Letter ‘right’ing

Celebrities are comfortable writing open letters to their loved ones on a public forum.

“Both your pardadajis gave your present surnames, celebrated fame, dignity and recognition. Both of you may be a Nanda or a Bachchan, but you are also girls women. And because you are women, people will force their thinking, their boundaries on you. They will tell you how to dress, how to behave, who you can meet and where you can go. People will talk. They shall say some terrible things. But that doesn’t mean you have to listen to everyone. Never ever worry about — log kya kahenge” These were excerpts from a rather heart warming note by Amitabh Bachchan — on the occasion of Teacher’s Day that fell on September 5, to his grand-daughters Navya Naveli and Aaradhya Bachchan. While the gesture invoked a stirring awe and admiration among millions across the globe, one could also witness how the instance swiftly had the essence of hand-written letters rise to prominence.

Interestingly, this isn’t a first. In keeping with the recent times, there are instances aplenty, where stars have opened up through hand written notes or have gone all out with open-hearted posts. Be it Shah Rukh Khan’s emotional post on twitter on the graduation of his son Aryan and daughter Suhana turning 16, which read, “Today, the only negative is that my kids have grown up now to wait till they start believing in fairy tales again ” Let’s also not forget when a teary-eyed Deepika Padukone read out a hand-written letter at the an awards function, awards, penned down to her by her father Prakash Padukone. With life lessons about stardom, inner strength, happiness and everything in between, excerpts from the letter such as “If you love what you do, nothing else matters, not even awards. Follow your heart and live your dream. You are our daughter and then an actress.”

Observing the trend, it comes as little surprise to note that a slew of celebs are taking to expressing emotions open heartedly — to their dear ones and are unabashed about revealing the same. That said, is it safe to surmise that open letters the way forward Are we trying to revive the lost art of writing hand-written letters Speaking about the same, Lakshmi Gopalaswamy, actress and renowned Bharatanatyam dancer opines how the concept breaks the existing communication rut, “No matter how savvy we become, there’s always a place for classics. The beauty and the impact of a hand written letter goes a long way — it’s something that is cherished, pretty much like an antique piece handed over to you from your grand mother. While e-messages bring you closer, a hand-written letter is laced with emotions of care, love and effort — stuff, we ultimately cherish. As a noted public figure, his act of spreading warmth and love through a simple hand written note also signals or rather promotes the need for more open-hear ted conversations. Especially in an era like ours, where the essence of heart felt messages are often lost due to insta but robotic tech boom!”