Obama

Raise your hand if you have ever felt offended when your mail goes unanswered. Keep your hand in the air if you have not given a hoot to answer mails.

Time and again, I'd fallen into the same trap of "read and no reply." Most of us are not born with willingness to reply mail; I am no exception. And it's even worse when there's page after page after page of mails pouring in.

It surprised the heck out of me when I heard that Barack Obama made a daily effort to read and reply ten letters at the White House. An examplar of passion and respect. Imagine a country's leader who received ten thousand letters from ordinary citizens, coming up with a deliberate practice of reading ten letters before going to bed. He answered some by hand and wrote notes on others for the correspondence team to answer, and on some he scribbled, "SAVE." I reflected on my mistakes when a good friend of mine bought me the inspiring book To Obama by Jeanne Marie Laska. I was inspired, amazed, and embarrassed all at once.

How can I leave mails unanswered when my mailbox size is nothing compared to Obama's? That admitted, I must further confess the shame I feel when caught skipping a mail - oh, say, unseen - to say nothing of reply.

I told myself I should follow the example of Obama, or at least I should be trying to.