Going Postal: Two Sides of the Same Stamp

While there are many ways you can learn about a different culture, i.e. studying history and art books, religious and philosophical texts, or current newspapers, the best way to discover what makes a nation tick is to interact with it in a most commonplace way. Receiving and sending mail is almost a crystal clear model for how life often works in India.

We’ve been fortunate enough to receive a few cards and care packages (sent to 1428 Sector 34-C Top Floor Chandigarh 160022 INDIA) from friends and family over the last two months. Each time the mail man comes to deliver a package, he rings our buzzer, walks up our stairs with package in hand, smilingly points to the “Estimated value in US Dollars” number scribbled on the package and demands that much moolah in Rupees. At first I thought it was a simple misunderstanding, and since I couldn’t explain to him in Hindi that the postage had ALREADY been paid, I pulled out a 10 Rupee note and exchanged it for our package. I thought maybe I was unaware of a “hand delivery” charge for the postman.

A second package arrived a week or so later. Same buzz, same postman, same smilingly pointing to the “Estimated value in US Dollars”, and same demanding of postage. That time it was for 25 Rupees. My two thoughts were – ONE: Get the landlord to help interpret this situation and TWO: Have friends and family write negative numbers on the packages to see if he pays me. I did neither and paid the Rs. 25.

We finally asked our neighbor if charging extra for packages was common practice in India. She said no. After a few phone calls to the post office, we learned this guy was simply scamming us naïve Americans, albeit smilingly. This is one part of this culture we’re not quite used to yet – being constantly “misinformed” about the actual prices of things because we look like easy targets. Unfortunately, rickshaw drivers, market vendors, and now postmen are all on our “Guys To Be Suspicious Of” list (stalkers are still at the top.)

But this is not true of ALL postmen in India…


Today I frequented our local sector post office to mail a birthday card and package. Since this is only a drop-off point, I never see the postman who comes to our apartment there. As the English-speaking employees were apparently on a lunch break, the Hindi speaking man invited me in to sit while I thought he would mail my posts. After 20 minutes of sitting next to him (relishing the fact that I’d be arrested for this in the US), smiling stupidly, kindly refusing tea, and socializing with the other waiting customers, I wondered when he was going to get around to mailing them.


When Sunita (the post woman who knew English) arrived, she chatted with me as she weighed my package and looked at her worn handwritten postage chart about 10 times. She eventually found the 8 stamps I needed and was nice enough to actually put them on for me. Since stamps don’t come with adhesive, this involves wiping glue on your finger, smearing it on the back of the stamps and sticking them on the envelope.

As opposed to dealing with the suspicious delivery postman, the whole experience inside the post office was quite relaxed, pleasantly social and a little sticky – just like India itself. It just goes to show that you can't judge a book by its cover. . . or a country by its postmen.

Jimmy