You’ve got mail! 5 postcard and letter-writing services to check out
Face it, an email does not have the charm of a handwritten letter or a handmade postcard. But if you are too lazy to put pen to paper, here are 5 services to help you along the way.
In a digital age, when emails keep flooding your inbox and WhatsApp messages are dime a dozen, who has the time to read any more, you wonder. But amidst this technological blitzkrieg, there has been a slow resurgence of more traditional forms of expression, be it letters or postcards. And for those who are too busy, well, there are online services which customise a letter or postcard and mail it for you. Now, what excuse do you have?
1) Indian Handwritten Letter Co
Indian Handwritten Letter Co was founded by marketing and sales professional Anubhav Ankit and coder Jashwanth Cheripally in 2016. If you don’t mind a customised handwritten letter (albeit by a ghost writer), this is the service for you. “Letters are timeless and no matter how many years pass by, you can still go back to this piece of paper,” says Ankit. They charge Rs 99 for a letter.
Visit: tihlc.com
2) Illustrations by no one
The founder of this service chooses to remain anonymous (he calls himself No One and hints at working for a law firm in Mumbai) but reveals that he has been drawing all his life.
“One day, I received a postcard from a friend and one of my colleagues pointed out that he had never received one ever. There is something very personal about writing a postcard or a letter. It involves effort,” he says.
Since January this year, he has started #poscardsbynoone whereby he sends a postcard with doodles to the person whose details you message him. In turn, the recipient has to mail a postcard to a given address and take the process forward.
Visit: facebook.com/illustrationsbynoone
3) Postcardperday
Tawfik Manham is an industrial designer based in Mumbai who is an alumnus of National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad and started designing postcards from 2015.
“After completing my Master’s from NID, I wanted to connect with my relatives and friends in Kerala and felt the best way was through snail mail. Using my artwork on one side and writing to my friends, I started my journey of #postcardperday,” says Manham, who sends handmade postcards. To receive a postcard, visit his website and give your details.
Visit: facebook.com/pg/postcardperday
4) Callyally
CallyAlly was started in 2014 by technology professionals Shiv Sharma and Prahlad Singh.
“You can miss reading an email but you can never miss reading a handwritten letter. When we were young, we used to write letters on postcard and inland letters on birthdays and other festive occasions. I remember my father used to keep all those letters. This is a very emotional thing and this culture should be passed on to generations,” says Sharma.
Once you log in into their site, share the address and write the content, they will send you notifications about the handwritten letter.
Visit: callyally.com
5) LetteraMail
This venture started in May 2016 and is the brainchild of four friends — software engineer Sumit Jain, tech professional Sumanyu Varma, lawyer Lalit Narolia and jewellery entrepreneur Sandeep Manna. They decided to launch Letteramail to help people rediscover the charm of letters. They charge Rs 99 onwards per letter and write it themselves.
Visit: facebook.com/letteramail
Follow @htlifeandstyle for more