ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Lakshmi Pratury - Connector
Lakshmi 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.

More profile about the speaker
Lakshmi Pratury | Speaker | TED.com
TED2007

Lakshmi Pratury: The lost art of letter-writing

Lakshmi Pratury: Parolas pri leterskribado

Filmed:
715,735 views

Lakshmi Pratury elvokas la forgesitan arton skribi leterojn, kaj parolas pri notoj verkitaj de sia patro antaŭ lia morto.Ŝia malonga sed kortuŝanta prelego eble inspiros vin ankaŭ ekpreni la plumon.
- Connector
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."
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Unue, mi pensis: "Mi parolos pri morto",
00:14
Seemed to be the passion today.
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ŝajne, furora temo, hodiaŭ.
00:16
Actually, it's not about death.
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Fakte, ne pri morto mi parolos,
00:18
It's inevitable, terrible, but really what I want to talk about is,
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ja neevitebla temo, sed antaŭ ĉio,
mi deziras priparoli
00:21
I'm just fascinated by the legacy people leave when they die.
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mian fascinon pri tio kion oni postlasas mortinte.
00:24
That's what I want to talk about.
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Jen mia vera temo.
00:26
So Art Buchwald left his legacy of humor with a video
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Art Buchwald postlasis eron de lia humuro en video
00:30
that appeared soon after he died, saying,
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aperinta tuj post lia morto, en kiu li diris:
00:32
"Hi! I'm Art Buchwald, and I just died."
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"Saluton! Mi estas Art Buchwald,
kaj mi ĵus mortis."
00:36
And Mike, who I met at Galapagos, a trip which I won at TED,
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Kaj Mike, kiun mi renkontis en la Galapagoj,
vojaĝo gajnita dank'al TED,
00:41
is leaving notes on cyberspace where he is chronicling
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alŝutas notojn al la Reto, kroniklon
00:45
his journey through cancer.
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pri lia sperto rilate al kancero.
00:48
And my father left me a legacy of his handwriting
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Mia patro postlasis al mi eron de lia manskribado
00:52
through letters and a notebook.
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per liaj leteroj kaj notujo.
00:54
In the last two years of his life, when he was sick,
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Dum liaj du lastaj jaroj, kiam li estis malsana,
00:58
he filled a notebook with his thoughts about me.
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li plenigis notujon per siaj pensoj pri mi.
01:02
He wrote about my strengths, weaknesses,
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Li skribis pri miaj fortoj kaj malfortoj,
01:05
and gentle suggestions for improvement,
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kaj delikate faris sugestojn pri mia pliboniĝo.
01:09
quoting specific incidents, and held a mirror to my life.
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Memorigante specifajn incidentojn,
li vidigis mian vivon al mi.
01:15
After he died, I realized that no one writes to me anymore.
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Post lia morto, mi konstatis, ke neniu plu skribas
al mi, hodiaŭ.
01:20
Handwriting is a disappearing art.
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Manskribado estas malaperonta arto.
01:23
I'm all for email and thinking while typing,
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Ja rekomendas mi retmesaĝojn,
kaj pripensadon tajpante,
01:26
but why give up old habits for new?
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sed kial forlasi kutimojn malnovajn
favore al novalvenantaj?
01:29
Why can't we have letter writing and email exchange in our lives?
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Kial ne kaj retmesaĝoj kaj manskribado
en niaj vivoj?
01:33
There are times when I want to trade all those years
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Foje, mi ŝatus interŝanĝi ĉiujn tiujn jarojn
01:39
that I was too busy to sit with my dad and chat with him,
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kiam mi estis tro okupata por iom babiladi
kun mia patro
01:43
and trade all those years for one hug.
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kontraŭ tenera brakumo.
01:49
But too late.
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Ve! tro malfruas.
01:51
But that's when I take out his letters and I read them,
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Konsole, mi revenas al liaj leteroj.
01:57
and the paper that touched his hand is in mine,
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Kiam la folio tuŝita de lia mano estas en la mia,
02:00
and I feel connected to him.
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mi sentas min kunigita kun li.
02:03
So maybe we all need to leave our children
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Eble ni ĉiuj bezonas postlasi al niaj infanoj
02:07
with a value legacy, and not a financial one.
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heredaĵon altvaloran, kvankam ne financan.
02:10
