The Indian Postman by Kanhaiya maheshwary

Immortalized umpteen number of times in Bollywood films, and mentioned in a score of Hindi songs, The Indian Postman is a prominent figure in the social fabric of our country. There have been various portrayals of the Indian Postman, and all of them have been pretty comical.

The Indian Postman is stereotypically jovial because he is supposed to socialize with everyone, right from the Postmaster in the Post Office to each and every household that he visits. While in larger towns, the postman is often limited to the task of just delivering posts, he assumes a greater role in smaller towns and villages. If you remember Nivaran Ji from Swades, you will realize the amount of work that they’ve to undertake, right from writing mails for the illiterate lot in the village, sending them across to other villages, sorting and delivering the received mails to each and every household, and even reading them out aloud to those who cannot read! Similar is the character of Mahadev from Welcome to Sajjanpur.

If you can even put the slightest of pressure on your now busy-and-occupied-by-social-media brain, you will remember all those times during your childhood (80s-90s) when the Postman brought messages of joy, love, sadness, despair, and every other expression that you can recall. If there was a wedding in the family, you would be informed about the same via post. In case your cousin secured distinction, a postman would deliver the news. There are countless instances wherein the postman must have delivered some of the most important news events of your life to you, ranging from a cousin’s wedding to an elder’s death! Why else do you think that the Indian cinema would give a Postman so much of importance and come up with a ‘Daakiya Daak Laya‘ number?

And now that we have touched the topic of songs, let us check out a number of other chartbusters. While the Postman might not be directly mentioned in the songs, he is surely the one who is ‘behind the scenes’. Border’s memorable ‘Sandese Aate Hain’, and Naam’s sentimental ‘Chitthi Aayi Hai‘ are some of the hit ones. And if you remember Maine Pyaar Kiya, they’ve hilariously replaced the Postman with a kabootar! (Kabootar jaa, jaa, jaa!)

Postman was a pretty respectable position to hold back then till the 90s. Soon, the internet replaced traditional mails with e-mails and thus, there wasn’t too much left for the Postmen to do thereon. But whenever I think of a Postman, my mind conjures up the image of a khakee-clad, ever-smiling, spectacle wearing uncle, who works tirelessly throughout the day to give you some of the best posts of your life. I hope my posts will make you smile, laugh, think, inform, and perhaps even cry. That’s why the name – The Indian Postman.

Author: Kanhaiya maheshwary is an independent musician living in Mumbai, India.

He has been working as a freelance writer since the past 6 years. You can see more of his work, and browse his posts, at his blog - 'theindianpostman.wordpress.com'

He can be reached via facebook at https://www.facebook.com/kanhaiya91?fref=ts