• Latest
The Promise To Deliver

The Promise To Deliver

January 19, 2023
Investec Cape Town Art Fair

Investec Cape Town Art Fair

March 3, 2023
Discipline and Precepts are Favorable for Self-Development

Discipline and Precepts are Favorable for Self-Development

March 3, 2023
DY Patil University Centre of Excellence Opens in Navi Mumbai

DY Patil University Centre of Excellence Opens in Navi Mumbai

March 3, 2023
A Walk Down Cobblers’ Street

A Walk Down Cobblers’ Street

March 3, 2023
The Colombo Cultural Show: A Soiree into Sri Lanka’s Heart

The Colombo Cultural Show: A Soiree into Sri Lanka’s Heart

February 7, 2023
Kandy Central Market: The epitome of local ambiance

Kandy Central Market: The epitome of local ambiance

February 7, 2023
The Art of Local Writing

The Art of Local Writing

February 7, 2023
Carnival Magic

Carnival Magic

February 7, 2023
Ponniyin Selvan 1: Leveraging the Lure of History and the Power of Storytelling

Ponniyin Selvan 1: Leveraging the Lure of History and the Power of Storytelling

January 11, 2023
Rumination and Emotional Process

Rumination and Emotional Process

January 13, 2023
Segar Represents Sri Lanka in Asia Art Bienniale in Dhaka

Segar Represents Sri Lanka in Asia Art Bienniale in Dhaka

January 11, 2023
Good Conversations Start with Mlesna

Good Conversations Start with Mlesna

January 11, 2023
Retail
Sunday, March 19, 2023
Subscription
Advertise
  • Home
  • Issues
    • 201_
      • 2010
        • January 2010
        • February 2010
        • March 2010
        • April 2010
        • May 2010
        • June 2010
        • July 2010
        • August 2010
        • September 2010
        • October 2010
        • November 2010
        • December 2010
      • 2011
        • January 2011
        • February 2011
        • March 2011
        • April 2011
        • May 2011
        • June 2011
        • July 2011
        • August 2011
        • September 2011
        • October 2011
        • November 2011
        • December 2011
      • 2012
        • January 2012
        • February 2012
        • March 2012
        • April 2012
        • May 2012
        • June 2012
        • July 2012
        • August 2012
        • September 2012
        • October 2012
        • November 2012
        • December 2012
      • 2013
        • January 2013
        • February 2013
        • March 2013
        • April 2013
        • May 2013
        • June 2013
        • July 2013
        • August 2013
        • September 2013
        • October 2013
        • November 2013
        • December 2013
      • 2014
        • January 2014
        • February 2014
        • March 2014
        • April 2014
        • May 2014
        • June 2014
        • July 2014
        • August 2014
        • September 2014
        • October 2014
        • November 2014
        • December 2014
      • 2015
        • January 2015
        • February 2015
        • March 2015
        • April 2015
        • May 2015
        • June 2015
        • July 2015
        • August 2015
        • September 2015
        • October 2015
        • November 2015
        • December 2015
      • 2016
        • January 2016
        • February 2016
        • March 2016
        • April 2016
        • May 2016
        • June 2016
        • July 2016
        • August 2016
        • September 2016
        • October 2016
        • November 2016
        • December 2016
      • 2017
        • January 2017
        • February 2017
        • March 2017
        • April 2017
        • May 2017
        • June 2017
        • July 2017
        • August 2017
        • September 2017
        • October 2017
        • November 2017
        • December 2017
      • 2018
        • January 2018
        • February 2018
        • March 2018
        • April 2018
        • May 2018
        • June 2018
        • July 2018
        • August 2018
        • November 2018
        • December 2018
      • 2019
        • January 2019
        • February 2019
        • March 2019
        • April 2019
        • May 2019
        • June 2019
        • July 2019
        • August 2019
        • September 2019
        • October 2019
        • November 2019
        • December 2019
    • 202_
      • 2020
        • January 2020
        • February 2020
        • March 2020
        • September 2020
        • October 2020
        • November 2020
        • December 2020
      • 2021
        • January 2021
        • February 2021
        • March 2021
        • April 2021
        • May 2021
        • June 2021
        • July 2021
        • August 2021
        • September 2021
        • October 2021
        • November 2021
        • December 2021
      • 2022
        • January 2022
        • February 2022
        • March 2022
        • April 2022
        • May 2022
        • June 2022
        • July 2022
        • August 2022
        • September 2022
        • October 2022
        • November 2022
        • December 2022
      • 2023
        • January 2023
        • February 2023
        • March 2023
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Archive
  • Find Us on Magzter
No Result
View All Result
No Result
View All Result

