Connecting strangers across the world, one postcard at a time

Shrinivasa.M
Mysuru: For Dr Rakesh BL, 30, a paediatrician by profession from the city, postcrossing — a project that allows one to send postcards and receive postcards back from random people around the world — is a way to create his own space amid his hectic schedule.
Rakesh, who hails from Shivamogga district and pursued his medical education in Mysuru, came to know about postcrossing through one of his friends in April. “When I received the first card, I was very excited,” he said. “So far, I have received and sent seven cards each,” explained Rakesh. “The theme was Indian monuments and heritage sites including the famous Chamundi Hills. Now, I am planning to use a local cuisine based theme,” he explained.
The first postcrossing meet outside Bengaluru city in Karnataka was held at Mysuru on Saturday. A large number of people including students interested in philately and postcard collection gathered at the venue and exchanged postcards and stamps. The participants send and receive cards from unknown persons from across the globe. According to the participants, it is a tool to interact, and spread messages about their culture, history and legacy among people from other countries.
Surya Abhishek, a German language lecturer attached to the University of Mysore (UoM) said he writes letters in the German language about the monuments in and around Mysuru. He has sent and received 150 cards so far. “As I am a German lecturer, I write in the German language about Mysuru and its monuments. It is nothing but spreading the word about our city,” he siad.
Surya, who originally hails from Andhra Pradesh, is interested in philately too.
According to Ganesh Shankar, one of the organisers, the event was aimed at encouraging more and more people to join this initiative. “Through this, we can send and receive postcards from all the registered countries spread across the globe. We can spread our culture and heritage through cards and stamps. At the same time, we can learn about the culture of other countries too,” he said.