Nostalgic moments of waiting for the postman

PushpavalliSrinivasan · May 21, 2009

Nostalgic moments of waiting for the postman

There was a time when people were waiting eagerly for the arrival of postman. Every now and then they will come out and would be craning their necks out to look round the street corner for the postman. If they felt they had missed him, to make sure they will ask the neighbours,
“Has the postman gone?”
There was a time we too were eagerly awaiting for this VIP. When we were small our dad was working in Defence accounts office at Jabalpur. We all were at Kancheepuram with our mother as we were all studying. My father joined this job at his middle age during the Second World War. Hence our mother did not want to go and settle in a new place. My second sister was at marriageable age and my mom was looking for an alliance for her. My other two siblings and myself were studying.
Every month as soon as he got his salary my dad used to send money order the very next day. But it will reach only after a week or so. Hence my mother made it a point to keep account from the 10th of previous month to the 10th of the running month. Every month from 8th onwards we will be waiting for the arrival of the postman. Our postman’s name was Varadan and he would keep ringing his cycle bell to announce his arrival. My father used to send 80 Rs every month. This was in early nineteen forties. Varadan would come to our house with the money order and he would sit on the thinnai. He would take out the money order form and make cross mark where mother had to sign. Then he would take out seven ten rupee notes, one five rupee, and five one rupee notes. My mother used to give him one rupee as tips and he would accept it very gladly. She used to tell him to bring post card and envelops for two rupees as the post office was quite a distance from our house. He was a very good chap and was very obliging.
I was the one who used to write letter to my dad from a very young age. My mother used to dictate and I used to write. I was supposed to be the pet of my dad and I enjoyed writing to him. I was also supposed to have a good handwriting and never used to make fuss to write a letter.
Later when I got married and settled at Jamshedpur, I used to wait eagerly for the postman. At Chennai my mother also would be awaiting my letter. On those days only rich people could afford to have a phone.
Here I remember a story which my mother had told me. A girl got married and was sent to her in law’s house soon after marriage. Her parents had told her to write letter regarding her welfare. They told her that if she was ill treated she should write the letter in red ink. Soon after they received a letter in which she had written that she was doing fine, but could not get red ink to write. Poor girl, see her plight!
Nowadays we receive telephone bill, Insurance premium notice, and bank statements only by post. Even we stopped sending greeting cards. SMS and e-cards had become the order of the day. The thrill of reading the hand written letters of our loved ones had become oblivion. I still preserve some letters and greeting cards from my loved ones as treasure.
Of course communication has grown in leaps and bounds. Though it is a great development to be proud of, I feel as if we are losing the charm of small joys.

Mahajanpragati · May 21, 2009

hi,
good old days.nice post
i remember we used to get our final repot cards by post.that day the post man would take long to come , so all kids in our neighbourhood would be waiting for him at different points.as soon as someone spotted him we would rush to him & demand that he handed it to us.but that sly fellow would give it only to our moms as he expected some tip for bringing the good news .
back in 2003 when i got engaged i would eagerly wait for the postman as my dh would send me a card every week & i wanted to lay hands on it before my brother did.he would always want some bribe to give it back to me & another round of teasing would start.
now it seems postman is in the list of extinct species throughout the world.don't even remember when i last saw a postman.
pragati

raji_siv · May 21, 2009

hi pushpa,

i agree with you fully. now we are in advanced stage. some long years back postman is a god to all. expecting postman eachday is a thrill one .if our dearone is far away from us, he is the only messenger to us.postman,phone,mail,webcam,sms.........developed a lot. still as said by you we are losing some small joy.

Nowadays we receive telephone bill, Insurance premium notice, and bank statements only by post. Even we stopped sending greeting cards. SMS and e-cards had become the order of the day. The thrill of reading the hand written letters of our loved ones had become oblivion. I still preserve some letters and greeting cards from my loved ones as treasure................100% correct.

if any postman read this he will be the happiest person. no doubt, good writeup.

raji

Mindian · May 21, 2009

dear pushpa mam,

another one of those nostalgic moments from the good old days.....as a child i remember waiing for the postman to receive letters from my grandparents.....
but i have not enjoyed that feeling of anticipation as an adult as we were in the same city as my parents after i got married and by the time we moved out email had already taken the place of the snail mail..
but yes i don't think my daughter has ever received a handwritten mail.....another one of those things that the present generation is missing ..

roopanair123 · May 21, 2009

hi,

excellent thread..and as pragati has rightly mentioned..we understood the importance of Mr. Postman specially when annual exams results used to be sent thorough post...he would become so special that time with so many of them waiting for his arrival...

really..old memories are revived..thanks pushpa for starting this thread....

Padmini · May 21, 2009

dear pushpa,
your post made me to think about my teens when we were in trichy.
My elder sister got married and had gone to Kolkatta. next my another sister got married and had gone to Delhi.At that time all of us would stand outside waiting for the postman to get the letters from the sisters.when i was in the hostel , i would be eagerly waiting for the post card written by my mother words plunged in care and affection. At that time when i read that letter i used to feel as if my mother is talking. But now those days are gone. but we have to accept it to go hand in hand with the present day world. But there is alittle pain in the corner of the heart that we do lack personal touch that a letter used to bring.
with love
pad

lalithavennkat · May 21, 2009

Dear Pushpavalli mam,

Your post made me to go to my childhood. I studied in my grandfather's place and it
is a kukgiramam near thirupanandal in thanjavur district. My father was working in
andhra and I used to wait for my mother's letter. Besides everything, we (my elder
brother and myself - ages 10 and 8) used to wait for the postman who brings Kalki
and Anandha vikadann to that village. There will be a big fight between us to read
the thodar kathai first. Those days are very unforgettable ones. As you rightly said
we are missing all those enjoyments nowdays.

Padmasrinivas · May 21, 2009

Dear Pushpa,

Your post took me back in time to my days of childhood and adolescence and the postman's arrival with the much-awaited letters... when letter-writing was taught in schools... different modes of address for different people, official, formal and casual letters, letters to near and dear and close family... not only in Eglish but 'Hindi class' also has one session per week for this...

Now that has become a 'lost' art, but for some die-hard folks who still find satisfaction only in handwritten letters... in blue Inland letters or cream-coloured stamped envelopes... even these have undergone a lot of changes from those days... Courier has become the order of the day, I believe the dictionary may also include the term 'Courier-ing'...(send by courier!)...

Once my brother and I (ages 7 and 3) were totally ecstatic to receive New Year Greeting cards, guess who had sent them? My dear father, just to give us a surprise!

Nice topic, great write-up, :thumbsup
:cheers to you, Pushpa,
LnBBHs,
Padma

PushpavalliSrinivasan · May 21, 2009

Dear Pragati,
Thanks for dropping in and sharing your nostalgic moments of yester years. Those days were memorable and treasured in our hearts.
Love,
PS

PushpavalliSrinivasan · May 21, 2009

Dear Raji,
Some time back at least in villages postman was a VIP and people used to wait for him eagerly. But except some remote villages people started using cell phones.
Thank you for stepping in and sharing your views,
Love,
PS