World Post Day: From heartfelt hand-written letters to quick texts

World Post Day, observed on October 9, is more than a celebration of the global network that connects people and places; it’s a tribute to something far more intimate: the simple, heartfelt act of writing a letter. This year’s theme is “Post for People: Local Service. Global Reach”. The days make one think that behind every letter lies a timeless human bond to be remembered. These were the vehicles that carried emotions across distances. Even today, for many, that quiet magic of ink on paper continues to hold a piece of the heart.

Though letter writing has waned in the age of instant messaging, there are still those who cherish the slowness and sentiment of ink on paper, the kind of communication that carries a warmth no email or text can replicate. On this occasion, 'Mathrubhumi' spoke to a few who continue to hold letters close to their hearts, as senders, receivers, and keepers of memory.

Malayalam author, screenwriter, and actor Bipin Chandran has been an ardent lover of writing letters. “Letter writing started for me when I was in school. The ones I received then and since are all sorted by year and stored carefully. Whenever I wish to revisit a memory of friendship, I take them out. Each letter brings back a time, a face, a feeling.”, he said.

Back in his college days, when phone calls and telegrams were luxuries, letters were a lifeline. “Writing a letter brought immeasurable happiness,” Bipin recalls. “One didn’t need to be rich to buy a postcard or an inland letter, and that was enough to reach someone. Even the delay in receiving a reply was never an issue; it was part of the joy. Our handwriting, the time we took to write and read, all of that made the experience intimate. Letters pamper you; they awaken nostalgia.”

A letter received by Bipin Chandran from Malayalam author Ashitha

For Bipin, letters remain a deeply personal form of self-expression. “Through letters, I share dreams, thoughts, even fears. There’s a complexity in conveying emotions with limited words, and that’s what makes it beautiful,” he says.

At 76, Father George Mangalan, former Vicar and Chaplain at Kuzhikkattussery, still writes letters every day from the retirement home in Puliyilakunnu, Thrissur.

“For 48 years, I’ve been sending letters,” he says with a gentle smile. “I have the addresses of many dear people, and I still write to them.” A passionate philatelist and member of the Thrissur Philatelic Association, Father George collects stamps and prefers sending the message written on small papers and sending it in a cover rather than writing them on postcards or inland letters.

 

For him, writing letters is much more than a hobby; it’s a form of connection. “For me, writing letters is a way of spreading peace and love. Many of my letters go out during Christmas. Sometimes, when someone passes away and I can’t visit, I write to their family. A phone call can make people nervous, but a letter can be read at their own pace; it comforts,” he explains.

“Letters carry intimacy, the feeling that someone, somewhere, is thinking of us. In this fast world where face-to-face contact is rare, letters remind us to slow down. They can be preserved as treasures, reviving memories again and again.”

While many assume letter writing is dying out, Radhika, Senior Postmaster at Kodungallur, believes otherwise.

“Delivering letters is a pleasure, it’s carrying someone’s emotions or some important announcements in a person's life,” she says. “People often say letter writing is decreasing, but we still see letters arriving in the same rhythm as before. Amid social media, many people are returning to letters to express personal messages. Some write for nostalgia, others just to experience how it feels to send one. We even have customers who tell us how special it feels to buy a postcard again.”

For journalist Sadhana Sudhakaran, one letter remains etched in her heart. “After my marriage, when I moved to Hyderabad, I wrote a letter to my mother, the only one I ever wrote to her,” she recalls. “My mother's reply was so heart-warming. She wasn’t so fluent in English, so she wrote in Malayalam but used Tamil script. The effort she put in, and the love she poured into every line, still makes me feel her presence whenever I look at that letter.”

Rajeev Kumar R also remembers writing letters to a mentor-like friend when they were at different colleges, and the joy of waiting for those letters to arrive.

In a world rushing towards instant communication, letters endure as quiet gestures of patience and presence. They are proof that words written by hand, imperfect, personal, and heartfelt, still carry unmatched power. As Bipin Chandran put it best, “Letters are happiness, both in the writing and the receiving.”