WORLD POST DAY- SOME STORIES, SOME SONGS

Ever used inlands, postcards, sent letters? Do you remember the chitthi songs in movies? Do you still write letters? Whatever your answers let’s commemorate today- the World Post Day with some stories and some songs.

9TH OCTOBER:

Today is World Post Day. It is the anniversary of establishing of Universal Postal Union in 1874 in Berne, Switzerland. It was declared as World Post Day 1969 and since then celebrated each year.

1^st October was World Postcard Day. 1^st September was World Letter Writing Day. As all letters travel through the postal route to reach their destination, let’s celebrate World Post Day with few songs and remembering the fading days of letters.

GONE ARE THOSE DAYS?

Postman, tring-tring-tring…Does that ring a bell? That call and sound of the bell seems like a faraway memory now.  A medium of communication that appears to be slowly going into a chapter of history books. And all this in a matter of 25-30 years. The red or/and black things we call post-boxes, earlier found in many accessible corners are also vanishing.

COMMUNICATION IN LAST 30 OR SO YEARS:

Communication has changed drastically in past 30-35 years. Till late 1980’s even landlines weren’t common. The rates too were high. There was a kind of graded rate structure for STD calls. Half after 8.30 P.M., one-fourth after 9.30 P.M. Later one-fourth after 8.30 P.M. People used to wait till that time to call relatives, that too mostly on special occasions.

Computers too:

P.C.’s to were uncommon. We have had them since the days of horizontal CPUs, with dot matrix printers and the big square floppies. So basically, many like us have seen the evolution process, and the process was really fast.

Why I am referring to Computers and Telephones on World Post Day. For one all our latest means of communication find roots there. And secondly communication has revolutionized over such a little span of time, when compared to its progress over some two centuries.

According to an RTI reply more than 4 crores inland letters were sold. Though this data is from 2015, people still at many places use inlands and postcards.

AAYEGI ZAROOR CHITTHI: Lata Mangeshkar/ Anand Bakshi/ Laxmikant-Pyarelal/ Dulhan (1974)

STORIES TO TELL:

Letters are not just a medium of communication. It’s a record, a written proof of past. They can give many insights on history and lives of the people.

Letters tell stories, they can also be used in stories. The movie Glory (1989) starring Matthew Broderick as Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, apart from other sources, also used the Colonels personal letters written during the American Civil War.

The children’s movie Wrong Mauritius (2004) uses a valuable and rare stamp as it’s story premise.

I too have a story to tell, but before that enjoy this song:

LIKHE JO KHAT TUJHE: Mohd. Rafi/ Neeraj/ Shankar-Jaikishan/ Kanyadan (1969)

My Letter Story:

When I studied in the 10^th standard a new girl had briefly taken admission in our class. Her father was in administrative services; hence she had been raised in various places in and out of India. She was extremely well read and to my awe was reading War & Peace. In 10^th Standard, which is still intimidating for me. But somehow, we developed a good friendship in that brief time. When her father was transferred- straight to Glasgow- we decided to keep in touch through letters. The airmails were quite regular.

One such day:

One such time after posting the letters and coming home I remembered I had forgotten something. To paste stamps and to write the return address. It was her birthday and the letter had to go. So, my elder brother, after pulling my leg to his satisfaction for the blunder, went to the post-box where I had dropped the mail. The enquiry led him to the post-office where the mails of that area were sorted. He explained and the people sorting enthusiastically started looking for it. When it was found the staff shouted “मिल गया-मिल गया “(found it-2). All of them were extremely elated. The mail reached her on time and it turned out it wasn’t her birthday after all.

Do you have some inland/ postcard/ letter story to tell? Please do share.

For now, enjoy this song from Border

SANDESE ATE HAIN: Sonu Nigam, Roop Kumar Rathod/ Javed Akhtar/ Anu Malik, Border (1997)

STORIES TO MAKE:

I hope you remember that wonderful DD serial “Afsaane” created by the brilliant couple- Lalit & Navnindra Behl. Sadly, Lalit Behl passed away this year due to Covid.

