Mails for the Family

Trriiinggg the door bell rings. A flurry of footsteps greets it. The door flies open. A wide grin brightens the lady’s face. 6 letters lie on the door mat.
Dakiya dak laya…dakiya dak laya


letter at the doorstep

 Sumannn….your friend Robert in London has written
Appa, Mangalore inda mava bardidare (Dad, Uncle from Mangalore has written)
Kittieeee letter for you. That company you had applied for… they want you to
AMMMMMA how many times do I have to tell you? Do not read my letters… and do not announce it to everyone like this

This is India in the 1960s and 70s. Everybody knew what mails had arrived and to whom. Everybody who lived under one roof had the same address you see!

Now with multiple email IDs, Social networking sites, and twitter … We might live in the same room but we have different addresses. And we need not share even who we correspond with if we do not want to. Even husbands and wives mail to each other!

Somewhere with all this privacy and individuality…the warm family scenes go missing.

But then
One day Jyothsna introduces me to (locked-in or secret) facebook groups where membership and viewing is limited to select persons only.... and group mailing where multiple conversations among members of the family are visible

And again we have these exchanges within the family
Meena says Suman – urgent… post your capsicum raita recipe
Suman says Busy now, Putti do it pls
Punita says Why am I always picking up your stuff?? Here posted capsicum raita recipe…but brownie points are for me…OK?
Suman says recipe correct …only - use red chillies not green
Punita says – I am quite sure u had told me GC only…

Aaah! The fights are back.

So nice

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