Sunday, September 26, 2010

The first step

I am an excited youngster of just 59 years old as I take baby steps into the world of blogosphere. This was never my cup of tea as I grew in a world where letter writing was considered an art. I had fine tuned it thanks to the opportunities I had in my formative years. Some of the great letter writers - obviously - were my close ones the best being my father C.D.Govinda Rao who not only wrote exceptionally informative and loving letters but they were instructive as well. This was perhaps very much expected as he was the first PhD in English literature from the good old University of Mysore.Leaving the safe heaven of the warm house hold at the young age of 21 years (1972) I had the privilege of corresponding with my father for 12 years till he passed away into an eternal silent world.

I knew the pleasure of writing and receiving letters ever since I was 9 years old because of my cousin C.R.Nagaraja Rao who had ventured out of the country in true search of knowledge and not for the love of dollars. He started by sending picture post cards with a few lines written at the back side from all most all the places he visited in the US of A as a research scientist and one of the earliest employee of NASA. The names of the places and the pictures of the monuments had been so well hidden in the deep recess of my mind that when I actually had the opportunity to see those places in the year of 2007 they all looked so familiar !! This is the magic of letter writing. Well to say thanks to my cousin Nagaraj then was not possible as he too had joined my father in 2001. I did tell my Vainee (sister in law) that my visit to her place in Virginia was like a pilgrimage for me and I meant it wholeheartedly.

Another person whose memory I cherish with respect to letter writing is my late uncle C.Ranganatha Rao more famously known as C.R.Rao in the circle of advertising to people who were active in this field some 5/6 decades earlier. His letters were mostly written to my father which my mother and all my siblings used to read in that order. It used to be more like a treatise on all things under the sun with special emphasis on Kannada literature and the writers .The brothers between them knew all most all the writers from close quarters right from Kuvempu to SL Bhyrappa who was an emerging author then.The so called path breaking writers like UR Ananthamurthy and Lankesh were my fathers students and friends of my uncle and this helped them to know the ideas and ideals of the author better. How I wish I had preserved those letters to-day. It would have been a master piece on the growth of Kannada literature in the decades 60s and 70s.

I think I will stop my stray thoughts for the time being as my son - a regular blogger - feels readers might just give a go by if the thoughts are too stretched. Will come back soon on letter writing and a lot more.

11 comments:

  1. Great write up uncle..
    Welcome to blogosphere.. I hope you keep taking more steps here..

    --Shashank

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  2. Do not listen to your son. Stretch your thoughts as much as you can. It's pleasure to read about yesteryear especially about letters, inland letter, telegrams etc as that connected people like nothing else during those days.

    Welcome Aboard Sir.

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  3. A very hearty welcome to the world of blogs, Sir...! It is pretty admiring to see young people your age coming here n sharing your experiences...

    Keep up the 'Stray Thoughts' coming...! :)

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  4. Hi Appa,

    I have never had the privilege to read my grand dad's letters. How I wish he lived a little longer. I however do vaguely remember reading Nagaraja uncle's picture post cards.

    Something I do remember extremely well are the letters that you used to write when you were posted in Bihar and Maharashtra.

    I am glad you started blogging! Great way to pass your thoughts on to generations to come and great way to etch your views in a space that will not catch the dust of time.

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  5. And yes.. Now that you have got the hang of blogging, and like my friend Vee mentioned you don't have to listen to your son anymore :-)

    Let your thoughts soar high and handsome! :-)

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  6. Giri Uncle,
    This is awesome, its pleasure reading The First Step.:)
    Waiting to see more from you..

    Cheers,
    Pooja

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  7. @shashhh - @Vee - @Ferrero Sam -
    Thanks for your welcome note. With youngsters like you being so supportive I will not only take more steps but might start running too!

    @Varun;Just like my father inspired me to be a good letter writer you have inspired me to be a blogger. Thanks dear boy. It certainly makes me happy to know that you enjoyed my letters of yester years and am sure the blogs too would not disappoint you.

    @Pooja ; Glad you liked the blog.I promise you will see a lot more.

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  8. Dear Appa,
    I had never imagined you as a blogger, but I am glad you have started it!Loved your post!
    I am proud that I have, rather Amma has preserved Thatha's letters written to me. I still have the letters you/Amma/Varun wrote to me when I was in Chennai just after my wedding!Letters have their own charm...but e-mails from loved ones is also great these days.
    Keep writing...am sure Archith will read these once he can start reading and will be proud to have a Thatha like you!:-))

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  9. Giri,Good that you have started this blog.I always read the e-mails that you sent to us and commented that you write very well and the art of writing runs in the family.

    I hope Srinath gets inspired from you because he is a good writer too but doesn't.

    Vidya

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  10. @Chaitu - Glad dear girl that you liked me in my new role as a blogger. As you say e-mails too are welcome but letters beat the mail as they are easier to carry around.It will be a great day in my life when Archith reads the blog and types his comments.
    @Vidya - Thanks for your compliments.Hope Srinath too starts writing soon.

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  11. uncle waiting for 2nd step.....

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