6. The Post Card

Sixth chapter in In Search of Swami series

After few weeks, I realized the reality and started enjoying the hostel life. My mom used to visit me with home cooked food every weekend. Gradually, it became two weeks once and then standard three weeks once.

She gave me some post cards to write. Probably we were the last generation to write on post cards, but she forgot to share our address. She might have thought I knew it.

I took the empty post card on a Sunday afternoon along with Aravind. First problem is how to write, whether to write in landscape format or the other way with short lines. I thought more words can be written in landscape mode, Aravind agreed for it. 

Now, what to write, first, I wrote the date and place on the top right hand corner. A pillayar suzhi on the top center then started with “Anbulla Amma”. My Tamil was horrible (even now). I enquired about the family members. Then I wrote about my well-being here in hostel. I forgot exactly what I wrote, must be three to four lines. Then I turned to the other side of the post card to write down the address. I knew the street name, but got confused with the door number and pin code. I had to rewrite it again and again. The right side, were the address was supposed to be written was full of mistakes and I had to cross and strike it many times.

Aravind gave the idea to write the proper address on the left side and make an arrow from right to left so that the post man can understand. This time I wrote my mother name, my grandpa name, his occupation, tentative door number, street name and luckily I got the pin code from the manja pai which I had in my trunk. The bag was from a prominent textiles (You can decipher it as a cloth store or showroom) in our town. The cat on the post card was staring at me as if he or she yelling at me “What is this dimwit!!”

I asked Aravind, “Will the post man read the letter?”

He replied, “Don’t worry, he won’t understand your handwriting”

I posted the letter into the post box, which was very next to our school gate. I wasn’t sure the letter would reach home. In fact it did reach safe and sound.

Following week mom came with the letter. She was happy to see her son had written a letter, ignoring my dreadful spelling mistakes.

I must be one among the lucky ones to write a letter at that early age.

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Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19

**Above image from internet