It is 1.1.11 today…

 

 

Hi ! It is first day of the year with all one numbers in a row, I posted some covers to my friends & hope they will receive with clear date cancellation. Here are some postal receipts of Registered and Speed Post letters with 1.1.11 date which were also posted today. Many of the collectors of special date might have posted letters to their friends Today ….Have Great Time & Enjoy this day !!

An Appeal

The Last Post, a film made by me on the Dak Tonga Man of Jeypore in the Koraput District of Orissa won a Gold at the SINE recently. The film is a story of Nila Nayak, his two horses Budhhu and Sania, and the rickety mail cart in which he carries the mailbags for the Post Office. He had been doing this for the last forty years, carrying on a tradition that he has inherited from his forefathers. It is a story of a small town man, caught up in the agony of existence, his own and his family’s, a man who had sacrificed his present and his future for the sake of the past.

India Post used to pay him only Rs 90 per day, however after the film was made; the Minister of Posts increased his remunerations to Rs 250 per day. This was little respite for Nila, as he died soon after the film was made. However his son continues running the Tonga. Even the Rs 250/- is a measly amount, but the son is determined to continue the nearly century old tradition. The full story can be read in Rainbow Stamp News Issue No 3, March 2008.http://rainbowstampnews.blogspot.com/2008_03_01_archive.html

The film catapulted the Tonga man to fame. I got numerous letters from India and abroad and many magazines carried the story. Coincidentally, I was in Jeypore last week and came to know that two of his horses have died. He has one scraggly mare, which can hardly pull the Tonga. A new horse will cost him at least Rs 10,000/-. I am trying to get him one horse but he needs a pair of horses to run the Tonga cart. One will not suffice.

If this horse dies, then the Tonga Cart will come to a stop for the first time in nearly one century. There is every chance that once stopped, it would not be revived. Thus will end the story of the Last Dak Tonga of India. I appeal to the philatelic community to please help him in getting another horse. I will send a CD of the film to anyone who sends him at least Rs 100/-. The amount can be sent by Money Order to Chanchala Nayak, w/o Late Nila Nayak (Dak Tonga Man) O/o The Senior Superintendent Post Offices, Koraput Division, Jeypore 764 001.

- Anil Dhir, Bhubaneshwar email : anildhir2k5@hotmail.com

Read More about The Last Post..

http://rainbowstampnews.blogspot.com/2008_03_01_archive.html

http://rainbowstampclub.blogspot.com/2008/07/worldd-last-official-mail-tonga.html