Kabootar ja ja ja has evolved into pings and notifications. That happy feeling of receiving a warm letter is rare. But you can’t deny that there’s a personal touch that only letters can offer. Letters also allow you to be creative, and if needed, discreet. When my mother moved to Mumbai after getting married, her younger brother wrote her a letter in reverse. He held the page in front of a mirror as he wrote; she did the same when she received it and read it. This mirror writing and reading connected the two of them despite being in different cities.

Bollywood too has strung together many relationships (and songs) via letters. Whether it was a soldier receiving ‘sandese’ from home in Border (1997) or Simran reading out a letter to her maa and bauji in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995), only to find out a relative in India had found a match for her. Now that it’s easy to call and see your loved one on a video call via a device, writing letters has found a new purpose.