Gone are the days of letters and greeting cards

> The crisis faced by Ferdinand Perera, a postman in Kerala, is the story of almost all the postmen of India. > As handwritten letters and greeting cards gave way to e-mail and e-cards and mobile phones and faxes became the major tools of communication, postmen have started facing existential crisis. > There were times when postmen were finding it too difficult to accommodate the letters and greetings cards in their hand bag. > The arrival of new end communication tools has taken the sheen out of a postman’s life who was once considered as an integral part of the society. > Now bank documents, telephone bills and magazines comprise the major chunk being sent via post now.

AFP file Earlier, postmen used to pedal their bicycle for kilometres braving rain and scorching heat to distribute letters. —