What at first began as a letter of apology from a woman in Kerala to her brother has now turned into a record of sorts.
To assuage her younger brother, Krishnaprasad, 21, who lived in Idukki’s Peermedu, 250 km away and was upset that she did not wish him on World Brother’s Day (May 24), Thiruvananthapuram-based Krishna Priya, 28, ended up writing a 434-metre-long letter that weighs 5 kg.
Krishnaprasad got upset that his sister did not wish him and ignored his messages and calls. He even sent her screenshots of others who wished him on the day, which he said was “important to him as a brother”.
Angry, he even blocked her on WhatsApp.
Realising that her brother was irked, Priya started to pour out her feelings onto a letter.
“I completely forgot to wish him like I do every year. Our bond is very special. This time, I had a tight work schedule and it slipped my mind. Much later in the day when I saw his messages and the screen shots, I felt miserable,” Priya told News18.
She started to draft the letter to make up for the missed conversation and realised that what she wanted to say could not fit into an A4 size paper.
“When I realised that I needed more than a few sheets, I went to a stationery store and bought a bale. I bought 15 rolls and wrote on each of them to complete the letter in 12 hours starting May 25,” she said.
THE LETTER
“My letter starts with how I have no words to express how happy I am to have a brother like him in my life. I am truly blessed and that he is the greatest gift from God. I write about the day he was born to the various milestones we have shared together — his first walk, first meal, how we used to celebrate our birthdays together and be colour coordinated, have the same likes and dislikes in food up to his present life as an engineering student. All of this ran into several hundred pages,” she said.
She recalled the day she first saw him. “I was seven years old and he was this tiny lovely being in my hands who smiled at me,” Priya said over the phone.
The engineer said he was a tad late to speak compared to other kids, so she went to the temple every day to pray for him. “The day he started to speak, I was the happiest. I am more like his mother and he is a son to me,” she added.
The elder sister also has words of wisdom and advice for her “little brother”. “Our parents and I have a few expectations from him. My mother is a social worker, so we believe that if we earn Rs 100, we should contribute at least Rs 10 to society. I advised him to do so in the letter,” she said.
While writing came easy, mailing it was a real challenge. Having written on 434 metres, with each roll 30-metre long, Priya used tape and gum to roll it into a box.
“At the post office, it weighed 5.27 kg and they were excited when they heard my story,” she added.
It was not just the sheer size of the letter, but the act that surprised the brother.
“He is so proud of me and says that he never expected anything like this. He hasn’t stopped talking about it to his friends and is so excited,” Priya said, giggling.
She has applied to the Guinness World Records for the longest letter ever written and is awaiting a confirmation.
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