104 / 365 of reading one short story every day.
The sentiment and nostalgia of a postcard is unmatchable to today's click and reels generation. Narayan, however, recounts a time when the letter was the most important stationery item in a Post Office. And the postcard was equal to a lower caste man amongst a crowd of Brahmins. In the starting statement of this essay, Narayan smartly plugs in the discrimination of caste which was very common in the early 20th century in India.
Postcards were rarely used except to wish people on festive occasions or on their personal accomplishments. In that era when a whole month of stories had to be recounted for, a four page crusted paper or the blue inland letter was commonly used. But after a funny incident at the airport, Narayan understood the benefits of the humble postcard.
'It went from being a juvenile to a smart chap in a room full of grumpy old men! ' The grumpy men being the inland!
Some of my favorite postcards right here.
No comments:
Post a Comment