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| Board and Letter Box at Hikkim Post office (Picture source: Internet) |
In a short story titled 'Post Master', Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore had painted a grim picture about the loneliness of a postmaster at a remote village post office.
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| Stamp of Rabindranath Tagore issued by India Post (07 May 1961) |
Since the gentleman had arrived there on transfer from a city called Calcutta (now Kolkata), India he felt like a fish out of water. His trouble and sadness arising out of his inability to connect with the local villagers of the remote area were described in details. The story took a turn with the entry of his helping maid named Ratan to break his monotonous days. The boredom of the postmaster ended when he was able to connect and communicate with her. However, this is neither a story of a postmaster nor of Ratan but of a post office located at a very remote place in India.
The post office we are talking about is located at a very far off place, away from hum-drums of city life. To be precise it is nestled in the lap of nature in the district of Lahaul and Spiti of Himachal Pradesh, the north Indian state. Lahaul and Spiti district was formed in 1960 by amalgamation of two separate districts - Lahaul and Spiti. It is a trans-Himalayan terrain with its beautiful and endless landscape. The location has spectacular scenery of magnificent and mighty Himalaya. Natural beauty is in abundance with snow capped mountains, particularly when the sky is clear. No doubt that the serene location offers a jaw dropping view for a first timer. This is also one of the highest inhabited regions of the world. Residents are simple people with minimum materialistic demands and bearer of culture of bygone era.
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| Hikkim Post Office Building (Picture courtesy: holidify.com) |
The meaning of Spiti is ‘middle land’ which refers to the landmass between India and Tibet. In fact, Spiti Valley is a cold desert mountain valley with average annual rainfall of meagre 170 mm (for reference purpose the average annual rainfall of Delhi, the Indian capital is about 700 mm). In addition to spectacular natural beauty of mountains, Spiti Valley has Buddhist monasteries (including nearly 1000 year old monasteries at Tabo, Sherkhang and Dhankar. Tabo monastery is an Archaeological Survey of India protected Indian heritage site) and lakes (tourist spot like Chandra Tal Lake) etc.
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| Tabo Monastery by India Post (31 Dec 1999) |
Hikkim is a small village in this high altitude Spiti Valley. It is located in between of Komic (highest motorable village in the world) and Langza (2nd highest motorable village).
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| Komical attraction (courtesy: Somenath Ganguly) |
All these three high altitude villages viz. Komic, Hikkim, and Langza are linked by road with Kaza but that is arduous. Kaza, the nearest town, which is sub-divisional headquarters (capital), is about 16 kms away from Hikkim. Buses operated by HRTC (Himachal Roadways Transport Corporation) travel from Kaza to Hikkim only twice a week (on Tuesdays and Saturdays).
Houses in Hikkim are built with stone and mud. Outer walls of every house is neatly painted in white and doors/windows in blue. Buddhist culture and influence are prominent which can be gauged from the Buddhist prayer flags fluttering on the top of the houses.
The village is small one with population of about 200 residents. In fact, from population point of view among Indian districts, the Lahaul and Spiti district itself ranks as fourth least populous district. One can encircle the entire village on foot within half an hour or so. While taking the round of the village one will meet small kids from the village who will offer fossils, as souvenir, for a price (negotiable). However, the kids prefer chocolates over any other trading medium. In return, they will give innocent smiles. It is recommended to carry some chocolates for these kids. Fossils are found in the nearby areas, particularly in Langza.
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| Panoramic view of Hikkim village (Picture courtesy: devilonwheels.com) |
Best tourist time to visit Hikkim and adjoining areas is from April to October, when roads are motor-able and landslides are less frequent. It is advisable to get a health check up done for travel in such high altitude location, particularly for Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS). Winter is harsh and unforgiving in this extreme geographical region. As a result, the region remains covered with blanket of snow for nearly half of the year and the whole region goes for hibernation. During that period, the village and adjoining region remain cut off from the rest of the country due to snowfall.
The life line of the residents of the village of Hikkim and nearby villages is a non-descriptive post office situated at Hikkim. Incoming and outgoing mails provides the link of the residents of the secluded region with rest of the world. People send and receive letters. Over and above mail services, the Hikkim post office caters the banking need of the villagers. Another important task of this post office is handling of passports of the Buddhist monks who travel worldwide for preaching.
