Who writes letters these days? Not many, I’m sure. The impersonal WhatsApp and other instant messaging services have taken over all our lives. Even emails are passe. 

But letter-writing is an art in itself, a way of expressing your true feelings, giving an inkling of your mood or your personality in a way that technology can never emulate. Besides, letters sometimes survive generations while Instant Messaging is swallowed up into cyber-space. 

In an animated conversation at the Mohammad bin Rashid library, author Deeba Irfan along with Booker-shortlisted Avni Doshi and author Daniela Tully talk about  this beautiful form of writing which is all but dead. 

Writing a letter requires effort: actually putting pen to paper, thinking over what you want to say, constructing the sentences, saying what’s in your heart— can all this ever be captured in WhatsApp messaging? And then, there is the anticipation while waiting for a response. To me, instant messaging is like — well, slam, bam, thank you ma’am! 

Epistolary novels( or novels written in the form of letters) have been popular down the ages, the latest being The Correspondent by Virginia Evans. The question arises — can this new form of communication ( texting) become an art form? Can a novel be written entirely with WhatsApp messages as the text?

Well I for one shudder to think so! 

Is there any future then in letter-writing? As Avni Doshi pointed out, voice mail comes closest to the intimacy of a letter. The actual voice, the tone, the stress on words— this can never be replicated by text messages. 

Just as there is a counter movement against AI, I would love to see things go back in time and people actually writing letters to each other. Perhaps this is wishful thinking! 

Do you, deafr reader, think instant messaging can convey deep emotions like a letter can? Is it possible to be romantic or to show grief using this form? If you’re GenZ I’d especially love to hear your views.

(Image of MBRL from Wikipedia)