Everyday Musings > Keep in touch

I had a couple of pen pals when I was in school. I'd sit up all night, and fill up colourful stationary with sketches and drawings and little stickers, and write about what's been up with life, add a poem or two, some quotes, sign off with a big 'keep in touch', seal the letter with lots of stamps and ask my father to post it on his way to work.

Then would begin the agonising wait for a reply. Rushing back from school and checking the post box every day, catching hold of the postman and making him look and relook in his bag till I was sure he hadn't missed my mail. Then one day, there it would be, waiting on the dining table, freshly stamped, well travelled and bursting to fill me in on the latest news from my friend. Except my mother would insist I had lunch first. Hmph.

The joy of receiving and writing letters, of telling a friend what was up in your life, putting in photographs of boyfriends and pets, that was fun. Today, I have technology to help me. Internet to send mails and receive replies in an instant. SMS to keep in touch every second. Can't remember the last time I mailed a letter.

But of late, even the regular mails have stopped, and I've realised I stay in touch with friends via status messages. On Facebook, gmail and Twitter. And there somehow isn't any anxiety of not keeping in touch with them.

Just browsed through today's latest on friends.

Kal says "How far is new years??"

Dev is not.

Ra who's still saying "Happy Diwali"

Sh who says "doesn't mail anyone anymore"

Amb's being thoughtful "Recycling is good, but pre-cycling - cutting out packaging in the first place and buying only what you need - is better."

Pa who has his ongoing playlist as his status message, so there's always a song playing in his life.

Me is "groggy from all those meds"...and I think I should sms her, she isn't well.

Ami who's raising money for children in need.

Ad who thinks "the leaves are talking"

Ma who says "damn, I'm lazy!! I copy pasted a smiley!!"

Meet was feeling blue, but it's fading away.

Or my namesake who tells me "a hammock, a good book and a big, fat glass of orange juice is what I need."

I read a story as a child, of a girl who could read people's thoughts. It would be something like this I guess. It's like they're around me, lounging in the same house, but in different rooms, and I hear them shuffling about, muttering, and know exactly what they're up to. It's amazing, being part of their lives, without being there at all. Without actually keeping in touch.

A few days ago, I received a package. Stamped and addressed to me, tucked into my door handle, waiting for me to get home. I opened it, fixing a snack, expecting it to be an invite for an event a friend was hosting, since invites and bills are the only things that come by snail mail nowadays. But inside was a beautiful Murakami diary for 2009 and tucked in its little pages was a lovely handwritten note from a friend, scrawled in Ink, on serene white paper with a Lotus trellis embossed around the border. The note said, 'Since you like surprises, and since everyone deserves a few'.

And she didn't end it with a 'keep in touch'. Didn't need to.