A box from back home


It’s been almost two years since we’ve met our families back home. With the fantastic blessing that is technology, we have managed to keep-up our spirits through video calls with our parents, siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins.

This afternoon, as I settled down to catch up on some work, the doorbell chimed. It was a courier delivery. The carton was big and fairly heavy.

I grew excited, because we’ve been eagerly awaiting this courier’s arrival from back home, lovingly despatched by my husband’s brother.

When my husband got home, we cut open the carton and for a moment there, the smell of home and our loved ones wafted through the air. It hit us then; how much we have missed visiting our family, a ritual we follow at least twice a year!

Soon, we delved into the box and took out its contents. In addition to the items we had ordered from back home, there were two gifts for me, a dress from my sister-in-law and a beautiful handwoven multi-purpose basket, made by her mother. I was in bliss.

The surprise letter in the basket

But the highlight was a handwritten letter from my sister-in-law, asking after us and giving us news from back home. I haven’t received a single letter in the last decade, after my Dad passed away. My Dad was an avid letter writer, and I have preserved every single letter that he has ever written to me.

There is something so beautiful about a handwritten letter. No email or phone message can ever make up for a surprise letter from back home. I feel so happy and so touched. I will treasure this letter.

11 thoughts on “A box from back home”

  3. That bag is beautiful, I remember they were so popular years ago. Hand written letters are the best. I used to write every week to my Doddamma in Bombay. She passed away last October. Where is home, if you don’t mind my asking ?

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  5. I had to comment on this as it’s one close to my heart. I was an avid letter writer too a long time ago. It started out with my brothers being sent to boarding school and mail being the only form of communication those days, my sister and I were forced by my mum to write to them at least once a month. Later I started enjoying getting a reply from them and that spurred me to be regular with my correspondence to them.
    Later on after marriage, my husband and I relocated abroad away from my parents. Missing them tremendously as it being the first time I was away from home, I wrote to my mum almost every other day. At times it would be about new experiences that I encountered but most times it would be just about my mundane daily activities. As my mother was not able to reply in English, she’d assign my sister to reply to my letters. When I finally moved back to where my parents lived, I came to know that she’d treasured each letter of mine and would reread them whenever she missed me.
    She passed away a few years later due to cancer. The irony is that I have all the mails that I wrote to her but none that ‘she’ wrote as I thought it didn’t matter since she did not write them personally.
    I used to write regularly to my mum in law too until phone calls took over all forms of communication.
    Nothing beats the thrill of hearing the postman’s bell announcing his arrival Yes, I do miss the good old days….

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    1. Thank you dear Rathi for sharing such absolutely heart warming memories. Every letter, every word is precious, for it takes us back down memory lane, to a time when technology had not invaded our lives, when our lives were simple ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤ Letters truly created so many deep bonds, right?

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