COMMUNIATION FAILURE

Do we know 1 September is observed as “World Letter Writing Day ” in this world of text and email we the people and our leaders have forgotten writing letters leave alone acknowledging the letters. Whether digital world has killed the art of writing and acknowledging communication. Many years back I was new to writing letters and while reading leading national daily, I noticed a small mistake in news item and wrote a letter to the editor of newspaper thinking that it would be ignored and imagine it era of typewriter and within few days I was surprised to receive thank and apology letter not by some one in the office but Resident editor of the newspaper and was none other well known journalist late Mr Prabhash Joshi.
During my working years, every communication was considered important and had to be acknowledged. I have seen our company Chairman will make it a point to acknowledge communication that are addressed to him either by name or otherwise. He would even acknowledge wedding and social invites which he used to get in large numbers. The reply would simple and crisp, it would either yes I will make or otherwise. Even ,briefly I left the company, I continued the habit of sharing some interesting piece of articles with him and I would promptly get a reply to my letters. It is not that he had plenty of time to respond to each letters, but he had culltivated the habit of sparing time for replying communication.
In the modern tech world and in spite of having fast communication mode, we don’t get a simple acknowledgement to our emails sent to Ministers. Last year, I sent a mail to former Education Minister Mr Ramesh Pokriyal (Nishank) concerning the plight of textbook Publishers in India who provide direct and indirect employment to lakhs (if not crores).. I didn’t even get an acknowledgement, not even from his battery of assistants, leave alone a reply. A similar letter to the Finance Minister remains unacknowledged. When I shared this information with one of my former colleagues, he responded that the ministers get thousands of mails, how can I expect acknowledgement or reply. While I can understand this, why can’t those assist them sort them as not so important,t or otherwise and drop a reply. The only acknowledgement I received was from the apex court appointed panel which has issued a public notice inviting suggestions and opinion on new farm law.
Even until the 1980s the leaders and high officials used to send a small reply even to those who simply sent them birthday greetings or greetings on important National Days. My younger brother who had cultivated the habit of sending greetings to many leaders including the President of India, PM, Chief of Armed forces and many others had hundreds of responses from each one of them and in the process he ended up working for one of the well known politician. Leave alone the government, even corporate have forgotten to respond to the customers or their well wishers. Nowadays, they don’t even allow us to write mail, instead asking us to fill up a standard format of complaint/grievance box and once they get it, we simply get an automated reply which simply shares a complaint number clearly reminding us not to reply.
Our leaders, those in power or otherwise and their assistants who help them to draft letters have probably forgotten the art of communication. Now every communication is through Twitter and no wonder former Congress President and MP Rahul Gandhi simply for the sake of being news allow his social media manager to tweet on his behalf without understanding the ground reality. During Covid in 2020 and 2021 when government was unable to take call on whether to conduct NEET or not due to divide among parents group “Postpone NEET” was coming out from handle when he was not even aware how many students are appearing for their second or even third attempt to improve their ranks? Of course similar blurred communication from others has become common I would like to conclude with the following letter “I am thrilled with the perfumes. Thank you so much. I don’t normally use perfume and am so cut off from the “chic” world that I do not even know these, but certainly experiment with them. Please do not hesitate to write or to come see me when you want to convey any views – favourable or critical”. This is a letter from late PM Ms Indira Gandhi to legendary JRD Tata which went viral in social media a few months back. Many may claim that she may have simply signed the letter by her Secretary.
The question is do we have such leaders or even highly paid Secretaries who can draft this kind of letter? Having worked in the private sector throughout my working career, only few had the art of communicating well and as years passed even that was lost by time I completed long innings.