TED2007
Lakshmi Pratury: The lost art of letter-writing
勒斯米柏維談「寫信」
Filmed:
Readability: 3.8
715,735 views
勒斯米柏維憶起手寫信件這個消逝的藝術，並且分享她父親生前親手寫給她的一些筆記。 她那簡短而動人的談話, 可能會啟發你開始動手寫信。
Lakshmi Pratury - Connector
Lakshmi Pratury is the host of The INK Conference and was the co-host of TEDIndia 2009. Full bio
Lakshmi Pratury is the host of The INK Conference and was the co-host of TEDIndia 2009. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:12
So I thought, "I will talk about death."
0
0
2000
我原先在想：「我會談論死亡。」
00:14
Seemed to be the passion today.
1
2000
2000
那似乎是我今天要跟你分享的主題。
00:16
Actually, it's not about death.
2
4000
2000
但事實上，我將分享的與死亡無關。
00:18
It's inevitable, terrible, but really what I want to talk about is,
3
6000
3000
死亡是不可避免而又令人愄懼的，但我真正想談論的是
00:21
I'm just fascinated by the legacy people leave when they die.
4
9000
3000
我被人們死去時所留下的遺產吸引著。
00:24
That's what I want to talk about.
5
12000
2000
這就是我想分享的主題。
00:26
So Art Buchwald left his legacy of humor with a video
6
14000
4000
如包可華(Art Buchwald) 透過影像留下他那一絲幽默
00:30
that appeared soon after he died, saying,
7
18000
2000
影帶在他死後隨即出現，說著：
00:32
"Hi! I'm Art Buchwald, and I just died."
8
20000
4000
「嗨! 我是包可華(Art Buchwald)，我剛剛死了。」
00:36
And Mike, who I met at Galapagos, a trip which I won at TED,
9
24000
5000
我透過TED的旅程，在加拉巴哥(Galapagos)遇到米可,
00:41
is leaving notes on cyberspace where he is chronicling
10
29000
4000
當時他透過互聯網在個人空間上記述
00:45
his journey through cancer.
11
33000
3000
他患上癌症的經歷。
00:48
And my father left me a legacy of his handwriting
12
36000
4000
而我的父親則透過一些信件和一本記事本
00:52
through letters and a notebook.
13
40000
2000
留下他那手寫的遺產。
00:54
In the last two years of his life, when he was sick,
14
42000
4000
這個生病了的爸爸在生命中的最後兩年
00:58
he filled a notebook with his thoughts about me.
15
46000
4000
把自己對我的看法都寫滿在記事本上。
01:02
He wrote about my strengths, weaknesses,
16
50000
3000
他寫下我的長處和短處
01:05
and gentle suggestions for improvement,
17
53000
4000
並提出一些能助我改正的方法
01:09
quoting specific incidents, and held a mirror to my life.
18
57000
6000
同時亦引用特殊的例子，為我的生活提供反思。
01:15
After he died, I realized that no one writes to me anymore.
19
63000
5000
在他離世後，我發現沒有人再寫信給我了。
01:20
Handwriting is a disappearing art.
20
68000
3000
書寫這門藝術正漸漸地消失。
01:23
I'm all for email and thinking while typing,
21
71000
3000
我平日會用電子郵件，也會一面思考一面打字
01:26
but why give up old habits for new?
22
74000
3000
但為何要為了新的事物而捨棄舊有的習慣?
01:29
Why can't we have letter writing and email exchange in our lives?
23
77000
4000
為何書信和電子郵件不能與我們的生活融合在一起?
01:33
There are times when I want to trade all those years
24
81000
6000
有一段時間我因為太忙碌而沒有坐下來跟我父親聊聊天
01:39
that I was too busy to sit with my dad and chat with him,
25
87000
4000
有時，我真的很想換回那幾年
01:43
and trade all those years for one hug.
26
91000
6000
然後再以那些時光來換爸爸的一個擁抱。
01:49
But too late.
27
97000
2000
可是已經太遲了。
01:51
But that's when I take out his letters and I read them,
28
99000
6000
但每當我拿出並細閱他的信
01:57
and the paper that touched his hand is in mine,
29
105000
3000
我感到與他緊密相連,
02:00
and I feel connected to him.
30
108000
3000
因為他觸摸過的那張信紙就在我手中。
02:03
So maybe we all need to leave our children
31
111000
4000
也許，我們需要留給我們的孩子的不是金錢上的遺產
02:07
with a value legacy, and not a financial one.
32
115000
3000
而是那種擁有真正的價值和意義的遺產。
02:10
A value for things with a personal touch --
33
118000
3000
透過觸碰去留下有價值的物品--
02:13
an autograph book, a soul-searching letter.
