I
remember a bit funny old incident that happened, when I was a school
going lad. One of my cousin sisters had come to stay with us during
summer school holidays. She was visibly homesick as she was staying
away from her parents perhaps for the first time ever. In those days,
no one had the instant communications capability of today, with
mobile and e-mails and even a land line was something of a rarity.
The only means of communication was a humble post card. The post
cards sent to you would be delivered on your door step by a postman.
However, if you have to send a post card to someone, there was no
choice but to find a letter box nearest to your house or place of
work, walk to it and drop your post card in the slot provided in it.
The card would be surely delivered in next few days to the addressed.
Coming back to my cousin, being terribly homesick, she decided to
write a post card to her mom. I requested my dad to give me a blank
post card, which he did, and then my cousin poured her heart's
feelings on the card. After the card was written, we decided to make
a foray to the nearest letter box. After finding the box, my cousin
dropped the card in the letter box. I was standing on a side watching
my cousin. After dropping the card she did something odd. She stood
near the letter box for few seconds silently and then suddenly folded
her hands together to show her obeisance (the Indian way of showing
respect or reverence) to the letter box. At that time, I could not
control my laughter.
Later,
during my college days, I attended a college, which was in a
different city and for the first time in my life, started staying in
a hostel, away from my parents and home. During my hostel years , two
things, that were most dear to me, were the arrival of a postman with
his bunch of letters and secondly a visit to the letter box to drop
my weekly report to my mom. During those days, for the first time, I
truly realized, why my cousin had folded her hands near the letter
box, now many years ago. I never did that kind of thing, being much
older, but I could connect in my mind to my cousin's wavelength and
what she must have been thinking.
A
letter box in those days was kind of a friend in any strange land, in
India or abroad. Whenever I was travelling and had to stay in a
strange place, the first thing that I would do was to locate a nearby
letter box. That box would be my link to my world, my place and my
people.
There
used to be two kind of letter boxes. The heavier once would be fixed
on a concrete pedestal on a footpath. These boxes would be red
coloured, bulky cylinders with a conical cap and had a slot near the
top for letter dropping. A small hinged and padlocked door (usually
very much rusted) near the bottom would be opened by a postman at
some specific time to collect all the letters that have been
deposited. The other type of letter boxes, though similar in
construction, were much lighter and would be hung by means of a steel
wire handle, which would be tied to a gate or some fence.
This
red letter box, a dear friend of the past, is going to disappear soon
and would be replaced by a new letter box of a brand new design for a
smart make over. The Industrial Design Centre (IDC) at the Indian
Institute of Technology, Bombay, has come up with a new designer
letter box which has a stainless steel body with a red top. The IDC
had offered several designs to the Department of Posts out of which
one model has been selected. New boxes are made out of stainless
steel, which makes them rust-proof, water proof and aesthetically
attractive but without losing the traditional look.
I am
doubtful, if I would have to use a letter box any time in the future.
But if I have to, I would surely be missing my old red man with the
black hat, who is going to be replaced with this new man with his
gleaming, shining armour.
Goodbye old friend. We surely had great time together.
8th
January 2012
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