A value for things with a personal touch --
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Altvaloran pro ia persona tuŝo --
02:13
an autograph book, a soul-searching letter.
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manskribitan notujon, signifoplenan leteron.
02:17
If a fraction of this powerful TED audience
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Se nur ero de tiu ĉi potenca TED-aŭskultantaro
02:20
could be inspired to buy a beautiful paper --
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estus trafita de inspiro aĉeti belan folion --
02:22
John, it'll be a recycled one -- and write a beautiful letter
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recikligita, se vi deziras, John -- por verki
mirfrapantan leteron
02:27
to someone they love, we actually may start a revolution
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al iu amata, ni povus ja starigi revolucion
02:30
where our children may go to penmanship classes.
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kaj igi niajn geinfanojn sekvi manskribado-kursojn.
02:33
So what do I plan to leave for my son?
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Do, kion mi intencas postlasi al mia filo?
02:37
I collect autograph books, and those of you authors
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Mi kolektas aŭtografitajn librojn -- estu singardaj
02:39
in the audience know I hound you for them --
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la verkistoj en la aŭskultantaro --
02:42
and CDs too, Tracy.
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kaj ankaŭ aŭtografitajn KD-ojn, Tracy.
02:44
I plan to publish my own notebook.
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Mi intencas publikigi mian propran notujon.
02:48
As I witnessed my father's body being swallowed by fire,
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Dum mi vidis flamojn vori la korpon de mia patro,
02:52
I sat by his funeral pyre and wrote.
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sidinte apud lia funebra ŝtiparo, mi skribis.
02:56
I have no idea how I'm going to do it,
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Mi tute nescias kiel mi elturniĝos, sed
02:57
but I am committed to compiling his thoughts and mine
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devontigita mi estas kompili liajn kaj miajn pensojn
03:00
into a book, and leave that published book for my son.
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por postlasi la aperigontan libron al mia filo.
03:04
I'd like to end with a few verses of what I wrote
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Mi ŝatus konkludi per kelkaj versoj fare de mi
03:06
at my father's cremation.
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dum la kremacio de mia patro.
03:08
And those linguists, please pardon the grammar,
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La lingvistoj indulgu la gramatikerarojn;
03:11
because I've not looked at it in the last 10 years.
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mi revidas ĝin unuafoje post la lastaj 10 jaroj.
03:13
I took it out for the first time to come here.
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Mi reprenis ĝin por mia parolado hodiaŭ.
03:16
"Picture in a frame, ashes in a bottle,
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"Foto enkadrigita, enboteligitaj cindroj,
03:20
boundless energy confined in the bottle,
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senliman energion enfermitan en botelo,
03:23
forcing me to deal with reality,
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devigante min alfronti realecon,
03:26
forcing me to deal with being grown up.
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devigante min alfronti maturecon.
03:29
I hear you and I know that you would want me to be strong,
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Mi aŭdas vin; vi volas, ke mi estu forta,
03:33
but right now, I am being sucked down, surrounded
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sed ĝuste nun, mi estas englutita, ĉirkaŭita
03:37
and suffocated by these raging emotional waters,
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kaj sufokigita de rabiaj emociegoj.
03:40
craving to cleanse my soul, trying to emerge
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Mi baraktas por purigi mian animon kaj emerĝi,
03:43
on a firm footing one more time, to keep on fighting and flourishing
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retrovi starejon ankoraŭfoje, daŭrigi la lukton
03:49
just as you taught me.
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kiel vi montris al mi.
03:51
Your encouraging whispers in my whirlpool of despair,
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Viaj kuraĝigantaj flustroj en mia malesperkirlego
03:55
holding me and heaving me to shores of sanity,
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savis min kaj albordigis min
sur la strando de mensa sano
04:00
to live again and to love again."
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por ke mi vivu kaj amu plu."
04:02
Thank you.
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Dankon.
Translated by Stéphane Brault
Reviewed by Karine Breault

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Lakshmi Pratury - Connector
Lakshmi 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.

More profile about the speaker
Lakshmi Pratury | Speaker | TED.com