From fanmail in blood to soldier's mouth-written letter

There are many things we learn to value only with time. Like the simple delight of opening a letter and feeling the touch, and maybe catching a whiff, of the person who wrote it. This old-world charm is now being relegated to collective nostalgia. Letter-writing, today, is a rarity especially among the urban population. However, for people in remote corners, where digital connectivity still falters, the humble post office continues to be a vital bridge to the world outside. Moreover, despite the ease of instant communication, reports suggest dependency on postal services remains formidable. About 1.5 billion people worldwide about 28% of the adult population still access basic financial services through postal networks. World Post Day (October 9) marks the establishment of the Universal Postal Union in 1874 in Bern, Switzerland. In India, the postal service has long been woven into the fabric of everyday life even romanticised in films and literature. India celebrates National Post Day on October 10 every year, commemorating the founding of the Indian Postal Service in 1854. Notably, India still holds the record for having the largest postal network in the world, with 1,64,987 post offices 1,49,164 rural and 15,823 urban. But the times have brought about a digital shift. Streamlining, officials say, has become necessary. The Telegram service, which once carried both joy and heartbreak across the nation, has quietly faded away. So too has the Book Post. More recently, plans have been set in motion to merge the Registered Post facility with Speed Post. Several rural post offices now offer emailing facilities, helping people use technology with the support of postal staff. More such changes are on the way. But it is also important to analyse the requirements of the people because there is still a population that waits for the postman, says an India Post official. About 90 per cent of Indias post offices are in the rural areas. A walk into any post office today reveals how much has changed. The once-familiar blue inland letters and postcards are now rare. The red post boxes symbols of trust and anticipation stand mostly as silent milestones. Some, however, still keep the tradition alive. Like Mohanachandran Nair, who is part of a philately club. Waiting for the postman remains exciting because it means a freshaddition to my collection of stamps, he says. I still send snail mail to exchange stamps. There are others who hold on to letters not as correspondence, but as keepsakes of emotion and memory. Jaya B Vasudevan keeps her mothers letters in a small metal box. Her words bore love. She is no more. Reading them induces a unique joy laced with multiple emotions and feelings, including the pain of separation, she says. Booster Posts One letter that I have kept safe is a handwritten one from V N Rajan, a former IG, who is no more. He was quite old when he wrote to me, lauding my work as Kochi Commissioner. The prose was beautiful, in impeccable memory. I still have it with me. Another letter that I treasure is one from my father when I was at the National Police Academy. He wrote to me at a time when I was feeling drained by the tight regime. His words, written on a postcard, urged me to stand up, bear the drill, and come out stronger. There are many other letters too that I hold dear like the one from a mother whom we helped to regain her childs custody. Her estranged spouse had been illegally keeping the child. I will never forget that letter of gratitude either. Loknath Behera, former state police chief and MD of Kochi Metro Rail Loknath Behera P.O. @ my Lake District Letters opened a world of imagination to me. We used to live in Mannanthala, and the post office was near Mar Ivanios College. My father worked in Chennai and his correspondences were through letters. He would also send money through post. I have fond memories of waiting for those letters and the money order. Every Saturday, I would visit the post office to check for his letters. I would also take the opportunity to wander through the wilderness surrounding the college. Those were precious moments time seemed to stand still as I delved into my thoughts and felt nature fill me from within. I used to call the pond and hillside near there my Lake District. I also fondly cherish the reply I received for a poem I had written for Malayalanadu, as well as letters written to me by doyens such as M T Vasudevan Nair, O N V Kurup, and Hridayakumari Teacher. K Jayakumar, former chief secretary of Kerala K Jayakumar Jail-time notes Letters were my doors to the world, especially during the years I spent in jail. My mother used to write to me regularly when I was in the Central Jail, Thiruvananthapuram. Her words were full of strength she wrote about how I should be, about political developments, but never about the tough times or the emotional turmoil she herself was going through. I still recall those words, and can sense how she must have steeled herself to write them. I too would write back to her. On release, I took home all the letters that she had written to me. Much later, after she passed away, I compiled them into a book titled Letters from a Mother to a Daughter. Ajitha, social activist and former Naxal leader Ajitha Mouth-written letter Indian Navy veteran and defence analyst I was a student of Sainik School, Kazhakuttam, before leaving for the NDA in 1981. My friend M P Anilkumar was also with me. He later joined the Air Force while I joined the Navy. In June 1988, I came to know that Anilkumar had met with an accident and had become a quadriplegic. But his spirit was indomitable, and he continued to communicate through letters. One day, a common friend and I received a letter in Anilkumars beautiful handwriting. We were overjoyed, believing he had fully recovered. But later, we learnt that he had been so determined to write that he had developed the skill of writing with his mouth. He later went on to participate in a competition called Turning Point, where he wrote an essay titled Airborne to Chairborne also written with his mouth. It won a prize and was later included in several school textbooks. He also contributed several articles to international magazines on strategic affairs before passing away at the age of 50. That letter still remains vivid in my mind. It first brought elation, then pathos, and now, when I look back at his life, immense pride. That letter was a manifestation of an extraordinary spirit. Commodore G Prakash (retd), Indian Navy veteran and defence analyst Commodore G Prakash Fanmail in blood The word post reminds me most about fanmail. I was in school when I began acting. Some cinema magazines had given my address, and I was bombarded with bags of fanmail. Some of the letters and post cards I received were written in blood. That left me a little troubled. Any talk of post and letters evoke those memories. Lenaa, actor & author Lena Indira gandhis urgent telegram The day was August 8, 1984. It was about 3.55am IST, and I was in Los Angeles for the Olympics. Just minutes earlier, at about 3.30am IST, I had missed the bronze medal in the 400m hurdles by just 1/100th of a second. After the race, I went for the dope test, where I was handed a telegram that read: Usha, you have not failed. May the Supreme bless you to reach far greater heights in the future. We will support you as a nation in all such endeavours. It was from then prime minister Indira Gandhi. She had written to me immediately after the event, and the message was delivered to me within minutes. It was a deeply touching moment. It continues to inspire me as I coach future athletes. Indira Gandhi passed away that October. That telegram is still with me among my most precious keepsakes. P T Usha, member of Rajya Sabha and president of Indian Olympic Association PT Usha Traditional pen-pal experience on your smartphone In the age of instant messaging, Slowly takes a deliberate step back. The app, launched in 2018 by a Hong Kongbased team, is built on a deceptively simple idea: to mimic the motions of traditional letter writing in a digital world. Instead of instant delivery, each message takes hours or even days to reach its recipient, depending on the geographical distance between them. A note sent from Kochi to Copenhagen, for instance, might take 15 hours to arrive. This delay is by design. In fact, it is the whole point of the app. Slowly pairs users from across the globe based on shared interests, language, etc. Once connected, they exchange messages that feel closer to letters than texts. Or you can opt to pair with just your friends. For Slowly, this throwback to the pen pal era has cultivated a quiet, global community. Users can also collect virtual stamps from different countries, adding a small ritualistic pleasure to the exchange. For many, this experience is akin to posting a letter adorned with a rare stamp. The app is available on App Store and Google Play By Ronnie Kuriakose