Over 70 postal delivery executives at Lucknow’s General Post Office (GPO) including ‘dakiyas (postal delivery personnel)’ are leaving no stone unturned to ensure that each ‘rakhi’ reaches its intended ‘kalai (wrist)’ on time.
Since starting their day at 9 am, these postal delivery executives segregate each rakhi parcel according to the area and then set out to deliver the ‘rakhi’ parcel – a process that continues till 5 pm.
“These ‘dakiyas’ display exemplary commitment and spend the whole day delivering ‘rakhi’ on priority basis to ensure that all the parcels reach their destinations on time,” said Sushil Kumar Tiwari, chief postmaster, GPO Lucknow.
“It’s been a long time since I celebrated Raksha Bandhan with my sister as we are deployed on special duty. So, we don’t deliver any other items but focus on delivering only rakhis,” said Sunil Kumar, 29. Kumar said for eight years he hardly got time to visit his sister in Etawah due to work commitments, which increase during occasions like ‘Raksha Bandhan.’
Many ‘dakiyas’ even work beyond their official 9 am to 5 pm time to ensure that all rakhis are delivered.
“I have not been able to celebrate the festival for past three years as workload on Raksha Bandhan is much more and then people too have lots of expectations from us,” said a 30-year-old postman from Etawah.
“Delivering rakhis on time and seeing the joy in the eyes of the receiver makes us happy. At times the receiver’s joy is all the more when the parcels are delivered at the last minute. People thank us profusely and this means a lot to us,” said Shri Prakash, 30, who said he hardly gets time to be with his Lakhimpur Kheri-based sister.
At times, women ‘dakiyas’ tie rakhi to their male colleagues to ensure that they don’t miss being with their sisters and vice versa.
“We’re delivering more rakhis than before because to date it is the cheapest mode of delivering the rakhi parcels,” said Narendra Pal, 57, one of the oldest ‘dakiya’ at GPO, who has been working since 1989.
The women ‘dakiyas’ who too are there in big numbers at GPO, Lucknow said they enjoy the festival too by tying rakhis on the wrists of their male colleagues. “We tie rakhi to our male colleagues who are not able to go home. We work together and hence do not let them be sad,” said Laxmi Dhasmana, a postwoman.
“We are delighted when we see faces beaming with joy on receiving rakhis,” said Laxmi’s colleague Archana Srivastava.
“Women colleagues who are like sisters tie rakhi to us to ensure that we don’t miss our sisters on the festival,” said Deepak Soni, from Gonda.
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