Sunday 9 November 2014

Preserving Memories


 Eversince the much applauded digital revolution, memories have become about pictures and screenshots of conversations. We welcomed smart phones ever so happily and there's nothing wrong with it.

But remember the time when we'd write letters? When we'd pass bits and pieces of paper to have a conversation with someone in school. It'd have to go through rows and rows of people till it finally reached the person you intended to send it to. Remember the days when gifts were more about handmade cards and apologies were written down with lots of sad faces?
Those were the days.

I'm a self confessed phone addict. My parents have declared to family and friends that my phone is as important as one of my limbs, and I agree with that shamelessly. Not that I'm proud of it, but well, it's just something that's well, true and I can't really deny it. Having said that, my biggest weakness is handwritten notes and handmade gifts. Nothing screams "You matter to me" like handmade gifts. 
Anyone can sashay into a store and pick up a bottle of perfume or a printed birthday card. Irrespective of how intricate it is or how expensive it is, it seems worthless in front of something that took time, patience, effort and love.

I preserve movie tickets in the form of memories. They sit around in my purse till the print fades out and all that's visible is the name of the theater. Even after that's smudged the two tiny fragments of paper mean more to me than anything. When I look at them, it all comes back to me.

Every letter anyone has ever written to me sits in a box in my drawer. I'm a sucker for anything that's handwritten.
Every year someone asks me what I want for my birthday, I tell them to write me something. Anything. It doesn't have to be an essay or an anthology. Something as simple as a vivid memory we shared a decade ago is enough to cause my heart to flutter and eyes to tear up.

I've always made it a point to write people letters, cause there's no better way to express yourself than writing them letters. When I saw my best friend after eight long months, I wrote her a letter and although her attention span of reading barely expands to a minute, I could see that it meant a lot to her too.

Writing Facebook posts for someone's birthday is touching, but writing the same on a piece of paper is moving.

I draw strength from the letters people write to me every time I hit a low in my life. I draw them out and make it a point to read each of them to the last word. There's nothing as assuring as someone telling you how they feel about you and nothing as empowering as being able to relive it word by word.

I agree that it's a busy life and your schedule is jammed from minute to minute. But the next time you buy someone a gift, or a card, make sure you jot down a little note along with it. Because believe me, that's something they'll preserve.

Taking pictures is great, but framing it and gifting it for someone to look at everyday is better. Memories are made so you can cherish them. Storing them away in a folder in your laptop or your smart phone isn't the way. Prop them up where you can see them every day and smile. Smile, because there's always someone who would do anything to see that one smile. And if that's not something worth remembering, what is?