The fetish for cards and more...
By Renee Ranchan

TILL a few mornings ago, I thought letter-writing was on its way out, if not extinct. My mailbox is usually stuffed with bills — they somehow have a way of multiplying — or the usual junk-mail. Junk-mail, the bane of city life. Buy-one-get-one-free bludgeoning marketing mantras that till now I must airily say I have not fallen prey to. But a semi-friend (what else would you call someone more than an acquaintance yet quite not a pal?) three Saturdays ago got a portable TV for buying a super-duper fridge, I think. In light of that I just might stop junking my junk-mail. Anyhow to return to my mailbox. Of course, I do get cards which over the last couple of years I seem to be receiving more of. I bump into my mailman many mornings. In a matey voice, I ask him if there is any mail. The man shakes his head in the not-the-kind-of-mail-you-hope-for way and moves on. Of course, I know that but it has become a ritual with us. The saying, ‘continuity is the greatest believer’ comes to mind, no? Before rabbiting away from this postman listen to this:

At the start of the year, he advised me to get an STD connection, Presumptuous? Helpful, if you ask me. Did not want to take his moment away by telling him that the phone tab of all bills he delivered was the heaviest.... So with this history you can quite understand why I thought epistolary communication, was long gone. However, the good news is that, that is not quite the case. For some days now I have a house-guest who religiously spends the pre-lunch (or post-breakfast, as you please) period writing long letters to her family, extended included. May her tribe increase!

Must however, interrupt myself for a minute.... This lady does not belong to another world nor is she some ancient fossil living by another code. What I am trying to say is she by no means belongs to the ‘sniffing salts, where is my lace kerchief and fountain pen’ generation. (It is another story that I rather like fountain pens and the waft of a fresh ink-etched sheet!) To further acquaint you with this guest, she has promised to give me a crash course in computers. There, that should tell you that she does not have a pre-fax (make that pre-E-mail) mentality. And boy, does she write? Remind me to ask her to make yours truly a beneficiary of her letter-write. I am, however, curious to know whether her family has the time to go through these longish letters. And if that is not the case, you have heard of a 10-second attention span soon to be filtered down to a nanosecond — an MTV product? Yes, have you not seen the way channel-surfing has become a reflex? Hide the remote, it shall help! But wait a second, here I am well into this piece and still have not got to the topic of the day — does that not sound like I am running a restaurant, you know, the soup of the day? Next time I will write with this memo in my mind: preface should not gulp story. For now though a few more things before we get to the point.... With Divali round the corner, spring-cleaning is in full swing. (A neighbour in her honey baritone informs me that I am lagging far behind, her home had already been painted and I am still hunting for a painter. Do you know any way one can recover from such a put-down with aplomb?) Forget the paint — for the past few evenings I have been carrying on an operation clean-up, turning things inside out. Just hope boy Friday does not decide to fall ill till after Divali. I want everything to be perfect when Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, visits us. Someone did say, ‘You can never be thin or rich enough’. (I think that was Fergie, Princess Di’s sister-in-law) However, do definitely agree with the rich part. The thin theory, do not buy it. Another one of those social seismic shifts, MTV accompaniments. Fat-proof yourself commands in the not-an-inch-to-pinch vain are the cause of anorexia, bulimia, both... that lean hungry look, is attractive? You tell me! Girls only manage to look sadder and more damp by the day. Anyhow, must trudge along. Divali involves shopping — shan’t tell you about my kitsch-loving soul and the cute-as-a-button diyas I bought and that includes greeting cards as well. And so like all good hosts, I asked my guest whether she would like to pick up some Divali cards as well. That was two rainy mornings ago. Her response: A curt "no, thank you. Card-centric, I am not". This in a headmistressy tone. Excuse me? However, this did get me thinking — card centric... I did, if my memory has not already together collapsed, mention my mailbox, more so now, is crammed with cards. Indeed, we had become card-crazy. Yes, you guessed it, that is the topic at hand. No wonder there are cards for everything. A quick sample: Birthday and New Year ones have been always there. Deepavali, Raksha-Bandhan, Holi yes, have been ubiquitous for over five years. But Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Valentine cards, not to forget Happy Independence Day ones? (Not buying one, announced my young 16-year-old neighbour, meant taking on the unpatriotic mantle of not voting. That was way back in August. Therefore, hurriedly bought one with her. Did not want to be dismissed as a ‘pint-sized patriotism person’ by the teenager. And they talk of peer pressure!) But listen on: Friendship Day? Why, till last month did not even know there was such an occasion! Doctor’s Day, Happy New House, Congrats on the New Car cards?? Come to think of it I could actually compile a directory of cards. Now dare you run away with my idea! But a card which really, re-eally bold me over was a ‘Happy Divorce’ one. (Cross my heart, I am not making this up!) Someone told someone I know about this card and to prove its existence one fine evening showed up with it! A thought: Want to roll in money? (Silly question, who does not?) Well then, open a card shop. I always come out of the card shop I go to, with crushed toes. My young neighbour has perfected the art of tip-toeing so she generally is spared from crumpled toes. A crowded shop, what more would a shopkeeper want? I promise I would open one had I the brains for accounts. My brain, maths-proof! However, some questions: Cards, why have they become an inextricable part of our lives for all occasions and non-occasions?. If you have lost your tongue, just push a card across? Can we no longer string our own feelings together? Or is it that we do not feel, have gone glacier in other words, and so the guilt of it makes us manufacture emotions via cards? Ready-made reliance, so strong? Instant foods, instant coffee soon to be followed by instamatic nirvana? Enough psychobabble! To chug back to my shopping expedition — I did buy those Divali cards, blank ones where I would have to write out my own ‘wishing you a bright Divali’ wishes. Not just clinically ‘Dear so and so’ and sign off, letting the card do the talking. Of course, my young neighbour ‘decided’ with a cozy laugh, that I would require her expertise... And it surprised me not a bit that once in this glittery store the lass forgot all about me and picked up 45 cards in less than 5 minutes. (Promise, this no exaggeration!) Card-fetish, that is the only way you would describe it, what do you think?