34
121000
4000
一本手寫書，一封真摰的信件。
02:17
If a fraction of this powerful TED audience
35
125000
3000
假如這些甚有影響力的TED觀眾的其中小部分
02:20
could be inspired to buy a beautiful paper --
36
128000
2000
能被感動而去買一張漂亮的紙--
02:22
John, it'll be a recycled one -- and write a beautiful letter
37
130000
5000
約翰，那會是一張環保再生紙-- 然後寫一封美麗的信
02:27
to someone they love, we actually may start a revolution
38
135000
3000
給他們深愛的人，我們或許要開始實行一個大變革
02:30
where our children may go to penmanship classes.
39
138000
3000
讓我們的孩子去上手寫課。
02:33
So what do I plan to leave for my son?
40
141000
4000
那麼，我應該留些什麼給我的兒子呢？
02:37
I collect autograph books, and those of you authors
41
145000
2000
我在蒐集手寫書, 同時也在蒐集一些唱片, 翠絲。
02:39
in the audience know I hound you for them --
42
147000
3000
而坐在觀眾席上的一些作家都知道
02:42
and CDs too, Tracy.
43
150000
2000
我正為這出版的事宜而緊跟著他們--
02:44
I plan to publish my own notebook.
44
152000
4000
我亦計畫出版自己的筆記。
02:48
As I witnessed my father's body being swallowed by fire,
45
156000
4000
在我目睹我父親的遺體被火吞噬時，
02:52
I sat by his funeral pyre and wrote.
46
160000
4000
我坐在他葬禮的柴火旁，寫下
02:56
I have no idea how I'm going to do it,
47
164000
1000
我不知道我將如何過日子
02:57
but I am committed to compiling his thoughts and mine
48
165000
3000
但後來我決定要將他和我的一些想法
03:00
into a book, and leave that published book for my son.
49
168000
4000
輯錄成一本書、出版, 然後留給我的兒子。
03:04
I'd like to end with a few verses of what I wrote
50
172000
2000
我想以一首我在父親葬禮中寫的短詩
03:06
at my father's cremation.
51
174000
2000
來結束今天的分享。
03:08
And those linguists, please pardon the grammar,
52
176000
3000
讀語言的學者們, 請饒恕我的文法
03:11
because I've not looked at it in the last 10 years.
53
179000
2000
因為我至少有十年沒讀到這首詩了。
03:13
I took it out for the first time to come here.
54
181000
3000
這是我第一次將它公開在這裡。
03:16
"Picture in a frame, ashes in a bottle,
55
184000
4000
「在相框中的照片,在甕裡的骨灰,
03:20
boundless energy confined in the bottle,
56
188000
3000
無窮的力量被緊封於甕內
03:23
forcing me to deal with reality,
57
191000
3000
它迫使我面對現實
03:26
forcing me to deal with being grown up.
58
194000
3000
迫使我逐漸成長。
03:29
I hear you and I know that you would want me to be strong,
59
197000
4000
我確實聽到你的話, 而我知道你想我堅強
03:33
but right now, I am being sucked down, surrounded
60
201000
4000
但此刻, 我被這些肆虐的情緒浪潮
03:37
and suffocated by these raging emotional waters,
61
205000
3000
吞沒、包圍，這一切令我窒息
03:40
craving to cleanse my soul, trying to emerge
62
208000
3000
就如你所敎導一樣
03:43
on a firm footing one more time, to keep on fighting and flourishing
63
211000
6000
我渴望我的靈魂能被洗滌, 讓我能嘗試浮出水面
03:49
just as you taught me.
64
217000
2000
再一次踏穩每一步, 繼續奮鬥和茁壯地成長。
03:51
Your encouraging whispers in my whirlpool of despair,
65
219000
4000
當我感到絕望和混亂時, 我聽到你在我耳邊低聲鼓勵我、
03:55
holding me and heaving me to shores of sanity,
66
223000
5000
扶持我、並把我拉到岸邊, 使我清醒,
04:00
to live again and to love again."
67
228000
2000
讓我能重生和再次去愛。」
04:02
Thank you.
68
230000
1000
謝謝。
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Lakshmi Pratury - ConnectorLakshmi Pratury is the host of The INK Conference and was the co-host of TEDIndia 2009.
Why you should listen
After two decades in marketing, venture capitalism and social entreprenuership, Lakshmi Pratury turned her focus toward linking her home country of India more tightly with the American community. Her firm, Ixoraa Media, runs meetings and events to spark dialogue and make connections. In 2009, she co-hosted TEDIndia and saw such a warm response to the conference that she founded The INK Conference, in partnership with TED, that would pick up where TEDIndia left off. Watch the INKTalks channel to see some of the brilliant ideas shared at the INK Conference. Pratury blogs at Lakshmi's Lounge.
She worked at Intel for 12 years as a marketer and evangelist, then moved to a VC firm, Global Capitalist Partners. At GCP, she focused on connecting India's legendary software-development community with US tech. She began to focus more strictly on relationship-building with her move to the America India Foundation, where she founded the AIF's Digital Equalizer program, offering technology education to some 80,000 children and 2,000 teachers in India. She also launched the AIF Summit for social entrepreneurs from India.
Lakshmi Pratury | Speaker | TED.com