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Postman, an endangered species

Postman, an endangered species
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K S S Pillai
There was a time when the post office played an important role in society. Though it was called the post office, it used to work as a telegraph office, public call office, and bank. It was where one paid the annual licence fee for radios.
The postmaster was authorized even to issue identity cards. As the post office was an integral part of people’s lives, they would look forward to the budget speech by the country’s Finance Minister to know whether there was any change in postal charges.
Telephonic conversations were rare as mobile phones were unknown and the waiting period for a landline telephone connection was very long. Those who wished to talk with someone in another place had to book a trunk call, and when the connection was made after a long wait, they had to shout for the other party to hear.
Letter writing was the usual mode of communication. There was the postcard, the poor man’s means for short communication. That was followed by the inland letter card, costing a little more. That had the advantage of more space for writing, coupled with privacy. Those with enclosures had to use covers and get them weighed at post offices and additional stamps affixed if the weight exceeded the free limit. The gum on inland letter cards and covers was usually of low quality, and one had to use one’s gum to seal them properly.
The postman in his uniform, cycling along the roads carrying letters and parcels, was held in high esteem. People always invited him to weddings and other social functions, though they knew he wouldn’t be free to attend them when he was on duty. Since he had to cover a vast area he would arrive in our locality only in the afternoon. Those who expected letters or money orders would be craning their necks for the sound of his bicycle bell. If one expected an urgent letter like a call for an interview, he would go to the post office and collect it from there as soon as the postman came out.
The postman’s duties were not limited to delivering letters or collecting fine for unstamped and under-stamped letters. Some ingenious guys used to affix less than the required stamps on their letters to ensure that they were delivered to the addressee for collecting the fine, thus saving the registration fee. In some cases, where the addressees were illiterate, he had to read the letters to them. Some even requested him to write replies for them. He was also required to take those letters with him and post them. Sometimes it was embarrassing for him to read intimate letters written by newly-wed men to their wives, but everyone had faith in him to keep his mouth shut.
It was common for people to expect ornate greeting cards on their birthdays, wedding anniversaries, and festivals. Those who had near ones in faraway places would be expecting money orders from them during the first week of every month. The recipients would always tip the postman. To outwit those who would feign lack of change, the postman would always keep currencies of lower denomination with him. During Diwali, one had to tip the postman lest his unregistered letters went missing or were delivered late.
When letters were delivered, children would examine covers for stamps that had escaped cancellation, remove them carefully, and reuse them. Those who had stamp collection as a hobby would add them to their collection. If the cover had come from a foreign country, there would be a rush for the stamps on them.
Telegrams were delivered by another employee. Even when they conveyed some bad news, he would not leave till his palm was greased by the recipient.
With the advent of mobile phones and a bevy of other platforms that provide instant communication and transfer of money, the postman has become an endangered species.
(The author is a retired professor of English. A regular contributor to The Kashmir Vision, his articles and short stories have appeared in various national and international publications)

 


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