Lakshmi Pratury: The lost art of letter-writing

Prevodilac: Jelena Nedjic Lektor: Ana Zivanovic-Nenadovic

So I thought, "I will talk about death."

Pomislih: "Govoriću o smrti."

Seemed to be the passion today.

Izgleda da je to strast današnjice.

Actually, it's not about death.

Ustvari, ne govori se ovde o smrti.

It's inevitable, terrible, but really what I want to talk about is,

Neizbežna je, očajna, ali ja u suštini želim da pričam o

I'm just fascinated by the legacy people leave when they die.

svoj fascinaciji onime što ljudi ostave iza sebe.

That's what I want to talk about.

O tome želim da pričam.

So Art Buchwald left his legacy of humor with a video

Art Buhvald je za sobom ostavio humoristični snimak

that appeared soon after he died, saying,

koji se pojavio ubrzo nakon njegove smrti, u kojem je saopštio

"Hi! I'm Art Buchwald, and I just died."

"Zdravo. Ja sam Art Buhvald i upravo sam umro."

And Mike, who I met at Galapagos, a trip which I won at TED,

Majk, koga sam upoznala na Galapagosu, putovanje koje sam osvojila na TED-u,

is leaving notes on cyberspace where he is chronicling

se bavi pisanjem hronike o svojoj borbi sa rakom,

his journey through cancer.

a piše to u sajber-prostoru.

And my father left me a legacy of his handwriting

Moj otac je za sobom ostavio rukopise,

through letters and a notebook.

pisma i sveske.

In the last two years of his life, when he was sick,

Tokom svoje dve poslednje godine života je , dok je bolovao,

he filled a notebook with his thoughts about me.

ispisao svesku mislima o meni.

He wrote about my strengths, weaknesses,

Pisao je o mojoj snazi, mojim slabostima,

and gentle suggestions for improvement,

i nenametljivim predlozima za usavršavanje,

quoting specific incidents, and held a mirror to my life.

navodeći tačne događaje, i ostavio mi je ogledalo mog života.

After he died, I realized that no one writes to me anymore.

Kada je umro,shvatila sam da više niko ne piše na papiru.

Handwriting is a disappearing art.

To je umetnost koja izumire.

I'm all for email and thinking while typing,

Potpuno podržavam imejl i ramišljanje u toku tipkanja,

but why give up old habits for new?

ali zašto bismo odustali od starih navika?

Why can't we have letter writing and email exchange in our lives?

Zašto ne bismo imali i stara pisma i razmenu mejlova u našim životima?

There are times when I want to trade all those years

Ponekada poželim da zamenim sve te godine

that I was too busy to sit with my dad and chat with him,

tokom kojih sam bila prezauzeta da sedim i pričam sa svojim ocem,

and trade all those years for one hug.

zamenila bih ih sve za jedan zagrljaj.

But too late.

Prekasno.

But that's when I take out his letters and I read them,

U tim momentima posegnem za njegovim pismima i čitam ih

and the paper that touched his hand is in mine,

i držim u rukama papir koji je on dodirivao,

and I feel connected to him.

i osećam povezanost sa njim.

So maybe we all need to leave our children

Možda svi mi treba svojoj deci da ostavimo

with a value legacy, and not a financial one.

u nasledstvo vrednosti, ali ne materijalne.

A value for things with a personal touch --

Vrednost stvari koje nose lični dodir,

an autographed book, a soul-searching letter.

knjigu sa potpisom, pismo koje nas povezuje.

If a fraction of this powerful TED audience

Ukoliko bi samo deo ove moćne TED publike

could be inspired to buy a beautiful paper --

bio inspirisan da kupi lep papir,

John, it'll be a recycled one -- and write a beautiful letter

Džon, reciklirani papir, i napiše prelepo pismo

to someone they love, we actually may start a revolution

nekome koga vole, možda bismo započeli revoluciju

where our children may go to penmanship classes.

koja bi dovela do toga da naša deca idu na časove pisanja pisama.

So what do I plan to leave for my son?

Šta ja planiram da ostavim u nasleđe svom sinu?

I collect autographed books, and those of you authors

Sakupljam knjige sa potpisima, i svi autori

in the audience know I hound you for them --

u publici znate da sam vas jurila za to,

and CDs too, Tracy.

sakupljam takođe i diskove, Trejsi.

I plan to publish my own notebook.

Planiram da objavim svoje spise.

As I witnessed my father's body being swallowed by fire,

Dok sam posmatrala kako vatra guta telo moga oca,

I sat by his funeral pyre and wrote.

sedela sam pored tog plamena i pisala.

I have no idea how I'm going to do it,

Nemam predstavu kako ću to izvesti,

but I am committed to compiling his thoughts and mine

ali sam posvećena tome da njegove i moje misli

into a book, and leave that published book for my son.

uobličim u knjizi, a objavljenu knjigu ću posvetiti mom sinu.

I'd like to end with a few verses of what I wrote

Želela bih da završim izlaganje sa par stihova

at my father's cremation.

koje sam napisala na kremaciji mog oca.

And those linguists, please pardon the grammar,

Lingvisti, molim vas oprostite mi gramatičke greške,

because I've not looked at it in the last 10 years.

jer nisam ovo čitala već 10 godina.

I took it out for the first time to come here.

Po prvi put ih čitam ovde.

"Picture in a frame, ashes in a bottle,

"Slika u okviru, pepeo u boci,

boundless energy confined in the bottle,

bezgranična energija uhvaćena u posudi,

forcing me to deal with reality,

tera me da se nosim sa stvarnošću,

forcing me to deal with being grown up.

tera me da se nosim sa svojom zrelošću.

I hear you and I know that you would want me to be strong,

Čujem te i znam da želiš da budem jaka,

but right now, I am being sucked down, surrounded

ali sam u ovom trenutku potonula, okružena i

and suffocated by these raging emotional waters,

gušim se u ovim talasima emocija,

craving to cleanse my soul, trying to emerge

žudim da pročistim svoju dušu, pokušavam

on a firm footing one more time, to keep on fighting and flourishing

da isplivam na čvrsto tlo barem još jednom, da nastavim borbu i razvoj,

just as you taught me.

baš onako kako si me učio.

Your encouraging whispers in my whirlpool of despair,

Tvoji ohrabrujući šapati u vrtlogu očaja,

holding me and heaving me to shores of sanity,

me održavaju i mi pružaju utočište u razumu,

to live again and to love again."

ne bih li živela ponovo i volela ponovo."

Thank you.

Hvala vam.