**********************************************************************************************************
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
One among the dozens of humiliations in my long life had to do with Drop-Boxes.
I was then all of 16 and in my third year at the University. And I was staying at Kovur with my parents during my summer vacation. When I was going out on a pleasure pushbike ride to Nellore, 5 km away, Father handed me a closed envelope addressed to the Superintendent of Post Offices, Nellore Division, and asked me to drop it into the Drop-Box outside the Sup's office. And when I reached the place, I found two devils, one glowing red, and the other pleasing white. And I debated for a moment and dropped the envelope into the red box...by a mental toss of the coin. The rest of the story can be found, in all its gory detail, at:
http://gpsastry.blogspot.in/2010/07/pop-culture.html
In short, Father had to lose face and cough up hard cash to the Sup to whom he was complaining bitterly about the inefficiency of his office, in that closed envelope.
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
One more of my boyhood mishaps with Post Boxes was when Father handed me a closed envelope, and a 1-anna coin, asking me to go to the Post Office at Muthukur, buy a 1-anna stamp, affix the stamp to the envelope asking for the glue bottle at the next counter, and drop it into the Post Box...a set of instructions clear enough but long-winded for a boy of 8.
I gave the 1-anna coin to the clerk at the window, standing on my toes and pushing my hand into the pigeon hole and asked for a stamp. And the chap asked:
"Postal or Revenue?"
This foxed me a bit but I was too shy to admit my ignorance of the difference. And again I tossed a coin mentally and thought that Revenue sounded better and blurted:
"Revenue!"
I leave the rest to your imagination...the envelope flew back to Father after a fortnight, unopened, like a homing pigeon. There were several seals on the damn thing saying that the addressee refused to take it since he had to pay a fine of 2-annas and Father had to pay a fine of 4-annas without the option of a refusal.
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
The limit was while I was advertising in the matrimonial columns of The Hindu for alliances for my sisters. It was during 1975-77 when the Post Office had a Regd Envelope @ Rs 5, Ordinary Envelope @ Rs 1, Inland Cover @ 50 paise and Post Card @ 10 paise.. There was no guarantee that ordinary posts were delivered at all and not lost in transit...the volume of posts was very heavy indeed.
So, one day I got an envelope from a prospective party and the Postman demanded Rs 2 if I wished to accept it. I asked him why and he said that the sender forgot to affix any stamp at all and so it became a 'Bearing' envelope and I had to pay double the cost. I had no choice since I was keen not to miss any good alliance just because the bridegroom's papa was in a hurry maybe.
So I paid the fine and opened the envelope and on reading the contents I was absolutely enraged...the bloody papa wrote in his Post Script:
"I am intentionally not affixing any stamp since Bearing letters are sure to be delivered because they fetch revenue to the Postal Department. The only other way to ensure delivery is to send it by Regd Post which is needlessly expensive"
I flicked the letter into my own Drop-Box beneath my table...
**********************************************************************************************************
...The next morning the system had its first real trial. At 8 o'clock Albertino and the Duchess started off to school. They locked the gate behind them and slipped the key into the letter-box. Unfortunately Albertino put the letter-box key in his pocket, and when I wanted to go out I had to make the climb. The delivery boy threw the groceries over, and at 11 o'clock I came back the same way as before. At noon, when Albertino and the Duchess returned, I recovered the letter-box key and was able to open the gate. But Margherita's nerves were on edge.
'From now on, the key to the letter-box remains in my possession. There'll be no more mix-ups of this kind.'
At three o'clock she went out with the children, and since I was at work in my third-floor study, she locked the gate behind her and left the key in the letter box, taking the letter-box key with her. At 4 o'clock someone called me about a business matter, and I had to hurry to the center of the town, climbing over the wall on my way. The children stayed back at the house of Signora Marcella, and Margherita came back at 6 o'clock alone. The gate was locked and the key was in the letter-box which couldn't be opened from the outside. When I came home at eight, Margherita was pacing up and down in front of the gate. Frankly, I didn't feel like scaling the wall again, so we had dinner in a restaurant and spent the night at a hotel.
The next day, which was Sunday, we called for Albertino and the Red Duchess in the late afternoon. I sent Albertino over the wall, slipped him the letter-box key, and he opened the gate...
...From: The House That Nino Built
One among the dozens of humiliations in my long life had to do with Drop-Boxes.
I was then all of 16 and in my third year at the University. And I was staying at Kovur with my parents during my summer vacation. When I was going out on a pleasure pushbike ride to Nellore, 5 km away, Father handed me a closed envelope addressed to the Superintendent of Post Offices, Nellore Division, and asked me to drop it into the Drop-Box outside the Sup's office. And when I reached the place, I found two devils, one glowing red, and the other pleasing white. And I debated for a moment and dropped the envelope into the red box...by a mental toss of the coin. The rest of the story can be found, in all its gory detail, at:
http://gpsastry.blogspot.in/2010/07/pop-culture.html
In short, Father had to lose face and cough up hard cash to the Sup to whom he was complaining bitterly about the inefficiency of his office, in that closed envelope.
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
One more of my boyhood mishaps with Post Boxes was when Father handed me a closed envelope, and a 1-anna coin, asking me to go to the Post Office at Muthukur, buy a 1-anna stamp, affix the stamp to the envelope asking for the glue bottle at the next counter, and drop it into the Post Box...a set of instructions clear enough but long-winded for a boy of 8.
I gave the 1-anna coin to the clerk at the window, standing on my toes and pushing my hand into the pigeon hole and asked for a stamp. And the chap asked:
"Postal or Revenue?"
This foxed me a bit but I was too shy to admit my ignorance of the difference. And again I tossed a coin mentally and thought that Revenue sounded better and blurted:
"Revenue!"
I leave the rest to your imagination...the envelope flew back to Father after a fortnight, unopened, like a homing pigeon. There were several seals on the damn thing saying that the addressee refused to take it since he had to pay a fine of 2-annas and Father had to pay a fine of 4-annas without the option of a refusal.
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
The limit was while I was advertising in the matrimonial columns of The Hindu for alliances for my sisters. It was during 1975-77 when the Post Office had a Regd Envelope @ Rs 5, Ordinary Envelope @ Rs 1, Inland Cover @ 50 paise and Post Card @ 10 paise.. There was no guarantee that ordinary posts were delivered at all and not lost in transit...the volume of posts was very heavy indeed.
So, one day I got an envelope from a prospective party and the Postman demanded Rs 2 if I wished to accept it. I asked him why and he said that the sender forgot to affix any stamp at all and so it became a 'Bearing' envelope and I had to pay double the cost. I had no choice since I was keen not to miss any good alliance just because the bridegroom's papa was in a hurry maybe.
So I paid the fine and opened the envelope and on reading the contents I was absolutely enraged...the bloody papa wrote in his Post Script:
"I am intentionally not affixing any stamp since Bearing letters are sure to be delivered because they fetch revenue to the Postal Department. The only other way to ensure delivery is to send it by Regd Post which is needlessly expensive"
I flicked the letter into my own Drop-Box beneath my table...
**********************************************************************************************************
No comments:
Post a Comment