The 'must-read' Open Letters
Everyday these days, when I open my ‘social account’ to get a daily dose
of ‘happenings in the world’ (or should I say others’ lives), one of the
‘must-reads’ is an “Open letter”… someone on my friends list would have cared
to share some open letter, adding his/her own endorsement of it… Open letters
are in great vogue these days… and are widely being used as a medium to make a statement
or to communicate a statement or to just write a bunch of statements… well
researched, thesaurus-ed statements… written by multifarious breed of people to
another multifarious breed… and that gives an assorted variety of letters… most
common ones and also repetitive (now boring!) ones written authoritatively to
the highest authorities of the country like the Chief Minister, the Prime
Minister, the President, infact the entire House of Parliament… but the
interesting ones are discourses and sermons to the likes of Khan superstars, to
fellow Indians, to one Mark Zuckerberg, to whole of China, to James Bond, to
ISIS, to Chetan Bhagat, to British Airways, to junior Laloo Yadavs, to
‘so-called’ intellectuals/liberals, to THE Indian Cricket team, to Putin, to
Sabrimala temple, to Bajirao’s descendents, to the disgraced son, to
terrorists, to the statue of Liberty, to the cows and to the pigs… some are
intense, some absurd, some powerful, some amusing, some compelling, some
dreary… all in all such an assorted variety of letters and recipients makes for
a mixed genre of content, from drama to satire, from tragedy to comedy, from
crime to fantasy from history to mystery…
In my view, onslaught of such open letters has its own benefits… people
who want to get heard, but don’t get invited to any platform for debates, have
found a medium to express (or get even!)… plus unlike the open debates, where
agility in response is prime, this medium gives enough time to think,
(re)search, collate, sleep over, improvise and then publish… and reach the
intended recipients via the world-wide-web, in the process giving them enormous
glare and limelight...
Now, if the topic is something I am completely neutral to, these letters
are huge entertainment to read, especially if there is a thread of open letter
and responses to it… if the topic is one that I personally do have an opinion
on, I want my view to be heard… and since no one will ever invite me to discuss
about it on prime time, next thing I want to do is write an open letter either
openly supporting or openly demonizing the writer and his views… while the
thought stays on my mind, next day I see yet another open letter with exactly
my thoughts… so I never really got a chance so far, to shine in the aura of an
open letter.. nevertheless I thought of writing a note of thanks to all those
who have been writing these open letters…
“Dear composers of open letters,
You have been an integral part of my everyday breakfasts as that’s when
I find time to flick through your rantings… and they have been so engrossing
that the food is gulped down in measures proportionate to the gibberish, making
me feel bloated, both bodily and cerebrally… your letters expand the horizons
of my wisdom with your boundless imagination and perspectives… whether they
reach the intended recipients or not, be assured that they do reach me (though
you may not care), given my addiction to the ‘social accounts’ and personal
interest in controversial claptrap… Within me, I secretly hope these letters
someday become the mainstream medium, such that it completely silences the
shrill voices and noisy debates between loud men and women, anchored by
ostentatious Ornobs of the world…
In all my honesty, I am genuinely grateful to you for providing me with
my daily measure of ‘good reads’, with long multifarious sentences, using
erudite vocabulary, on contentious topics, providing unadulterated entertainment… I look forward to contributing
to the throng of open letters one day with my own pearls of wisdom…
Till then,
An
avid follower of your Open Letters”
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