“Out of the depths of my happy heart wells a great tide of love and prayer for this priceless treasure that is confided to my life-long keeping.
You cannot see its intangible waves as they flow towards you, darling, but in these lines you will hear, as it were, the distant beating of the surf.”
--Mark Twain, writer, to Olivia Langdon, May 12, 1869.
Take a hint from one of the most popular storytellers the world has ever seen. A love letter is arguably the fastest car in the highway to love. So, when your words fumble and you feel low on confidence to say those magical words to your beloved, you may want to take the help of a pen and paper.
As we countdown to Valentine's Day, we bring you these real-life stories of men and women who have gathered their guts, (and their pens and notepads) to bring out their emotions to their beloved.
Dare to write!
Sumit Nath (name changed), 36, married, Kolkata
Initially, for sometime my love letters were like work reports, as I was not been able to express my heart out and was ignorant about how Sneha (his future wife) would react. My letters became 10-page reports. Where did I go? What did I do there? What did I eat? and so on.
But the fact is, I wanted to tell her how much I loved her.
So, after a long time, I dared to write I L U. Just that. Just three letters, I, L, U. Then in the following letter, I managed to write "I Love U" and then "I love you".
But my letters still remained work reports, until one day she replied, saying "how long will you keep sending your Biblical epistles?"
Only after that, I started putting my deepest thoughts in pen and paper. There were no computers to send e-mail or no mobiles to send text in those days. So I developed my writing skills!
It has been 15 years since, and even in the age of e-mails, I still feel handwriting letter to my love made me into a different person, a philosopher, poet and energetic hero.
PAGE_BREAK
Keep guessing!
Harsh Kumar, 19, New Delhi
This was probably one of the most spontaneous things I have ever done. I wrote it on the spot; all the right words just popped into my head somehow. It was written without using her name even once.
She read it, all her friends read it, all my friends read it, and then things just began falling into place.
So how did she know it was for her?
Well, it had enough references to things only me and her would know about, and a few of our friends, but that's it, nothing direct. Even now, there are people who think it's just a very general letter, it could be about anybody.
After that?
Well, it took a few sessions over the phone as well, but it was the note that convinced her that I was being genuine. She thought about it and she decided she reciprocated everything I'd said. It was a wonderful feeling.
Love, paani puri style!
Sunanda Panigrahi, 28, Pune
I will never forget the first love letter I got from a guy I was seeing in college. It was the corniest, cheesiest handwritten thing I ever laid eyes on, but I was floored. Why? Because of two things, one was the style in which he wrote, and the other was the way he presented it to me.
The letter started off with a poem, which he (allegedly) wrote himself. And then 100 reasons why he loved me. I was amazed at the way he remembered little things. It just brought out a very sensitive side to him.
Then, the way he presented it to me also caught me off guard. Some friends and I were having paani puri at the place where we usually have. And I was going to pay the man, he suddenly took out a long stemmed rose and gave it to me. I was half amused and almost offended at this behaviour. Then he took out the love letter and handed it to me. I turned as red as a beetroot. But it was a wonderful feeling.
Comments
0 comment