u/Alarmed-Mongoose4149

Hello, fellow postcard enthusiasts! 👋

I’m from India and looking to exchange some of my leftover postcards from different parts of the world with fellow collectors.

One special thing about my postcards is that the word “World Postcard Day” is written in three languages:

1. 🇬🇧 English

2. 🇮🇳 Hindi

3. ❤️ 🇮🇳 Bengali (my mother tongue)

Bengali is my mother tongue, so having it featured alongside English and Hindi makes these postcards a little more special to me. ❤️

If you’re interested in exchanging postcards with someone from India, feel free to DM me with your offers! 📬

I’m open to different kinds of postcards, and we can discuss the exchange and preferences through DM.

Looking forward to connecting with fellow postcard lovers and adding some interesting cards to our collections! 🌏💌

Happy Postcrossing! ❤️

I’m a philatelist, and today I’m honestly frustrated by an experience I had with a Postmaster.

I’ve dealt with some Postmasters who are exceptionally helpful. In one case, a Postmaster sent me a Speed Post regarding a postage shortage and simply asked me to pay the balance when I received it. Another even contacted me directly and said, “There is a shortage of ₹___; you can UPI the amount and I’ll process it.”

That is what good public service looks like.

And then there are experiences like this.

I was supposed to receive some philatelic material, but the Postmaster didn't provide the remaining material worth ₹15. And to make matters worse, look at the condition of the PPCs (Permanent Pictorial Cancellations) I received. Is this really supposed to be a pictorial cancellation?

The cancellation is so faint/incomplete that the pictorial element is barely visible.

At this point, instead of Permanent Pictorial Cancellation, I feel like calling it “Permanent Kamchor Cancellation.” 😑

And this isn't about expecting VIP treatment. These are paid philatelic services. Collectors spend their own money, time and effort to obtain these cancellations and preserve them as part of postal history. The absolute minimum expectation is that the cancellation should be applied properly.

What frustrates me even more is the contrast. There are genuinely hardworking postal employees who will go out of their way to help collectors and customers. So why should basic responsibility be treated as an extraordinary favour by some others?

We often talk about corruption in India and immediately point fingers at politicians. But corruption and administrative inefficiency also exist at the ground level because of people who take public money as a salary while having little interest in actually doing their job.

Politicians toh waise hi badnaam hain. Yeh jo everyday level par government services ko deliberately neglect karte hain, unko hum log kuch nahi bolte.

I know this may sound harsh, but after spending money on a service and receiving something like this, it is genuinely frustrating.

What do other philatelists think? Have you experienced similar issues with Permanent Pictorial Cancellations or postal staff?