I was pleasantly surprised to receive a post card the other day after many years. It was from Mysore, sent by an octogenarian friend of my late father. All he wanted to know was my mobile number. He had not forgotten to attach a reply card. Oh, for the thoughtfulness and the old world charm! I had no choice but to reply and I did.

But having almost forgotten where the post boxes are, I had to go in search of one to post it. My mind immediately went back to the days when we as children loved writing letters to friends who moved away. The post card cost just 5 paise.

Of course for privacy there was the inland letter. There were those who used up all available space like the flaps where the gum was not stuck.

I was moved when my mother recently showed me letters that she had written in plain white sheets and then put it in a stamped envelope and posted it to my father who was living in Bangalore in the late 1940s.

This was before they were married. The sincerity, love and care in the letters brought tears to my eyes.

One of my uncles was a postman and we used to watch him deliver letters with such honesty, integrity and conscience. A post card sent to me by my father’s friend did not have the correct address but it still reached me.

Sadly today nobody has the time write post cards or inland letters when there is the superfast e-mail, sms and mobile phones. It was with concern that I read an article in The Guardian of a campaign launched in the UK to save the post card. As I write this piece on a pc (personal computer) and e-mail it, I wonder if we may also need to launch a save pc campaign!