The Promise To Deliver

in April 2014, General
0 0
0
Stamped mail is distributed through the postal lines

Despite advances in technology, the postman’s job is an irreplaceable facet of Sri Lankan life.

Words Daleena Samara Photographs Rasika Surasena

“Neither rain, nor sleet, nor dark of night shall stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds…”—Herodotus’ description of the Persian courier services of his day (ca 500BC) could be adopted as Sri Lanka’s postal creed today. Blue-shirted squads of postmen disperse every morning, carrying bags full of letters to be delivered to addresses around the country, sometimes under extreme conditions and through harsh terrain.

In Maskeliya, Sathyaseela treks 2,243 metres up to the devale at the summit of Siripada. It’s his second month on the job. Jagath, who did the round before him, reached the devale in an hour and a half and took three hours to get back to base. When the monsoon sets in, it will be harder to make a delivery.Occasionally, like Jagath, he may have to take an alternative route through the forest, dodging obstacles like leeches and elephants. He’ll do it every day during the season.

Elsewhere, there are peers who brave the jungles every day.The Meemura and Morningside deliveries are particularly difficult.The postman who delivers mail in Meemura in the Matale District walks 16 kilometres along a narrow road bordered by jungle every day. If he chances upon a herd of elephants, he’ll duck into the forest until they pass. Morningside, in the eastern section of Sinharaja Rainforest, is another rugged beat. But the letters get delivered, as they did in the war zones during the 30-year conflict against separatism and in the coastal areas in the aftermath of the tsunami.

In an era of instantaneous communication, it’s hard to imagine this alternative reality. But it happens. The duties of the country’s faithful postal delivery men, a vital service loved by many, plays out daily. “There’s always someone waiting for you,” says M D Chandrasiri,a senior postman who has been with the postal department for 34 years. This line of work struck him 34 years ago, as he waited for a postman to deliver his letter of appointment to his home.

His beat is the crazily busy Colombo 11, bazaar-like with narrow store lined streets, colourful crowds and traffic. He delivers mail with a smile. Everyone seems to know him and he always draws a warm welcome. He has been on the beat for 25 years. He takes pleasure in his job: Colombo 11 is culturally rich,he says. “I get to meet many people from many communities every day.” The best part of his beat is the colourful saree bazaar. He makes sure its his last stop.

Sri Lanka’s postal service has taken great strides since it was established three centuries ago, when the maritime provinces were under the Dutch rule, says Muditha Karunamuni, an instructor at the Postal Training Institute who played a key role in setting up the National Postal Museum. The Dutch established a postal service in 1789 with five post offices in the maritime districts under their rule—Galle, Colombo, Mannar, Jaffna and Trincomalee. The letters shipped from Holland would take about a year to reach Ceylon at the time. The mail was distributed in the city by the Lascareens, a military unit of Malay soldiers.

In 1797, the Island became a British Crown Colony. The British reorganised the postal services and in 1802, set up the first Post Office. For the first time, postal services were made available to the public. Overseas mail was also made possible by various shipping lines.By 1836, there were 12 post offices with clerks, and 30 with post holders, growing to 112 post offices over time. In time, the postal services expanded to other areas such as the display of public announcements, sending telegrams and offering telephone facilities and a banking service.

Various modes of transport were used to transport mail to the General Post Office in Colombo. A mail coach service was set up between Colombo and Kandy in 1832, and a year later, between Galle and Colombo.Horse carriages, bullock carts and rickshaws were also used.

