There are postal privileges in India such as England knows nothing of.
Not only is there the 1/4d. post card, but there is an inland 1/2d.
postage, for letters not exceeding 1/2 oz. in weight. The value of a
money order is brought in cash by the postman and paid into your hand,
and the receipt that you sign is returned by the post office to the
sender, and there is no possibility of your being defrauded, because,
if the money goes wrong on its way to you, the post office is
responsible.
Another great convenience is what is commonly spoken of as
V.P.P.--that is to say, the "value payable parcel" system. If you
order something from a shop to be sent by post, the postman collects
the value of the parcel before he hands it over, and the post office
transmits the money to the sender. If the person to whom the package
is sent refuses to pay, or if he cannot be found, the package goes
back to the sender. If the goods are heavy and are forwarded by train,
the railway invoice is sent by post, but it is not handed over by the
postman until he has received the value of the goods. An immense
amount of trouble and correspondence is saved by this system, and it
is a great security to shopkeepers in a country where distances are
great, and many customers unknown, or migratory, or living in
out-of-the-way places.
The telegraph has become rather popular amongst Indians, and they are
inclined to use it on trivial occasions. As telegrams have to be
transmitted in English, I am familiar with the nature of those sent to
rustic Indians, because those that come to Yerandawana always find
their way to the Mission bungalow to be interpreted. Amongst the more
well-to-do Indians a death is now almost always announced by
telegraph. It is a new and impressive way of showing respect to the
deceased, and makes it appear that he was in his lifetime an important
person. In cases of sickness telegrams are despatched here and there
to relations, summoning them urgently and at once, before there has
been time to ascertain whether the sickness is really serious or not.
Relations hurry off from long distances at great expense (how they get
the money is in some cases a mystery), and arrive perhaps to find the
sick person walking about. Christians under similar circumstances act
with just as much hasty precipitation as other Indians.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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