Revived Letters

After years of huge reliance on the modern tools of communications, Kashmir is gradually returning back to the age-old tradition of letter writing, reports Muhammad AR

- Muhammad AR

The unprecedented telecommunications blockade in Kashmir since August 5, has left almost a million families in the restive region disconnected. This has led people to adopt the pre-telecom and internet modes of communication by sending letters and deploying messengers with a “word of mouth”.

Although these modes of communicating are time-consuming and considered pretty dull, but that is where it is left to, for now. Kashmir is literally reviving and rediscovering the past.

During the second week of the now-a-month old lockdown, a Srinagar suburban family was desperate to communicate with the in-laws of their daughter who was supposed to get married on August 20. The families live just seven kilometers apart.

Ghulam Mohiuddin, the family head said that due to the emerging situation, then, the family wanted to convey to their daughters’ in-laws about some changes in the marriage schedule. “After making several unsuccessful attempts to reach out to the family, I wrote a long letter addressed to the beginning with the apologies for failing to come myself,” he said. Mohiuddin handed over the letter to the driver of a Srinagar Municipality vehicle who was in the locality on a cleaning drive. “The driver took the letter and got a response as well, the next day.”

For the first two weeks, the restrictions remained very intense blocking the public movement. Although the restrictions were eased afterward, however, the residents said that communicating with their relatives in different districts was still very difficult.

On August 23, a Srinagar resident Nasreena, said that she developed some complicacies. Nasreena is 15 weeks pregnant.

“I wanted my sister on my side for a few days,” Nasreena said. “But the problem was that it was nearly impossible to reach to her as she lives in a south Kashmir district.”