Thriving on daily conversations

KOCHI: Remember that time when you sat and had a really deep and contemplative conservation with your friend, family member or even a random stranger? For some, conversations have become all but a forgotten art. Bistriti Poddar, former content head at Bewakoof, who was in Kochi for an event says, ‘Paperless Postcards’ was founded on her love for conversations - both witty and opinionated. This is India’s first social platform, says Bistriti, and thrives on non-fictional stories and conversations.

While postcards had provided opportunities for lengthy and heartfelt written communications in the past, ‘Paperless Postcards’ (which is completely digital) works on today’s most common medium - digital space. “We have a team of 20 digital writers and strategists who sit and work on creating dialogues. All the conversations are thematically designed and packaged from the perspective of the theme. In fact, we are well-known for our designs,” says Bistriti.

These dialogues are generated from everyday conversations mainly. While 90 per cent of these stories are created by the team members, 10 per cent are generated by the public. “It could be a very random talk with a friend or a stranger. Some of our best hits have been generated from such conversations. One of our most circulated postings was a talk I had with a man who kind of hinted I was arrogant. ‘Bishtriti, did anyone ever tell you, you are arrogant?’ My response: All insecure men have,” says Bishtriti.

The founder says she thanks the people around her for providing the fodder for such interesting conversations. “People around us are really funny and humorous. I am generally a very observant person which has helped me script conversations from daily dialogues,” Bishtriti says.

“You are our piggy bank of comebacks...very relatable..,” is what their readers have told the platform members.  Paperless Postcards has over 5 lakh followers. The website caters to readers who are interested in long conversations. It has clocked over 50,000 sessions weekly. The platform’s community page entertains readers who prefer to take the time to read short yet witty dialogues.
How it started

“This project of mine was subconsciously there in my mind ever since I began writing for the digital space over seven years ago. I loved to write and used daily encounters as my fodder. I would come to my desk and polish my thoughts to make them digital-content friendly. Though Paperless Postcards was born in 2016, I guess it originated much earlier than that, at the start of my career.

There was a lot of conversation on the digital space, but I felt they were quite frivolous or either too intimidating. I wanted to strike the right balance and make it more about emotions,” she says.
 So, what was the best compliment you have received so far for your initiative? “You know us better than ourselves,” that is what many of our readers say,” quips Bishtriti.

Paperless Postcards has also collaborated with films like ‘Toilet Ek Prem Katha’, ‘Lucknow Central’, ‘Rukh’, ‘Kadvi Hawa’, ‘Qarib Qarib Singlle’ and ‘The House Next Door’.

Real-life takeaways

Thought-provoking dialogues and conversations

Directly influenced from real-life events

They always hold a message