With reference to... Apropos of... I read with interest. Years ago, I used to be at it furiously tapping away letters to editors on my carbon-greased typewriter. I had felt strongly about the neglected Mumbai potholes and just despised that scandalous politician in my constituency. I needed to vent badly.

At the crack of dawn, unfurling the newspaper hurriedly to the middle sheet could either fizzle into an inaudible sigh or a whoop of self-fulfilment, seeing my articulations frozen in print. The fact that it did not look anywhere similar to the letter I originally wrote was a different story.Why do some readers painstakingly pour out their feelings in these columns? Are letter writers much like steaming kettles seeking to give vent to their thoughts, crying out for attention? Are they powered by a self-serving need for publicity? Could it be selfless altruism that propels them with a hope that vigilant authorities would take note of public grievances and redress them?

I used to once write profusely to these columns. Periodicals and newspapers crowded our living room as I scrutinised these for anything compelling I could comment on. Often my 500-word letter would be cruelly slashed down to the 10-word published punch line. It felt silly to have someone tell you that your tail looked better than your head and torso, and the tail was all that mattered!

Some international publications go at this with occupational frenzy. Even if you stay obedient to their norms of ‘concise, 200-word’ epistolary injunctions, words and meanings are often twisted beyond imagination, tailored to suit editorial opinion. Embarrassingly, only my name would bear any semblance to the original piece. Much like the transformation of hominids to Homo sapiens, editorial communication has evolved from that humble typewritten paper to a sleek word-processed printout. These days, bits and bytes from a hand-held email device course through the ether to a cushioned chair somewhere in New Delhi. With the recent ‘Letter of the Week’ award that the Indian Express has instituted, letter writers have been given a degree of validation that they indeed play a key role.

... contd.