We act as an intermediary. We give them some dates and ask them to send us the first letter by this date so we can forward it to their partner. After that it’s free-flowing conversation – there are times when people have developed friendships and communicated for six, seven months, through the letter exchange. There are also times when they don’t exchange more than one letter the first time, and then months later they remember that feeling of writing a letter was so nice, and sometimes they want to get back to the person. Surprisingly, during the pandemic, we thought that people would be tired of doing things online, we’ve seen an upsurge in the number of people who’ve been taking part in the letter exchange. They’ve actually been responding, and our bounce rate is at the lowest it has ever been. I: What are your opinions on letters, albeit virtual, as a form of communication, and expressing one’s thoughts – as basically, a medium of expression and communication? N: Personally, I feel that there’s a lot of consciousness when I’m opening up to someone and they can see me. When it comes to letter-writing, you can articulate your thoughts better because you don’t have to say it at that very moment, you can write it gradually, as stuff comes to you. And because the other person is not right there in front of you, at least you can’t see them judging you. I feel like letter-writing is a better medium and emotional outlet, rather than talking face-to-face. A: I find letters very intriguing because you take full liberty to keep 88
Chaicopy | Vol V | Issue II
