Blog | When A 'Thup' Meant The World: Ode To The Beloved Red Post Box

A WhatsApp message landed on my phone with a video and voiceover paying tributes to the forthcoming 'demise' of the red letter box on September 1, as "the service was being discontinued". It made my heart melt, and I immediately typed out a reply, "How sad". How could the postal department do this, went my inner thoughts. Then came a gush of emotions associated with that piece of red cylindrical, sometimes box-like, structure beckoning you from street corners, entry to public parks, outside railway stations, cantonment bazaars....it was literally a ubiquitous beacon in our lives.

The Drill To Post A Letter

As I 'googled' to check whether the story was true, there was a flood of memories from those errand trips to post letters when I was a kid in the sixties. If the letterbox was a trusted one, it was okay. In a new place, however, there was a drill before posting those precious inlands and envelopes; check that its top was not corroded with years (maybe decades) of standing in rain and sunlight, that there was a metal 'peak' covering the insertion slot, that it was not overflowing with letters that could be pulled out by some rogue character, and, finally, the most important - to check if it had a proper metallic lock on the big letter-extraction door! If all was in order, then down went the inland, with a reassuring 'thup' sound as it hit the bottom. Letter posted!

Meanwhile, Google responded - what a relief it was reading India Post's tweet on the letter boxes: "I am still right here and always will be...they are symbols of connection, memories and moments that mattered." So very true.

Also Read | This Could Be "Oldest Still Operating Letterbox". Harsh Goenka Shares Pic

With the world having moved to emails and cell phones, the handwritten letter has lost its charm. The young of today do not know the romance associated with writing and receiving a piece of handwritten paper from one's parents, friends or lovers. And, if it came in an envelope, then it could well be a 'rakhi' from a sister, a 'tika' from one's mother on Diwali, a dried and pressed rose bud or, even better, the fragrance of the lipstick of a beloved.

For all those veterans who have graduated from the National Defence Academy, that double-sized blazing red letter box, with its polished brass elements, on the steps of the Cadets Mess, has indelible memories. When I reported to the NDA in July 1972, our joining formalities were done in the foyer of the Cadets' Mess. The 'Incoming Card', a copy of which I still have - a treasure! - has an action point: 'letter to parents'. For it to be ticked as 'actioned', we had to post a letter telling our parents of our safe arrival at NDA. Well, that letter went into that iconic letter box, which still stands there in all its glory, with the inscription - "Cadets Mess Post Box, Placed on 20 Oct 1955". 

I was four months old when that letterbox went up. 

The letterbox at the National Defence Academy

The 'Incoming Card'

(The author is a retired Air Vice Marshal of the Indian Air Force)

Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author