The letter box is empty

BANGALORE: The bicycle bell goes “ring, ring”, and there’s a dash to the door to grab the letters. The genial postman in his khaki uniform with the red badge and riding his bicycle with a sack hanging from its side, shuffles the envelopes and cards in his hand and is about to drop them into the letter box fastened to the gate. But the eager hands snatch them from his hand before he does that and there’s a scramble among the household for the bunch. The envelopes are torn open, the contents read and passed on to the other members of the family. The little ones carefully tear off the colourful postage stamps and the family sits down to discuss the contents of the letter and the reply to be sent. The reply is scribbled on a sheet of paper, with a P.S. being added by others in the family. The paper is stuffed into the envelope and the stamps and flap licked and sealed and carried to the post box for the earliest clearance.While boxes in the neighbourhood are always painted red, those outside the post office are of various colours depending on the destination of the letters. While the light blue ones were generally meant for capital cities, the green was set aside for local letters and the red one for all other mails.The overseas mails are inserted into colourful airmail envelopes which are handed over to the clerk at the counter.There were times when the postman generally made three deliveries a day, and each time, he was received with equal enthusiasm. It was during the late afternoon delivery that the monthly magazine arrived.Since it generally came on a fixed day of the month, each member of the household is waiting for it eagerly, peeping out of the door now and then but not revealing it to the other. And when it finally arrives, there’s the usual dash for it and the quickest one gets it.But the mission is not accomplished till one gets to recline on grandpa’s old rose wood easy chair and settle down there with the magazine. Then, a deal is struck and the chair is vacated for the one who has the magazine, who in turn has to vacate it after reading his favourite story. Today, letter box hanging on the gate is seldom opened, save occasionally to retrieve a bank statement, an insurance policy premium payment reminder or a telephone bill.[email protected]