In this day and age, when email interactions and insta-messaging have taken over, a volley of Bengalureans have decided to shift gears – the age old concept of sending postcards have caught up in namma ooru. Post crossing, a free online forum, which enables users to exchange written tokens of appreciation in the form of quirky yet soulful postcards is the latest buzzword in town.
Interestingly, the concept is being perceived as an engaging hobby for many who are interested in collecting stamps. These postcards act like an eye to the world, for those who cannot afford to jet set across the globe. We dig deeper into the trend from young city folk who tell us more…
“I was into pen-palling since the age of 12. But over time, good friends became estranged and the closest of friends moved on to e-mails. However I still loved the art of writing, penmanship, the scent of paper, the suspense of whether a letter will make it through or not, basically all the joys of letter writing!
However it took me three months to send out my first postcard. Reason? It is one thing to write at length to someone you know but what do you write to a perfect stranger in a foreign land? I found the task quite daunting,” reveals Shilpa Royton, a 31-year-old software professional in town. And that’s not all, she feels the concept is a great way to invokes feelings of patriotism.
“The biggest takeaway was that the whole process had me appreciating my country and my city even more. This is because I began to look for the best ways to show them off to the world, so And I wasn't disappointed. Wish we would learn to commemorate more events, people and situations in India. After all, it is a way to mark history,” she adds.
Amazed by the set-up, Rohith Kamath opines that the underlying message of such concepts is probably just one – to spread love and harmony. “It was after a long time I decided to revive my 15-year-old hobby, which was in my cupboard. It was the same time Philately exhibition was in the city. I decided to visit it and see how things changed in this period. The person helped me open an account on the site. I was amazed by the idea and the way it was setup. I started taking more and more interest as it was getting stamps from all over the world. During our time in school we did not have anything like this. We used to exchange stamps with our friends in school and it was getting into only a small group of people. But the fun and engaging aspect aside, I think the whole concept ushers feelings of affability. Something we need in this era where its easier to spread hatred through tweets and posts but not as much warmth.”
—with inputs from Ridhi Agrawal.
