good old greeting cards

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as i sit here picking up greeting card ideas to be sent to the aam-junta with love from the administration i wonder what happened to the family routine of sending greeting cards on diwali, or on new year.

when we were young it was a ritual that was very important as it gave us a vent for trying our cursives in the newest ways. papa would get us samples to choose from. we would debate about the last theme we had selected them on. some were chosen for the wordings that they carried, some for an appealing picture and some for a cause.

there were friends to be remembered and relatives too. a boss here and an aquaintence there. they all needed to be sent the season's greetings and their new year to be heralded in that awesome manner that the card conveyed.

we even kept a huge brown plastic bag to keep our favourite cards. some were birthday greetings, some were given by sentimental friends, some we made at home to wish ma-pa anniversary, some we traded with cousins. the bag would come in handy when we needed pretty pictures to decorate notebooks or diaries and at times make a collage for our room.

now the e-mail does it for us. there is no need to add a personal touch of your own hand. just a click and you are sorted, you could have wished the entire universe. will we ever get personal again?

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