I check my in-box at least five times a day, and if there is any new mail for me, all I have to do is click the `reply' icon and I have everything readied for me to punch out my reply. This ease with which one can reply and keep in touch is among the primary advantages of e-mail.

It at least ensures that I communicate. That is of paramount significance to somebody like me, who is, by habit, an infrequent letter-writer. If I am busy right then, I can just dash off a line saying I'll get back later. I can mark out the mails I have not replied to, and do so at leisure. And if it is an important message, I'll attend to that immediately. At least I do not leave the other person hanging, waiting for a reply or wondering if I got the message or not.

Most significantly, I get to know immediately that the message has been delivered to the addressee, and whether there has been any problem in the communication link. This reliability is another impetus.

These matters of technicality aside, it is just another form of communication, and gets across what you want to say just like the others do.

And I fail to understand why people say the personal touch is missing. How? Ultimately it is you who is writing (typing), and you will put down your thoughts and feelings. Your choice of expressions are uniquely yours. So isn't that personal? I believe it's just a mind block that some people have against this electronic medium of communication.

Ever since I have had access to e-mail, I have almost stopped sending hand-written letters, unless I know that the person across values the written word tremendously, or if I have to sign cards. But even with cards, I send a majority of them via e-mail! I've been bitten by the electronic bug!

Citizen and home-maker
Despite having a computer at home, a 24-hour access to e-mail, and using it almost everyday to communicate with friends and family abroad, I still prefer sending and receiving hand-written mail.

Yes, I do agree that the e-mail is a convenient and dependable mode of getting in touch. But to `communicate' - in every sense of the word - I am convinced the handwritten form is so much more effective. For one, I believe that handwritten stuff represents the person, as writing by itself has some character. When I read mail written to me, I can gauge the sender's mood - whether he/she is agitated, upset, happy - the person sends an inkling of his frame of mind along with what he writes with his pen.

The choice of the letter-paper, the ink - all that is also characteristic and individual to the sender. Tell-tale signs like the way the person signs off, the doodles that may be scribbled alongside - all this is such a vital and dynamic part of communication. These kind of insights are not available when the letter comes by e-mail. They also seem so cut and dry in comparison: they all have the same address line on top, the same font, all of them look the same.