The last festive season, we embarked on a mission inspired
by a lady in a far away country. It was beginning of December of 2014 and the
time when most of the places in the world are in a festive mood, some more than
others. We were on a train and we saw a lady, from a couple of generation
before us, having a glass of wine and writing the Xmas and New Year cards.
I thought why not try revive the old traditions of sending
cards for the festive seasons to some of our friends and relatives. That way we
will give a chance for the postman to shake their legs a bit. . Cards and
letter are fast getting extinct and by now and I do not see anyone campaigning
to save the post box. My last “partner
in post” has also given up about two years back and got baptised to the
internet. When I started to receive response to my letters through emails, I
did not know how to react. It took the experience out of getting informed
though I got the response almost instantly. I had no idea if I wanted to get a
response so instantly but in the process brought the whole communication
business to a standstill.
So we bought some art papers and started to create our cards
right from the scratch and managing the envelope was as difficult a challenge as
the card itself. Trust me it is not as easy as you would imagine when you start
something that you have not done for such a long period of time. It reminded me
of Shakespeare’s quote from The Merchant of Venice.....
“If to do were as easy as to know what were good to do,
chapels had been churches and poor men’s cottages princes' palaces. “
But there was no going back and I took out my old address
book form an old trunk (the one made of real paper) and drew up a list of friends
and relatives with still valid addresses. The list was as follows:
Kolkata - 8
Mumbai - 2
Pune - 2
Delhi – 2
Bahrain - 2
Bangalore – 1
Agartala - 1
Doha - 1
Al Khobar - 1
Muscat - 1
London - 1
Finally it was time to go to the post office and buy the
stamps, stick them to the envelope and drop those in the mail box. Even though
it cost a small fortune, it was worth it as my daughter got the first taste of
writing and posting a real letter. This was our contribution in reviving the
tradition and also give “Stamp collection” another chance.
However, 4 months later there seems to be still 6 cards
undelivered. It appears that it will take more effort to remove the rust out of
the postal system. Come December, we shall have another attempt.
