National Post Day: Meet R Padmanabhan, who has been sending postcards to kith and kin for over two decades

Every postcard tells a story, says a post on the Instagram feed of India Post. Who better to vouch for this than R Padmanabhan, a native of Manacaud in Thiruvananthapuram, who has been sending handwritten postcards to his contacts for over two decades now.

The number of cards he has sent till date might have crossed 1.2 lakhs, says Padmanabhan, who has a database of over 13,000 addresses. “I send them every day. Today I sent 33, of which four carried wedding anniversary greetings, three had death anniversary messages and the rest had birthday wishes,” says Padmanabhan, who will turn 60 next month.

A postgraduate in commerce, he took to sending postcards as a hobby while taking tuitions. “I sent birthday wishes to a student, and his parents were moved by it. That was the beginning. I collected birth dates of my students and started sending them cards. At the time the number was barely 60 or 70 cards a year. Eventually I expanded the list by adding birth dates of friends, relatives and others,” he says.

The number increased once he became office-bearer of Kerala Vellala Maha Sabha. “I had access to the addresses of the members and thus over 8,000 names were added to my database. I looked at it as an opportunity to build a rapport with the members of the community,” says Padmanabhan, who used to work as a coordinator with the Centre for Adult Education and Extension under the University of Kerala.

Since the postcards have become a thing of the past, they are not sold at all post offices. In Thiruvananthapuram, they are now available only at the General Post Office. He purchases 4,000 cards at a time — that is four bundles with 125 sheets each [eight cards in one sheet].

He is systematic when it comes to sending the cards. “For instance, for the month of October, I keep the cards ready by September 25. I stick printed addresses on the cards and arrange them by dates. I do some artwork on the cards before writing the messages. If the person is in Wayanad or Kasaragod I send it five days ahead of the date they are supposed to receive it. I did not stop during the pandemic. Only that I couldn’t post them every day,” he adds.

Padmanabhan is excited about the fact that many people have preserved his cards and even send him photographs. He has been sending cards to political leaders as well and some of them have replied. “These include Sonia Gandhi, AK Antony and Oommen Chandy. I also send New Year greetings to all the members of Legislative Assembly,” he adds.

He says that sometimes the cards are returned because the address might have changed. “Sometimes the recipient is no longer alive and family members reply.”

It has become a passion project for Padmanabhan who believes that there is a beauty in simplicity. “For a common man like me, it is difficult to afford an expensive card. The postcard has been the simple and budget-friendly option for me. I have seen an era when we communicated only through letters and cards,” he says.

When Padmanabhan started the practice, a postcard cost 25 paisa and now it is 50 paisa. “When the rates of other postal services went up, I was worried if they would hike it to ₹1. That would have upset my budget, and I might have even stopped the practice,” he says.