Sudha Devi Nayak
All letters are memorials, personal epistles, where we are privy to the thoughts and emotions of the writer; and impersonal, where they celebrate history and culture. Here, we have a selection by the acclaimed historian, Simon Sebag Montefiore, from ancient to modern times, noble and inspiring, despicable and disturbing, some exquisite works of literature, some brutal and cold, and some just heart-breaking.
From love letters, to calls of liberation, declaration of war, to reflections on death, these letters give us an insight into the workings of the great and small minds, the illustrious and the anonymous.
George Orwell’s Animal Farm, his masterpiece and a satire on the evil influence of power in a terrorist state, did not make the cut when TS Eliot was publisher of Faber and Faber. Eliot, in his letter, explains to Orwell that though this was a distinguished piece of writing, it was not politically correct at the time. Montefiore calls it an embarrassing mistake in publishing history. The letter Mahatma Gandhi wrote to Hitler was the ultimate meeting of good with evil. Gandhi counsels him against the continuation of war and does not mince words, when he says, “Many of your acts are monstrous and unbecoming of human dignity.” Gandhi says Hitler leaves no legacy for his people to be proud of.
The letter of Abraham Lincoln to his General, Ulysses S. Grant, is noteworthy. While congratulating him for his victory in a battle of the civil war, he also apologises for being completely in the wrong about it, displaying a magnanimity and humility so characteristic of him.
There is the graciousness of Jacqueline Kennedy who in the midst of the tragedy of losing her husband to an assassin, thanks Russian premier Nikita Khrushchev in an elegantly worded letter for sending a representative to the funeral and for wife Nina Khruschev’s presence at the American embassy for signing the book of mourning. An example of grace, even while under pressure.
There is the appeal of Winston Churchill in a letter to American President Roosevelt for help to combat the crisis of the world war, full of defiance and also displaying an iron resolve, “Our intention is, whatever happens, to fight on to the end in this island.” There are also letters of dictators and tyrants like Mao Zedong that launches the Cultural Revolution by exhorting students to attack their superiors. There are letters from Joseph Stalin and Vladimir Lenin who encourage the killing of the innocent, and Hitler whose letter to Mussolini that is full of swaggering, self-importance and delusions of his greatness and of his barbarous decision to launch the cruellest war in history.
There is the letter by Babur to his son Humayun, urging him to rule a country of diverse creeds with a sense of tolerance. His advice is to promote Islam through kindness rather than oppression which would serve today as well, in the midst of religious conflict and bigotry. Aurangzeb’s letter to his son Muhammud Azam Shah is full of remorse that he had not protected the empire, lived a life of futility and that he is leaving with feelings of inadequacy. Winston Churchill, in political limbo, when he was divested of his position as first Lord of Admiralty, writes to wife Clementine, asks her that, in the event of his death, she must take charge as his literary editor, and expresses his deep love for her: “You taught me how noble a woman’s heart can be,” he says, and adds that, in another world, he will be on the lookout for her.
Leonard Cohen, the singer poet, bids farewell to his muse and lover Marianne when she is dying. “Safe travels, old friend. See you down the road.” An old man, he died soon after. The most heart- rending is the Goodbye letter from the death camps of the holocaust, of a wife, Vilma Grunwald, with no claims to name or fame, who goes to her execution with one of her sons. Her last words to her husband are: “Stay healthy and remember my words that time will heal. I will be thinking of you and Misa.“
In today’s world with emails, texts and tweets, where only essentials count, letters are rarely written and we have lost the power and sanctity of words.