In the serial a retired postman wills everything he has to Raghu, a young man he was close to and who took care of him. After his death Raghu finds several undelivered letters in the possession of the postman. At first he throws them in water. But as the letters resurface next day, he decides to deliver them. This decision and the subsequent delivery change the lives of recipients, sometimes creating havoc and sometimes leading to hilarious situations.

Letters even gave rise to such fictionalized stories. Do you know any more such fictions revolving around letters?

DAKIA DAAK LAYA: Kishore Kumar, Vandan Shasrti/ Laxmikant-Pyarelal/ Gulzar/ Palkon ki Chhaon Mein (1977)

TELEGRAM (NOT THE APP), INLAND, POSTCARDS:

In old Hindi movies telegrams were mostly a sign of disaster and the reactions apprehensive.

हे भगवान! तार आया है। सब कुशल हो। (Oh God! Telegram. I hope everything is all right). Telegram service started in India in 1854 and stopped in 2013. But for more than one and half a century telegram was an important method of communication in urgencies.

Inlands and postcards are still available. In old books there used to be picture postcards.  These were sent to family and friends from the place a person was travelling to. In many detective novels picture postcard was used as a trope to set an alibi.

Have you got some picture postcards in your collection? We have some of Mysore way back from 1990.

CHITTHI AAI HAI: Pankaj Udhas/ Anand Bakshi/ Laxmikant-Pyarelal/ Naam (1986)

RELATIONS WITH POSTMAN:

When the pace was slow, relations developed over a time. Such relations were long-standing. The attachments real.

Our relations with the postman ranged between formal and informal. During festive season we gave sweets to them. It wasn’t bribe. Mind you. They were a part of our lives and this was a way of sharing our happiness with them. Principles and ethics in a profession are must. And the postmen were steadfast in their jobs. If there was a Rakhi to be delivered you got it even if rained like hell that day. That was professionalism. Professionalism with an informality to it. Quite unlike the aloof professionalism of today.

KHAT LIKH DE: Asha Bhosle/ Anand Bakshi/ Laxmikant-Pyarelal/ Aaye Din Bahar Ke (1966)

Attention spans:

Today buttons of like is at a touch. The posting of comments is at a spur- people often just pour it out. He says something- I react- quick banter- unfollow. Matter closed. With web taking over our lives the attention span has also reduced. The optimum time for a web article is considered somewhere between 7-8 minutes. Longer articles are preferred only on subjects of expertise. To make things faster there are micro blogging sites. I doubt if all of us completely go through the captions in say an Instagram Post. I am myself guilty of that.

THE ART OF WRITING LETTER:

Writing letters is not just a part of communication. It is an art in itself. We pick and choose our words wisely. We deliberate before putting something in writing. An incident can be narrated in a more amusing way. Keeping in constant touch has somehow taken out the charm of reading letters. The wait, the opening and going more than once over the contents has such a wonderful feeling to it.

Of course, formal /official letters are still necessary. But informal letters are few and far between.

When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone?

PHOOLON KE RANG SE: Kishore Kumar/ Neeraj/ S.D.Burman/ Prem Pujari (1970)

P.S.:

I don’t have data as to the popularity of letters today. I know that people still send letters to Vividh Bharti or AIR. Whatever the statistics, it’s true that letters are deeply gratifying whether we are the senders or receivers.

Do you think we can revive the tradition of letter writing and again include them in our informal communications, despite the rapid means of communication available?

Do share your views and/ or any experiences in connection with letters, postal services or evne philately and commemorate the World Post Day.

 

DISCLAIMER: The videos/ songs linked/ embedded herein above from YouTube are only for the purpose of entertainment and pleasure of viewers/ readers. The copyright over the songs/ videos/ films rests with the owners/ producers of the respective movies.