Thirty One Pandemic Letters of Loss & Love by Bijayalaxmi Nanda and Sangita Misra details how letter-writing saved a friendship during the pandemic

The Covid-19 pandemic was difficult for everyone — for some more than others. But family and friends, those near and far, kept us company, in person and over social media. For Bijayalaxmi Nanda and Sangita Misra, two friends who met at 13 years of age, grew up together in Cuttack, Odisha, and moved to different cities in their adulthood (New Delhi and New York respectively), letters to each other helped. In Nanda’s words to Misra, “Let me heal you and, through you, I heal as well.” Thirty One Pandemic Letters of Loss & Love (Rs 599, Har-Anand publishing) reflects on a time when loved ones consoled spiraling feelings.

Punctuated by poems, pieces of conversations and lovely illustrations, this book celebrates the quotidian joys of life amidst panic and fear: childhood memories, husbands’
experiments with gourmet cooking, the awkwardness of modern-day texting, Zoom meetings and female friendships. In between, there are reflections on racism in America; on fairness creams and their false promises.

In hindsight, these reflections might seem trivial or privileged. But they bring back the horrors of a lockdown when any communication with loved ones brought solace. These letters gave hope to two friends living worlds apart. To us, it’s a reminder of the struggle we endured and fought back against.