Ludhiana: Once decorating all street corners, postboxes dwindle in numbers

Post cards, telegram money orders and greetings cards are things of nostalgia for the elderly, and concepts hard to fathom for those of us from the younger generations

At a time before emails, social media and the never-ending ping of instant messaging, red-coloured postboxes used to decorate all our street corners.

A city resident posts a letter into letter box in Ludhiana on Saturday. (HT Photo)

Glowing bright red, these postboxes were a testament of human connections, and a reminder of our connections with love and care shown through hand-written letters.

Post cards, telegram money orders and greetings cards are things of nostalgia for the elderly, and concepts hard to fathom for those of us from the younger generations.

According to a data on the website of India Post, the urban areas of Punjab had 2,999 post boxes, with Ludhiana accounting for 136.

As of today, the number of postboxes in Ludhiana has dwindled to just 87, which are mostly on the premises of post offices and government buildings.

Tejinder Kaur, a resident of Jamalpur, Sector 32, fondly recalls the days when she used to write letters to her brother, who was working in Shimla in 1984.

“Those letters meant so much,” she says, reminiscing on the eager wait between the days when the postman would ring her doorbell.

“Back then, we truly valued emotions,” she added. She, however, says that those connections seem to have weakened as mobile phones have penetrated the market.

Ishika, a 19-year-old BCom student, remembers her grandfather exchanging letters with his peers

“I have never done it myself. I don’t even know if there is a postbox in my locality,” she says.

Gurmail Chand, who works at a private hospital in the city, says, “A few years ago, there was a postbox at our hospital gate, making it easy to send mail during work hours. Now, I have to go to the nearby post office.”

Head post office development officer Nishi Mani said the number of postboxes in the city has actually increased as they have been added at the railway station and near the Central Post Office.