Features: Magazine | Literary Review | Life | Metro Plus | Open Page | Education Plus | Book Review | Business | SciTech | NXg | Friday Review | Cinema Plus | Young World | Property Plus | Quest |

The unsung heroes

Photo: C.V. Subrahmanyam

Get set go Sorting out the mail before leaving for the delivery

Rain or shine, Malleshwar Rao’s day starts at 4 a.m. After attending to his daily household chores, followed by a quick shower and breakfast, he is at his post at the Head Post Office located in the Old Town area of Visakhapatnam by 8 a.m. to s ort out hundreds of mails on the basis of their addresses. He sets out by 10 a.m. carrying a red bag that weighs around 15 kg on his bicycle to distribute the letters, money orders and other forms of communication to the recipients who have been eagerly waiting for them. He pedals, brisk walks, jogs uphill and hops flights of steps to reach the homes, and by the end of the day his activity covers over 15 km. And he has been doing it for the last 28 years, over two shifts in a day. His official day starts at 8 a.m. in the morning and ends only when all the letters are distributed, and there are days when the last door he knocked was at 10 in the night.

Well, that’s not only his lifestyle; the same is the case with Ch. V.S. Sundereswar Rao, B. Satya Rao, V. Padmavathi, A. Rambabu and thousands of other postmen and postwomen who work at the 1,55,333 post offices spread across the length and breadth of the country. The Indian Postal Service with 1,55,333 post offices, is the most widely distributed post office system in the world with China coming second with 57,000 post offices.

Despite the strenuous work, they do it with a smile on their face. “We are in public service and the job is rewarding. The beaming faces of the recipients enliven us. The entire fatigue eases down, as we notice an old mother receive a letter with shaking hands and moist eyes from a son who is miles away, on the call of the duty, in some sensitive border area,” says A. Rambabu.

This postman has worked for over seven years in the Army Postal Service before moving to the Indian Postal Service. He recollects how he trekked over 30 km over hostile terrain to deliver letters to the jawans and officers of the Indian Army posted in the border areas of Arunachal Pradesh. “We braved inclement and extreme climate and hopped from one bunker to another to deliver the letters. But the fatigue vanishes after seeing the glow on the face of the sentinels of the nation on receiving the much-awaited communication from their loved ones. I always felt that their sacrifice is much more than our workload,” says the postman.

Narrating an incident Sundereswar Rao says, “A person applied for a passport to go abroad. For reasons unknown, the passport was delayed and I took it to him just a week before his scheduled departure. In joy he hugged me and offered sweets. I still cherish that memory.”

Despite, technology modernising the various modes of electronic transmission of data, many seniors in the postal department feel that a ‘letter is a letter’ and there is no replacement. There is a considerable drop in the first class mails, thanks to emails and mobile phones, but still a letter seems to have not lost its value. “Receiving a handwritten letter is like seeing or feeling the person in flesh and blood, whereas, an e-mail is like seeing the photograph of the person. A handwritten letter comes wrapped in emotions and it cannot be replaced or replicated,” says the Assistant Superintendent of Posts Ch.L.N. Sastry.

The Indian postal system is age-old. Its documented evidence can be traced back to the 14th century, when postmen on horses delivered the mails. The horse-post, called uluq, was run by royal horses stationed at a distance of every four miles. The other form of delivery system was the foot-post, called dawa, where postmen were supposed to run at top speed carrying the mails and a stick with copper bells fixed at the top end. The postmen were located every three or four miles and the mails were relayed from one postman to the other till the destination. Enroute, they were at mercy of dacoits and wild animals. And even today, the unsung heroes who deliver the much-awaited communications are at the mercy of harsh weather, hostile terrain and most importantly stray and pet dogs.

“I was bitten thrice, once by a stray dog and twice by pet dogs, as the owners did not display the board containing the message ‘Beware of dogs’. All the three times I had to undergo the pains of injecting the anti-rabies course,” says Y. Velangani Rao, a postman.

The Indian postal system was unified in 1854, and the documented postal history of Visakhapatnam dates back to about 140 years ago. In those days there were two post offices under the superintendent of posts of the then Madras Presidency. One post office was located at the Old Town area, which still continues to function at the same location in a renovated building and the other was located at the Waltair area, which was later moved to the Andhra University Post Office building.

Despite, the stiff competition from the technology driven forms of modern and instant communication systems, the workload of the postmen has not reduced. Today, apart from delivering mails, they collect mails to be posted from the people, collect telephone bills to be paid, sell ‘prasadams’ of various reputed temples and act as agents for various mutual funds and insurance companies that have tied down with the Indian Postal Department.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail