A nice attempt to appear 'with it'. I just wish the authors and Mumbai Times would understand the consequence and significance of this step.

To me, displaying an email address is akin to displaying an address or a telephone number. It says, "talk to me", offering the reader a way of directly communicating with the author. Yet, most authors rarely bother to reply to the emails sent to them in connection with their articles (or even otherwise). And this is extremely irritating; by publishing an email address, the author is sending out an invitation to the reader to communicate; when the invitation is accepted by the reader, if the author does not reply, it is as if the invitee has suddenly become unwelcome. This is rude.

Addresses and telephone numbers of authors are never displayed in newspaper and magazine articles and columns. The reasons could be one of many. To maintain a barrier between the authors and their readers, to prevent unnecessary feedback, to protect the author from being subjected to a barrage of unnecessary questions and comments and to protect the authors' privacy. When the authors publish their email addresses, the message a reader gets is, "I am willing to break down these barriers."

Obviously, this does not apply to stupid addresses such as ShobhaDe@midday.com, where the email is going to be checked by some geek or junior reporter, who will only pass on what he/she thinks is relevant to Shobha De and probably sometimes not even that. But when Anil Dharker (adharker@vsnl.com) and Rahul DaCunha (dacunha@vsnl.com) have their personal email addresses published, it means that they want to interact with their readers - unless of course, they have been forced to do so by the editor or publisher in a fit of juvenile enthusiasm - which still does not absolve them of the responsibility of replying to their readers' mail.

It is possible though, that they are very busy or are swamped by email or that most of the emails are such that they are not worth writing back to. In either case, the effect on the readers is the same - one of tremendous letdown. If the authors are really busy, but still under pressure (social or editorial) to display their email addresses, how much does it take to set-up an auto-responder reply saying "Thank you for your comments"?

Email is a very powerful tool, offering instantaneous communication and immediate gratification. Authors the world over, use it to keep in touch with their readers. There are thousands of journallers who write and publish their work on the net, bypassing traditional publishers so that they can reach out to their readers directly. To such authors, interaction with their readers is the lifeline of their work. To ignore email and reader responses would mean death.

The Mumbai Times authors are probably ignorant of the readers' psychology. Readers who write back to authors with their comments gain tremendous satisfaction and pleasure when the authors reply. Believe me! I have experienced both sides. Yet, there is a difference between writing a regular letter and sending an email. When readers write letters to newspaper or magazine addresses, they know at the back of their minds, that the letter may never reach the author and are not particularly disappointed when a reply does not come. Email removes the middleman, offering direct access to the author - when a reply does not come, the reader feels pretty disappointed; to the extent that he/she may eventually stop reading the author's work.

People give their email addresses because they expect to be contactable. Would you spread your home/office address or telephone number around, and then be annoyed if people took the trouble to contact you? If the authors value their privacy, their email addresses should be distributed judiciously and not be printed in a way that allows any Ram, Shyam and Naresh direct access.

Mr. Dharker, Mr. DaCunha and the others who do not reply! Do take the trouble to reply to your emails. It doesn't take much. If however, you do not have the time to reply back, then do not publish your email address for the entire world to see. Being 'with it' brings with it, a certain responsibility. And those authors who do take the trouble to reply (and yes, some do)....Thanks!!