THE POSTMAN

The ‘Anchal’. (Postman) Gopalan and Post Master K. Gopala Kaimal, of the Sub Post Office at Kumbalam. were the only two Central Government employees working in Kumbalam. The post alone was the medium through which one could communicate to the outside world. Jacob and I used to meet the postman at our gate around 8-30 A.M. He wore a dhoti and a khaki shirt with brass buttons on it. Two brass buttons shone on the pockets and the other two on his shoulders. He held a seven feet tall pole with a bell on it. He used to walk with a big mail bag and an umbrella which had a long handle. The bell sounded as he walked hastily as if alerting the other pedestrians to give him way. He seemed to be the busiest man in the village. A special mail ferry boat would wait for him to take him across. The punctuality of the postman and the mail boat were commendable. He delivered the mail of the Islanders at the Thevara Sub Post office. They in turn sent it to the Main Post Office at Ernakulam and onward to their destinations. The postman would return with the mail bag to the Kumbalam Post Office where he would report to the Post Master. The postman was responsible for the delivery of post to all the four Islands of Kumbalam Village. His morning delivery process would begin by first stamping the seal on the mail he brought in from Thevara. This was followed by the sorting and finally he would go out to deliver them to the various addressees. The pole he carried helped him to pole-vault the puddles and to cross small canals. Every islander respected him since he brought letters which was the only medium of communication on these four Islands. Money orders, registered letters including appointment orders were also part of the stack he carried in his hand. People looked forward to his arrival and every day people anxiously waited for him. I have heard people ask, “Has the postman come this way?” Inlands and postcards were the major and the only means of communication here. Even my own maternal uncles used to make use of this means to communicate. X’mas Cards used to be a popular means of communicating, remembering and bonding of kinship during that festive eve. The postman played a vital role that even the boatman used to wait for him to embark before he left the ferry. I admired him for the respect he commanded from the local people.

Badran Menon Purakkat, Gopala Kaimal and then his daughter Kaumudi were the post masters and Kunjipaulo Palathingal, Varkey Anjilickal, Gopalan, Velappan were the postmen of the Kumbalam Sub Post Office. Postman Velappan, was a humble, pleasant and endearing personality. He had only a short stint in Kumbalam after which he moved to the Head Post Office at Ernakulam.  On his retirement was given an award for his good service from the Central Government. We, the Islanders, are thankful and proud of them for their yeoman services.

Excerpts from

MEMOIRS

An autobiography

by

Joseph J. Thayamkeril

Lawyer, Kochi, Kerala, India.

josephjthayamkeril.blogspot.com

josephjthayamkeril@gmail.com