Long before the Mavelletes, the Beatles or the Carpenters sang “Please Mr. Postman”, those three words played silently in the minds of lovers almost daily as they eagerly awaited a letter from their sweethearts.
That khaki-clad man on the cycle with his signature bell “tring, tring” was a much-awaited visitor in most homes before the advent of email, messaging, WhatsApp and what have you.
It wasn’t just love-struck people who waited for the postman. From pensioners to parents, job-seekers to janitors, everyone’s hopes or fears hinged on what was written within a letter that this daily visitor brought to homes.
Good news, not-so-good news, bad news to surprises to arrivals and departures of near and dear ones, it all came in the form of inland letters, postcards, postal covers or aerogrammes. Mothers left whatever they were doing and dashed to the gate when they heard the postman’s “tring, tring”. On days when we children were at home, we sprinted to grab the letter first.
I remember my mother who frequently wrote letters to her mum in Mangaluru and siblings in different cities and couldn’t wait for their replies. The moment she got the letter, her eyes would light up and standing right near the gate she would open it to read. In the excitement of reading the letter, it didn’t bother her overly if the meat or vegetables got overcooked!
Conversely, mum would be anxious if letters didn’t arrive regularly. She would fret and sweat wondering why her loved ones hadn’t written. And then, hearing a crow “kaw-kawing” outside, she would let out a delightful shriek, “Oh, there’s a letter coming”!
For most of us, a week ahead of our birthday was filled with anticipation of waiting for cards from friends and relatives. Sometimes we received a telegram to wish us on our birthday!
It was during December that we received most cards and letters with the first one coming in the first week from an aunt, signalling Yuletide. In the subsequent days and even well past the New Year, Mr. Postman continued to shower us with greeting cards.
If the postman’s visit was something to look forward to, a visit to the post office was an equally interesting experience. Some post offices in Bangalore exuded a colonial, old-world charm while others were housed in quaint bungalows, conspicuous by the bright red post boxes near the gates. The collection time of letters was clearly painted in white letters on the black patch of the red letter boxes.
Inside, the postmen could be seen busy sorting out letters street-wise before they set out on their rounds while the counter clerks attended to customers who came daily to buy stamps, inland letters, covers, money order forms or to send registered letters, parcels and so on.
The usual drill was to apply the glue provided at the post office to the letters and drop them into the post box.
The public telephone in a corner of the post office was much sought after to make calls in those days when few homes had telephones.
One of the good things of the pre-Internet days was letter writing and indeed writing in longhand. There was a personal touch to those hand-written letters that bonded people across cities, States or countries. In some ways, regular letter writing made one creative and expressive, honing one’s writing skills.
Likewise, the postal age also engendered a curiosity for stamps that in some cases led to pursuing philately as a hobby. We too went through that phase of collecting postal stamps and creating a scrap book but it didn’t last long like so many other hobbies.
Many of my generation will recall how carefully we yanked out the stamps. We would cut the stamp neatly along with the envelope, put it in water for some seconds to let the paper envelope separate from the stamp and then let the stamp dry.
Alas! All those memories have been stamped out by easy telephone calls, instant messaging, Facebook, emails and unknown to us, what else is to come.
Today, spotting a postman is as difficult as finding a sparrow in Bengaluru and the few post boxes at street corners look time-worn and neglected.
Thankfully, memories remain. Happy World Post Day (October 9)!
stanleycarvalho@gmail.com
