POSTING EMOTIONS...

As per my daily schedule, I went to my verandah to fetch newspaper. As I gave a cursory glance at the paper, I caught a glimpse of the cover page of the weekly magazine 'Twinkle' of 'The Hitvada'. It was titled, 'Where were postcards invented.'. I could not get my eyes off it. It was not at all something magnificent or out of the world. But, suddenly there was a feeling of Nostalgia.  Images from the past started playing in front of me.

Don't you all remember the days when we used to write on postcards. The 'trin trin' of the bell of the cycle was the most awaited thing because it was of postman chacha. As soon as the sound used to fall onto our ears, we all raced towards the gate as we had a message from our dear ones. The post man was a part of the family as he was always there with us; whether it was the news of family wedding or wishes of diwali, new year, whether it was a Rakhi from a brother to his beloved sister or the promotion of a near friend, it was postman chacha who maintained the strings of bonding. He consoled on the demise of a kin, gave us strength during friend's illness: He always bridged the gap and 'connected people' irrespective of the geographical boundaries.

And there were times when everyone stepped outside to buy beautiful greetings to send their regards to their near and dears. Every card was meticulously chosen after scrutinizing the wordings inside and finding the best cover picture. Messages were written to add more warmth; kindergarten students were encouraged to scribble massages, kids even used to make cards themselves to give it a personal touch. We were instructed in schools to write letters to our relatives every month. Enthusiastically we followed the advice with a strong support from our family. Cards were posted well in advance with address over them. It was so different from cc, bcc, forward to all messages we do these days. Even though it saves a lot of time in today's fast moving world,it doesn't have the love, warmth, intimacy the former has.

                And how can I forget those lovely rectangular pieces stuck over the cards: the stamps. Being a philatelist who found peace in collecting different stamps, I was amazed as it had so much and even when you thought you had enough of them, new and better stamps always caught your eyes. In today's age of dwindling letters collecting stamps has become a herculean task.  Now, the collection has become a legacy that shall be passed to future netizens who might never get a glimpse of them except in the google images.

In this world of bullet trains, emails and facebook where people may be a touch away, they surely miss the touch of human emotions, affection and intimacy. While connecting the distant people, it has distanced their hearts and today's relations are so conveniently made and broken just by clicking friend/unfriend…..

                                                          

                When I got a letter from my grandfather just few days back, the feeling I had can't be emulated by thousands of forwards, poke, and tags.