Chain letters keep coming

I received a letter from a 'well wisher' a few days ago. When I opened the envelope, a single sheet of type written text fell on my lap. The letter had no address or date. There was no greeting either. For a moment I thought, it was a funny way of writing letters.

"With love all things are possible", How nice if I could solve all my problems....and what about the terrorist problem the government is trying to solve. Now all these problems can be solved with 'love'.

The letter, however, did not refer to any of our pressing problems. Instead it said, "This paper has been sent to you for good luck. The original is in English. It has been around the world to come to you. The luck has been sent to you."

I need a little more money and creature comforts. A job with a company maintained car would be ideal. I want to send my children to an international school. All these can be easily fulfilled now because luck has been sent to me by some unknown person. It cannot be a God because Gods and Goddesses do not write letters. Instead they can appear before us in various disguises.

"You will have good luck within four days of receiving this letter." I looked at the calendar. It was the beginning of the month of April. Is this on April fool's joke, I wondered for a moment. No, it cannot be, because there was this proviso: "provided in turn you also sent it on," why not? I can do that if luck comes to me so easily.

I kept on reading the strange letter with curiosity. It said, "This is no joke. You will receive it in the mail. Send copies to people you think who need good luck."

I stopped reading it further and thought of my poor relatives and friends who had helped me in numerous ways in the past. I know that most of them try to meet Lady Luck by scratching lottery tickets and trying to match figures which are not there. But they do not give up the struggle. Now I am in a position to tell them how to strike gold without much effort. Then I looked for the recipe.

"Don't send money as fate has no price," the letter said. How true? It must have been written by some sage well versed in philosophy and psychology. "Do not keep this letter.

It must leave your hands within 96 hours." Shocking! How can I leave this letter? I would love to possess it because I have never received such a letter bringing me so much luck in so short of a time.

Even those who seek to meet Lady Luck would like to know some facts and figures. Here they are: "An R.A.F. officer receives $70,000. Joe Elliot received $40,000 and lost because he broke the chain. While in the Philippines, Gene Welch lost his wife six days after receiving this letter and failing to circulate it. However, before his death he received $7,755,000."

The amount of money Gene Welch received is staggering. But how did get the money as he broke the chain? Probably mysticism and logic do not go together.

Another paragraph in the letter gave some more spicy details. It said, "Constantine received the chain in 1953. He asked his secretary to make 20 copies and send them out.

A few days later he won a lottery of $1 million. Carlo Middleton, an office employee received the letter and forgot it and had to leave his job within 96 hours. But Carlo Middleton got his job back by mailing 20 copies of the letter sometime later."

So the state employees who lost their jobs in July 1980 need not worry. They do not have to hold protest meetings and urge the government to take them back or pay compensation. They have only to copy this letter 20 times and send them to some unsuspecting creatures. Lady Luck is waiting to help them.

Chain letters are usually unsigned. They are handwritten or typed. Now you get photo copies or some people fax them. However, once I received a chain letter from my logic tutor who had the audacity to sign it. Until then I thought logic helped a man to think rationally. This is not so. There are even university lecturers who send out chain letters very religiously.

Chain letters show man's eternal quest for luck. Most of us buy sweep tickets thinking that one day they might win at least a consolation prize. They scratch and try to match figures and symbols not to help the governments development efforts, but to get rich quickly. Even if you do not buy sweep tickets, you always think something good will happen at any moment.

Chain letters are pretty long. Therefore, you cannot copy them on Post Cards. This means you have to spend Rs. 5 for postage. Sometimes this might help the Department of Posts to earn some revenue. Anyway, when you send 20 letters you will have to spend Rs. 100 for postage alone! This is the price you pay for being sucker!