Warm greetings to all the postal employees and workers of the world on #WorldPostDay2023.
My
article "Post Card : Still a poor man''s best medium for communication"
has been published in the popular people's English Daily of Odisha
#TheKalingaChronicle on 09.10.2023. Thanks to the editorial team.
#PostCard: Still a poor man’s best medium for communication
(Drastic
decrease in unregistered personal handwritten letters is a serious
concern for the Posts while celebrating National Postal Week)
Normally,
I open my office at about 9.15 AM to enable my staff members to
maintain the working hours from 09.30 AM to 5.30 PM. But just before the
normal business hour, when the MTS opens the public entrance of the
office, I have been marking a peculiar incident for last five months
since my joining here in this Post Office. As soon as the gate is
opened, a man about 55 years of age wearing dirty pant / shirt, having
unshaven beard on the face and uncombed grey hairs on the head rushes
into the public area. First of all, he goes to the water filter and
takes a glass of water and then comes to the Stamp Counter. He then asks
for one or two Post Cards or Inland Letter Cards as per his
requirement. On receipt from the counter, he then goes to the public
writing desk and starts writing letters in the same Post Card(s) /
Inland Letter Card(s). Within 15 to 20 minutes, he finishes the job and
leaves the post office putting the letters in the outside letter boxes
in a hurry.
Hardly,
there will a day when he has not attended the Post Office. Witnessing
this regular event, I couldn’t suppress my curiosity. To satisfy my
inquisitiveness, I requested him one day come to my chamber. When he
attended, briefly conveying my observations for last 5 months, I asked
him “Due to rapid growth of Information Technology, when we witness
people to hardly purchase Post Cards / Inland Letter Cards etc. now a
day on one hand and when people want instant communication and response
from other side through mobile, internet and different social media on
the other, I am surprised that you are writing and posting two / three
letters regularly. Are you writing to your family members or anybody
else?”
“No
Sir”, he replied, “I have no family. I am a bachelor and belong to the
district of Mayurbhanj. Due to continuous torture of my step mother, I
could not complete my B Sc and left my village at the age of 21 and
started working in a private Aluminium factory here in Bhubaneswar. I
also completed my C T course privately. But could not get any Govt. job.
While working in the factory, I met a major road accident with serious
injury in my right leg and partially lost my hearing capacity. The
factory owner fired me out. Since then I wandered here and there in
search of a job. A small hotel owner engaged me in cleaning utensils in
his hotel and since then I am working and staying there. Now I am 57.”
Swiftly telling me at a stretch, he showed me his right leg which has
been bent below the keen and causing difficulty in normal walking.
Expressing grief, I enquired, “To whom then you are writing letters regularly?”
“Earlier
when I had money with me, I was writing to the Presidents and Prime
Ministers of various countries of the world. Since my income has been
very low and now I am unable to afford the cost of postage to foreign
countries, presently I am writing to the professors, vice-chancellors
and other high dignitaries of different universities”, he replied very
normally. I became more curious to know the contents of his writings.
With every politeness, I just asked, “If you don’t take it otherwise,
may I know the theme of your writings to such high dignitaries?” He was
worried, I marked and in a hurry to leave the post office. I told, “If
you have any objection or if you don’t want to share, then you may not
discuss.”
“That
is not the issue, Sir”, he replied. “I have come here finishing all the
morning works in the hotel. My work will again start from 10 AM. If I
will be late, my owner may drive me away from the job”. Immediately, I
changed the topic and requested him to attend his job. “We may talk on
some other day”, I told.
“No
Sir”, since you have asked me with so much anxiety, “I will tell”, he
emotionally told me. “I have also gone to other post offices. But many
people treat me as a mad. Some have even handed over me to police and
ordered me not to enter their premises. Nobody has ever tried to
understand me”. I marked drops of tears in his eyes. I also became
sentimental. Tightly holding his palms, I requested him to continue.
He
started, “While I was a student in MPC College, Baripada in the
district of Mayurbhanj during 1983, I became associated with the Hindu
spiritual movement of Brahma Kumaries which teaches a form of meditation
that focuses on identity as souls, as opposed to bodies. I was greatly
inspired by their teachings to transcend labels associated with the
body, such as race, nationality, religion and gender which aspire to
establish a global culture based on what it calls Soul-consciousness.
