Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Chain letters and mails...

Long long time ago, the preferred (and cheapest) method of communication used to be postcards (these cards, which had for years gone through a colorful evolution process in India, are almost "extinct" now). One thing I distinctly remember about postcards was something which I now know as chain letters.

I remember, in those days, once in a while we used to get a postcard asking us to make 20 copies of itself and send them to 20 people within a week. The card used to be dotted with names of gods and goddesses. It also almost invariably cited incidents of people who benefited by doing so, albeit with warnings of dire consequences (aka "bad luck for the rest of your life") if the recipient failed to oblige.

Back then, I used to find it really funny... I never could figure out how, by just duplicating copies of postcards, anyone can get to stand benefited (except the postal department, of course). Forget the "superstition" part of it... Doing the exercise of copying postcards and sending them to your "well-wishers" was real fun!!!

Chain letters are back with a vengeance, only in a new techno-avatar. They have now taken the form of e-mails... Their confluence is called chain mail, for obvious reasons... For a decent explanation of the types of chain mails, read this! :))

You have to admit: people make really good and clever use of technology, especially in India. The ever-prevailing confusion between superstition and faith ensures that such gimmicks tick. Add to it the fact that there are (still) a large number of people willing to spend their time and money on such frivolous matters.

One thing going strong in favor of chain mails is the electronic nature of e-mail, which makes it very easy to duplicate them. The sender has the convenience of the Forward button and the recipients have the convenience of the Trash and Delete buttons. Can it get more polished than this? ;-)

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