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| A 'high' feeling by a tourist (Courtesy: Somenath Ganguly) |
After reaching Hikkim post office, tourists do primarily two tasks. First one is obviously taking a selfie in front of the board of the post office. Second one is posting letters in the letter box of the post office for the near and dear ones. Dropping postcards or picture postcards from this unique post office is an experience itself. After accomplishing both jobs, a tourist gets an euphoric feeling.
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| Top of the world (Courtesy: Somenath Ganguly) |
The post office has limited choice and stock of post cards. So it is wise to carry a few postcards, complete with addresses of addressees and stamps. There are other alternatives too. The cafe right opposite to the post office has an array of picture post cards. At times, during tourist months, a few enterprising locals lay a table outside the post office with complete paraphernalia viz. postcards, envelope, colour sketch pens etc.
When footfall of the tourists increases, the post office also faces shortage of stamps, at times. However, the helpful post master assures tourists to put the stamps, against advance payment, at later date when stock arrives.
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| Pleasure of posting a letter (Courtesy: Somenath Ganguly) |
After dropping a letter in the letter box, the very first question comes in the mind - will the letter ever reach the destination from such far off place?
The answer is yes.
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| Letter from Hikkim |
My letter was posted at Hikkim post office on 21 Aug 2020 and it was delivered at my address at NOIDA, Uttar Pradesh, India on 14 Sept 2020. A long journey of 24 days was completed through various terrains and nodes. From Hikkim postman (runner) walks down to Kaza (16 kms), on alternate day, to deliver mails. The Hikkim to Kaza road is arduous and precarious. From Kaza, mail goes Reckong Peo by bus and subsequently to Shimla railway station. From Shimla it travels by toy train to Kalka and further onwards by rail or by air.
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| Cancellation at Hikkim |
The transit time for letters to and fro Hikkim post office is poised to witness a downward trend. The credit goes to 9 Kilometres long Atal Tunnel (formerly Rohtang Tunnel), built by Border Roads Organisation, which was opened for traffic on 03 Oct 2020.
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| 10 Oct 1985 A Tete-beche pair of triangular stamps by India Post |
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| Bombay Sappers issued by India Post on 21 Feb 1990 |
In this pandemic situation, Work From Home (WFH) has become a familiar term. Imagination a situation where one’s home is one’s office!
Yes, this is true for Hikkim post office. Here the post master does not go to post office. Rather the post office itself is situated in his residence. Since he had some spare space at his home, he had offered one room to India Post. Accordingly post office was established in his house. This is one small room yet cozy post office with low ceiling, built as per location tradition. Hikkim post office is residence-cum-office for the post master. Since tourists drop in any day, including Sunday, the post office is open for seven days a week. However, daily business hour is limited till four pm.
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| Door of Hikkim Post Office (Picture courtesy: eternallycreative.com) |
The post office was inaugurated or rather became functional with effect from 05 Nov 1983. For the job three local chaps were interviewed. First one had education up to class V, the second one had studied up to class VI. The third one and the most qualified candidate was having Class VII pass status. So he was appointed for the job. Additional advantage in his favour was availability of spare space at residence for operating the post office. It began in 1983, with a monthly rent of INR 40 from India Post when commissioned and later on gradually revised to INR 200 (according 2016 data).
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| Post Master Rinchen Chhering (Picture courtesy: Reflex) |
The name of the post master is Rinchen Chhering. He has been at the helm of affairs since beginning of this humble post office. His commitment and dedication for the job brings smiles on the faces of local villagers who live in this mountainous range. According to the experiences of the tourists, whenever he was out for some errands for a short while, either his wife or daughter extends helping hands to them. They have their agricultural farm right behind their residence. Rinchen will shortly be due for retirement.
The Postal Index Number (PIN) Code of this post office is 172 114.The elevation of the place is 4,400 m or 14,567 feet from the mean sea level. This makes Hikkim Post Office, a post office located at the highest elevation in the world!
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Disclaimer:
The information provided in the article is for general informational purposes only. All information is provided in good faith. This is only for the sharing of knowledge of Philately with philatelist fraternity. No commercial angle, whatsoever, is involved.
Under no circumstances I shall have any liability for reliance on any information provided in the story.
The story was published in Ananthapuri Stamp Bulletin (Nov 2020) which is reproduced below:
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