emails and skype made an appearance and I was completely hooked. And why not, after all this mode of communication was so much faster, pacier, convenient and above all saved a lot of time. But intimate and personal? Just think about it... Still, that’s what I always end up doing now... sms, mail or better still chatting on phone... the reason? Time... or should I say, the lack of it!


A letter to the most special person in my life...

As I am posting this right now, my mom sits far away from me, in Gujarat while I write this in Mumbai. I talk to her daily – two times, three times or may be even more! Still, it is not enough, it never can be... I know how much I miss her... We still have our moments of fights and angers, her birthdays and anniversaries still come and go... But I can’t remember when was the last time I gifted her a hand made card or took the trouble to write something personal to her... I am sure, even now she will enjoy it as much as she used to then but... I... I... have no time today as I have completely submitted myself to the mercy of the razor-sharp claws of technology...

A few days back, a question at IndiBlogger - If you had 2 extra hrs in a day, how would you spend it? ... got me thinking...


Spend it with nature, with myself, watch TV,
hang out with friends, dream…
...what else could I do..?

Umm... naaah... I think I knew a better way to utilize it...

I would switch off my cellphone, turn off my PC, sit down with a warm cup of coffee, and write my mom something. For I think, it’s been quite a while since I did that and more so because I know it will be bringing a wide smile onto the face of someone very close and special...


Miss you Ma...

PS: The above post is written for the Indiblogger Contest " If you had two extra hours in a day, how would you spend it" sponsored by Surf Excel Matic #GetSmart. Hope you enjoyed reading it :)

If you are an IndiBlogger and liked reading this article, you can vote for it by clicking here. Thank You :)

Update Note: Inspired by the question – 'What would you do if you had two extra hrs in a day', one of my hugely talented travel blogger friend, Rizalenio (a finalist in the Lonely Planet's 2010 Photo Competition) has put up a fabulous photo post titled Two Extra Hours. Do check it out here!