From Post Box to WhatsApp

Sculptor Vilas Kulkarni [ first one from the right]

      




          When our show was going in the Jehangir Gallery,Mumbai , at the same time, in the same place, Delhi artists were exhibiting their works in the spacious auditorium gallery. In the auditorium hall, postbox sculptures made in the fiber glass medium stood as testimony to the bygone period and caught the attention of each and every visitor's attention since the post boxes are connected to everyone's life. Delhi based artist Vilas Kulkarni had this concept of post boxes in his mind since a long time but the concept got materialized when he was planning for his Mumbai show. When asked about these sculptures, he was emotionally remembering the olden days. The technology has smoothened the ways and people are getting news very fast today but the new gadgets cannot bring the warmth and emotional touch that the letters used to bring, the artist expressed. Now the messages and emails are very brief and devoid of feelings as everyone sees and feels. Now the conversation is carried mainly in English. So the works displayed were satirical and reflecting the contemporary truth. From the red post boxes were spilling out only English letters as if all the regional languages have taken back seats. As English is flourishing across the world as global language, the regional languages are slowly vanishing one by one. If serious efforts are not put in , the regional languages will fade away within no time. Now the total scene has changed completely due to the invasion of computers and mobiles and new applications, so naturally the post box has taken a back seat. The post boxes used to play a very important role in everyone's life a few years back. The post cards , inland letters and covers which carried messages to friends ,parents and relatives used to be carried by this post box. Those were the days when connectivity was difficult and a distant dream. One had to wait for many days to get news. Post cards usually carried brief messages especially the death messages written in two three lines. Inland letters were lengthier than postcard and shorter than covers. The educated people opted for inland letters and inland letters were not as open as post cards. The postcard letters used to be read by one and all, whether one intended to read it or not, one could not abstain from eyeing its contents - open letters, open secrets. The covers always contained long sheets of paper either white or lined or tinted ones written with ink pens. While writing, sometimes the bluish or blackish ink used to smear on the pages here and there. In those days news and messages travelled slowly and reached the destination many times after its importance diluted. But everyone used to wait eagerly for the post man to come and deliver the letters at one's door step.

The invention of computers and mobiles has ultimately has put an end to the letter writing. During the high school days, language question papers used to have one question about letter writing. Now only for official purpose letters are written and dispatched as hard copies. Emails , messages and WhatsApp have become popular these days. Nobody bothers to sit and write letters elaborately now a days.


The small post boxes spread in the auditorium, catching everyone's eyes, stood as the testimony for the bygone period of emotions. The post boxes present in the auditorium belonged to different cities, and one them belonged to my place as the artist is originally from my place. The post box had our city name and pin code. I was really happy to see the particular post box. Some of the works were very interactive as some small children wrote small, small messages on paper and put into the boxes. After some years, the post box will become an antique piece and will be kept in the museums.