My sister called from the UK today saying she had received a packet I sent containing some photos, letters and documents in a really sorry state. I had sent it about a week ago by registered post from the Borivli post office. I was shocked when she said that from the state of the package, it was obvious that it had been opened and someone had actually rummaged through its content. The envelope had been torn out.

I used to hear about packages sent by Indian post suffering this fate, but I thought things would have improved by now. It’s perhaps no wonder that people prefer to send parcels by courier services, even at exorbitant costs. I can’t imagine what they thought they would find inside it. It’s not only shocking, it’s more disappointing that these incidents continue to happen. All I know is that the next time I need to send a parcel, I am definitely not using the Indian postal service.