Letter writing in the 20th century.

I have long since stopped writing any salutations at the beginning of any communication. If I were writing to, say, the education minister, I'd start with 'Ms Irani' and get down to the subject at hand quickly. Also, I'd end with 'Regards'.

The 'Dear', 'Respected', 'Honourable' at the beginning and the 'Yours truly', 'Your most humble obedient servant', 'Most sincerely' etc., should be consigned to the colonial dustbins.

In the age of emails, we could take the good parts of old-world communication (like correct spelling and punctuation, clean and clear writing, timely response, and so on) without necessarily subscribing to all the bowing and scraping.