But I have run out of time — time, yes it really flies, that is not a mere cliche. So until next time...

‘My family is my lifeline’
By Suchitra Pillai

SUCHITRA PILLAI is a fun-loving, easy-going extrovert who is extremely loyal to her friends and who believes in filling up the one life that one has with all the opportunities one gets. I shall now stop writing as if I am writing about someone else because it is me that I am talking about!! At present a veejay with Channel [V] and also doing a few million other things along side that, I firmly believe that everyone can combine a full-fledged career with doing all that is close to one’s heart too.

I am a South Indian from Kerala and I’ve lived all my life in Bombay until six years ago when I went to live in London. I came back last year and have been with Channel [V] since then. My educational background is electronics engineering, in which I have a BE degree, but I’ve never used that in my life. No regrets though because I have done so much more in other fields that I don’t feel bad about not using my degree. I worked as a hostess in a restaurant in London for over a year and a job like that taught me humility and helped me make a lot of contacts and friends.I met a lot of famous people there and seeing how humble they all are, I had decided that if ever I get involved in the showbiz field, the most important thing is to always be grounded and always know what is real and what is not. Being involved in the media, it is very easy to get carried away and that’s where my friends and family come in. I still have friends from my childhood days who know the real me so that if ever I tend to go overboard, they bring me back down to earth!!

My family and friends are most definitely my lifeline and I would be totally lost without them. The stage I am at in life now is one I wouldn’t exchange for anything else. My job with Channel [V] is really fulfilling because there is a lot of creative freedom given to me for my show Simply South. The show itself has not been made for only South Indians. On the contrary, it is to give the rest of the world a feel about what the South is all about. I would best describe it as "the best of the South for the rest of the world". Other than my work at [V] I am working for a new TV series for Zee TV which should be aired in September. I am also busy writing the lyrics for my Hindi pop album with HMV records. This album is an intrinsic part of me because I have trained in music and I have been singing since I was seven and I have always been part of the other people’s projects before this opportunity. I have done videos for Apache Indian (Arrange Marriage), Bally Sagoo (Dil Cheez), sang with Kula Shaker (Govinda) in London and with Raschid Taha (Tabla Motown) in France, did a video for Oasis (What’s the story) and now its my turn to make my own videos and fulfil another dream of mine.

I truly believe that life is all about trying to fulfil your dreams, taking the opportunities that come to you and making the most of the one life you have. And if at the end of the day, there are still some unrealised or unfulfilled dreams, it doesn’t matter because in your heart you know that you did all you could and you made that effort to make your life one that touched the lives of other people.