Where humanity and technology could not provide speed, birds provided a solution. Lake House Newspapers set up a pigeon post between Galle and Colombo between 1850 and 1858. Manuscripts carrying news, hot off the ships that docked at Galle Port, were attached to the feet of these winged messengers. It took a relay of four pigeons flying a total distance of 72 miles, to get the messages in Colombo.

The pigeon post harked back to pre-colonial times when the country had its own methods of communicating. The ancient kings of Sri Lanka used pigeon post, along with a variety of other methods, like the runners and andabera karayas, drummers who would precede royal edicts with the cry “asaw asaw” (hark ye, hark ye). The andabera karaya was around until the 20th Century, to announce government notices, important dates, and availability of medical clinics.

In the early days of the postal service, postal runners were employed to traverse difficult beats like jungle tracks. Often they were armed with a spear-like weapon with a big and loud bell called the minigediya.The minigediya was carried as recently as the early 1900s when it was discontinued. A pity because the weapon may have saved the life of one unfortunate runner who disappeared while on duty in 1924. Bits of his uniform, and his hair and teeth were found in the belly of a leopard known as “the man-eater of Punani”. He was its twelfth and last victim.

Today, the hardy postmen continues to go the extra mile, up peaks and through jungles to deliver the post. The postal services have grown, and we all know the ubiquitous thapal mamas (postal uncles). Today, the Department of Postal Services employs 19,000 staff, and offers a wide range of services including mail delivery, banking and financial, social obligatory services, philately, and communications services through 4,712 post offices across the country. Its history is well documented in the National Postal Museum, located in Colombo 10.

The Postal Training Institute ensures that its postmen are up to speed on essential skills including written and verbal communication in Sinhala, Tamil and English. Postmen also receive years-long on-the-job training before taking on a beat.

Will communications technology make postmen obsolete? It seems unlikely. Chandrasiri says modernisation has increased his workload.

“When I started there were ten market complexes in the district. Now there are 40. Each has many shops, and so there are more addresses to deliver to. Some postmen climb as many as 1,500 steps a day to make a delivery in a single mall.” Monetary deliveries must be made in person.

In the past, Chandrasiri delivered a dozen or so mobile phone bills, but today, he delivers thousands because everyone has a mobile phone.Electoral forms, promotional mailers, and bills make up a large part of his post load along with letters and cards, money orders and parcels.

There’s more to postmen than what meets the eye. Alert and observant, a postman has a good memory for places and people. Thus, postmen are often approached for character references of people on their beats. It’s an unexpected result of the job.

What about bad weather days? The postman’s unwritten creed applies. Neither rain nor storm shall stay the postmen from the swift completion of their appointed beat. If a letter addressed to you arrives at the post office, expect the postman at your door any day soon, even if you live in the middle of a jungle.

TweetShareShare
Please login to join discussion

Search

No Result
View All Result

Recent News

Investec Cape Town Art Fair

Investec Cape Town Art Fair

Discipline and Precepts are Favorable for Self-Development

Discipline and Precepts are Favorable for Self-Development

DY Patil University Centre of Excellence Opens in Navi Mumbai

DY Patil University Centre of Excellence Opens in Navi Mumbai

Explore Sri Lanka

Explore Sri Lanka Online, the web edition of Sri Lanka’s leading monthly corporate publication. Founded in 1996, the magazine currently has a distribution of over 6,000 copies island-wide.

Recent News

  • Investec Cape Town Art Fair
  • Discipline and Precepts are Favorable for Self-Development
  • DY Patil University Centre of Excellence Opens in Navi Mumbai

Find Us

Explore Sri Lanka
20-2/1 Lauries Place Facing
R. A. De Mel Mawatha
Colombo 04
Sri Lanka.
(+94 11) 259 7991
(+94) 715 134 134
info@btoptions.com
btoptions.com

  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy

© 2022 Explore Sri Lanka | Designed by Lithic Labs

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Issues
    • 201_
      • 2010
      • 2011
      • 2012
      • 2013
      • 2014
      • 2015
      • 2016
      • 2017
      • 2018
      • 2019
    • 202_
      • 2020
      • 2021
      • 2022
      • 2023
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Archive
  • Find Us on Magzter

© 2022 Explore Sri Lanka | Designed by Lithic Labs

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In