Sir, I had an ambition to be a teacher and to educate people of the
world for bringing spiritual consciousness. But unfortunately, I am now
working in a road side hotel from dawn to dusk to feed my belly.” In a
sensitive mood he continued, “Finding no other alternative to share my
knowledge what I have gained from the Brahma Kumaries, I took the
shelter of your post cards and inland letter cards, Sir.”
Gladly
he said, “The post card is my best friend now. It is the poor man’s
best medium of communication. I use the same for sharing the ethics of
Brahma Kumaries to achieve the goal of establishing a new world
characterized by honesty, sincerity and goodwill. When I write on the
post card, I feel as if I am in a class room and writing on a black
board. When I drop a post card in your letter box, I feel that I educate
one person of the world. At a cost of Re.0.50 only, I share my
knowledge to aware the people on spiritual consciousness from Kashmir to
Kanyakumari. Only for your Department, I have been able to write
continuously as such since 1983.
Being
depressed, he told, “When I have to write more, I hardly depend on an
Inland Letter Card. But it is too difficult now on my part to sacrifice
Rs.2.50/- . So I use postcards often. I am in search of Meghdoot Post
Cards which will cost me less. Kind request to arrange for me Sir”.
I
was about to ask him if he has received any response against such
letters posted to numerous people of the world, he left my office in a
hurry. I just looked at him. When we are dreaming of a digital India and
now to digitize India Post turning our back to the handwritten letters,
such customers still remind us about the importance of such letters may
be in a Post Card.
Really
he was a mad, a mad for letters, a mad for sharing knowledge, a mad for
bringing spiritual consciousness among the people and a mad for
establishing a new world full of peace through postcards. It compelled
me to remind the statement of Lord Dalhousie, the father of India Post
in his Minute dated 30th December, 1851. “It makes the Post Office what
under any other system it never can be the unrestricted means of
diffusing knowledge, extending commerce and promoting in every way the
social and intellectual improvement of the people.”
The
entire world celebrates the World Post Day on 9th October every year to
mark the anniversary of the Universal Postal Union's (UPU) creation in
1874 (9th October, 1874) with a purpose to bring awareness to the
Post's role in the everyday lives of people and businesses as well as
its contribution to global social and economic development. The World
Post Day 2023 is being celebrated under the theme “Together for Trust:
Collaborating for a Safe and Connected Future” which resonates with the
unity and strength of global postal network. A trustworthy and impactful
postal system can be possible when the countless post offices worldwide
will function with creativity, wisdom and unity. In a world where
connections are paramount, the shared progress by embracing
collaboration and unity can strengthen the bonds of trust.
At
this moment, India Post celebrates National Postal Week starting from
9th October every year by organizing its own national activities from
the introduction or promotion of new postal products and services to the
organization of open days at post offices, mail centres and postal
museums. Apart from celebrating World Post Day on 9th October, this year
10th October will be celebrated as Vitiya Sashaktikaran Diwas, 11th
October as Philateli Day,12th October as Mails and Parcels Day and 13th
October as Antodaya Diwas. India Post, the largest postal network in the
world having 159251 post offices is still providing cheap and efficient
postal services to the poor nationals from Kashmir to Kanyakumari
despite all challenges through a postcard @ Re.0.50, an
inland-letter-card @ Rs.2.50 and an envelope @ Rs.5/- only. Due to
advancement of Information and Communication Technology and larger use
of eMail and social media like facebook, twiter, instagram, WhatsApp
etc., the quantum of handwritten ordinary letters through postcards,
inland-letter-cards and envelopes which are the body and soul of the
Posts has been reduced drastically. Illustratively, during last 30 year,
the quantum of unregistered mails has been reduced from 3123 crores in
1991-92 to 388.29 crores (12.43%) in 2021-22 which is a serious concern
for India Post. During celebration of National Postal Week, priority may
be given to motivate the members public towards handwritten letters
which carry the love, emotion, agony, ecstasy from person to person and
help the Posts to stay relevant as a trustworthy and impactful
organization.
(Based on a fact happened with this writer while working as a Postmaster)
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