This week: Which story do you tell? Edited by: THANKFUL SONALI Library Class!  
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I collect post-marks.
Each item in my collection has a story behind it.
There's the story behind the picture depicted on the post-mark, and the story behind how I got it.
With people having limited time / attention I have to quickly decide which story to tell. |
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Dear Reader,
Here I am, to talk about my latest craze.
My latest craze is POST MARKS. They're to do with collecting items related to snail-mail, called 'philately' if you want the scientific term. So when you send an envelope by snail-mail, you put a stamp on it to show the authorities that you've paid them a certain sum of money. So that this stamp cannot be re-used, it gets defaced or cancelled. The cancelation is a rubber-stamp mark with the date on which the letter was mailed and the area post office where it originated.
There are 150,000 post offices in India. Of these, 200 post offices have collectible post-marks. These collectible post marks not only have the date and post office written on them, but they have a picture as well. This picture depicts a landmark in the area.
Here is an example:
I now have a collection of 31 of these, from different parts of India. I'm quite proud of my collection. I carry some of the 'doubles' around in an album and show them off at any opportunity I get.
Now here's the topic of the newsletter.
While I 'show' the post marks, I do some 'telling', too. Basically, I prattle on about them, keep up a running commentary.
And here's the dilemma I face when I do this. It's something I thought fellow storytellers would nod at pretty empathetically.
So basically, the cancelation you see above is of the VIDHANA SOUDHA — Parliament House of our State Government. And while I am displaying this item to you, I have a few seconds to talk about the story behind it. Which story do I tell?
Do I tell the story of the monument, when it was constructed and how, and what it houses? That would be pretty interesting.
Or shall I tell the story of my quest for the post mark – how I had to go to the farthest corner of the post office, find someone who knew about it and ask them to stamp letters for me ... ? Then, the mark not having been requested for a long time, the half-hour wait for the manual change of the date on the template?
There's a village called 'Kokrebelur' near the city I live in. This village is famous for nesting pelicans and painted storks, who live among the humans in perfect harmony. They have a lovely post-mark of a flying pelican.
Now, when I show that post-mark, do I tell the backstory, that the villagers believe the birds are part of the family, come home to have babies and need to be protected – or do I tell the story of how the lady at the post office waited an hour beyond closing time because the postmaster at the earlier post office where we stopped to ask for directions phoned ahead and told her we're on the way?
Every post mark has two stories. The story of what is depicted in the picture, and the story of how I obtained it. One of the marks was a special 'day' one, given for only 24 hours at a particular post office. A member of my Potter discussion group found out about it, realized the favored post office was near his father-in-law's house ... and lo and behold, I have a post mark in my collection obtained for me by the father-in-law of a Potterhead. Did that make you smile? That was the personal story of how I got the post mark. You don't know what was depicted on it. I'll tell you that. It's the side profile of a woman wearing a 'bindi' (dot on the forehead) to honor women on Women's Day. And the women of India have a million stories of their own to tell, some happy, others tragic.
Is the 'universal' story more personal, or the 'personal' story more universal, or is everything interesting depending on the skill of the teller / writer? Given limits like time or word-length, how does one choose?
I don't know the answer. I just love narrating the tales.
Thanks for listening!
PS: Recognize this one?
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So, have you ever wondered
which story to tell? |
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Short Stories: October 20, 2021 Issue [#11027]
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