Handwriting - the extinct art

I suppose, getting a hand-written letter from a friend manyn't be one of the very usual thngs for you now. At least that's what I get to hear from all my friends. They invariably prefer e-mails, chats, phone-calls or SMSs to writing with pen. Handwriting, now, is perhaps an obsolete craft. I too can't completely deny that compared to the amount we used to do in our school or colleges, now, handwriting has got reduced to a luxury to be enjoyed once in a while. Even my habit of diary writing has got converted to electronic: BLOGs.

But the habit of writing and receiving handwritten letters has never quite died for me. I still have at least two pen friends. And if I don't really want to write to them, and my hands are itchin, I write to my father.

The extinction of handwriting as a form of art or craft is akin to the extinction of cheetahs or tigers. They are beautiful; and everybody would like them to be there somewhere. But as a species, they have proved themselves unfit for survival. People would have them live -- in zoos and jungles. But nobody keeps a tiger as a pet (except a for a cranky few). These species will have to go, sooner or later. A few enthusiasts can't save a species for ever, if it doesn't know how to suvive by itself.

Handwriting too will become an extinct practice. With the concept of paperless offices coming into fashion, pens will be driven out of their last shelter soon. Nobody can say if this is good or unfortunate.