It’s extremely tempting for me to indulge in 'Government bashing' every now
and then. It’s almost therapeutic and I think I am at my cynical best when I
write on such topics. But I am now trying to control that instinct and come up
with something nice about a Government department. I am referring to 'India
Post', our revered postal system.
The postal system in India is considered slow, bureaucratic and inefficient. Post offices still look like they are stuck in the 1970s or 1980s. Most of us these days use the courier system to ensure that important documents get delivered on time. There is no denying that it is much easier to track a courier packet when compared to something sent through Registered Post. The Registered Post is almost reserved for sending and receiving documents from Government departments or universities.
I was in for a nice surprise a few days ago when I received a letter addressed to my husband with an incomplete address. It just had his name, the street name, city name and pin code. There was no door number mentioned. This got me thinking that if this had been sent through courier it would have been rejected for incomplete address. However the postal department has quietly and efficiently delivered the letter without any kind of complaint.
Just looking at the mailing addresses is India is enough to realize the challenges faced by postmen here. There is no uniformity in the way addresses are written. Addresses are long and often quite confusing. Those who live in Chennai should know the confusion we have about door numbers, there are old numbers and new numbers. Then there are apartment numbers and street numbers. Our mails can be addressed in so many ways, with our full names (first and last name), or with our first names. Our names can either be in the expanded form reserved for our passports or in the shorter form which have our initials and first name.
In this day and age when we constantly come across banks, phone companies, insurance agencies and others trying to shirk from customer service on the slightest excuse, I think India Post is doing a great job. I know that we have to probably thank our regular postman who knows all our names so well. Rain or shine he goes about doing his rounds in the most sincere manner. I am now reminded of the old Rajesh Khanna song, “Dakhiya Dakh laya” where the postman has a personal rapport with each of his customers.
The postal system in India is considered slow, bureaucratic and inefficient. Post offices still look like they are stuck in the 1970s or 1980s. Most of us these days use the courier system to ensure that important documents get delivered on time. There is no denying that it is much easier to track a courier packet when compared to something sent through Registered Post. The Registered Post is almost reserved for sending and receiving documents from Government departments or universities.
I was in for a nice surprise a few days ago when I received a letter addressed to my husband with an incomplete address. It just had his name, the street name, city name and pin code. There was no door number mentioned. This got me thinking that if this had been sent through courier it would have been rejected for incomplete address. However the postal department has quietly and efficiently delivered the letter without any kind of complaint.
Just looking at the mailing addresses is India is enough to realize the challenges faced by postmen here. There is no uniformity in the way addresses are written. Addresses are long and often quite confusing. Those who live in Chennai should know the confusion we have about door numbers, there are old numbers and new numbers. Then there are apartment numbers and street numbers. Our mails can be addressed in so many ways, with our full names (first and last name), or with our first names. Our names can either be in the expanded form reserved for our passports or in the shorter form which have our initials and first name.
In this day and age when we constantly come across banks, phone companies, insurance agencies and others trying to shirk from customer service on the slightest excuse, I think India Post is doing a great job. I know that we have to probably thank our regular postman who knows all our names so well. Rain or shine he goes about doing his rounds in the most sincere manner. I am now reminded of the old Rajesh Khanna song, “Dakhiya Dakh laya” where the postman has a personal rapport with each of his customers.
Thats true, indian post is slow and out of date but when it comes to knowing the person living in the addresses it is the best. Recently I purchased an electronics device online and it was shipped by FedEx. But I was travelling and no one was home so I asked FedEx to hold it since it was raining non stop and I did not want to ruin the device. FedEx said yes many time but the guy left it at the door step neverthless.
ReplyDeleteIf it was delivered through postal service, i would have left a note for the postman and he would have held it simple as that.