Real is Rare

Amidst the buzz of quick commerce delivery apps that deliver bang on time, in no time, here's a refreshing tale of a humble courier...although courier is still widely used, it seems to have taken the role of a postal delivery. Receiving a speedpost makes it even more retro and would perhaps warrant a social media post!

Nevertheless... here's the courier tale. Not so popular for her skills and talent, almost always an unsung heroine, my cousin who lives in Bangalore, mindfully called me to collect my home address, not a whatsapp call or message, a regular phone call, asking for the address. Every detail like this needs to be called out because, real is rare these days. And so, I gave her my address. In less than 3 days, she called me back saying "hey, I've sent a courier to you, the parcel contains the paruppu podi that I made for you and your Amma, ask Amma not to take the trouble of making the podi, I've made it for you!" To top it further, this is stemming from feedback about her culinary skills when Amma and I were in Chennai at my aunt's place, where my cousin had already given a bottle of the paruppu podi when my aunt had visited Bangalore. So this paruppu podi is already doing the rounds amidst our family members and it is but natural for us to be appreciative of the person behind its making - my cousin: who is completely unassuming and naive. In fact, I had been meaning to call her and talk to her about the glory of her paruppu podi creation; that I got the chance to taste in Chennai (brought from Bangalore :)), but I forgot to call, amidst all the whatsapp and other inundation of work. My cousin though, thoughtfully sent me a message saying - "hey I heard you liked my paruppu podi..." and then the next thing we see in a few days is, my cousin visiting our home in Palakkad, as a surprise trip! She almost got ready to prepare the podi during her stay here, but couldn't get started with it. However, upon her return to Bangalore, she decided to prepare it there and send out a courier to us in Palakkad! This may sound very lay and common, but truly, real is rare, I repeat. 

My cousin's courier packaging skills tells us a story, needless to talk about her culinary skills, which have never seen the light of social media or even a whatsapp status for that matter; at an age when even our morning coffee is decorated with great ado and posted in social media as though all others weren't paying too much attention to their morning beverage. 

Unpacking the podi was seamless - because the packaging was simply simple and brilliant! Any fool can complicate things, but to understand and do it simply, takes tons of patience, perseverance, consideration and love for the other. With almost print-like handwriting in a lovely majenta colored sketchpen writing, the contact and delivery info was neatly written. A different color was used for the From address, different from choosing a different font color in Word, you actually pick a different colored pen here in this activity!! 

2 layers of thick lamination paper that is used to cover notebooks made for the outer cover, with the right amount of cellotape, and careful non-use of stapler pins! For the inside was protected with a layer of ziplock cover that was actually zip-locked correctly without airblock, and was further cellotaped with small bits, for additional protection. I didn't have to spend time on releasing my fingers off of cellotape bits!

If someone can spend so much time just on the packaging, the courier delivery is needless to be talked about - she goes a step above, and asks me if I needed a pic of the AWB, so I could track! As predicted rightly by her, the courier arrived within the expected ETA and she even made it a point to check with me if we'd be home to receive it! Hats off to the attention to detail - all the way from collecting feedback about the podi up until delivering it to us! 

She deserves an appreciation post I thought, amidst all the standard templated hearts, gifs and stories, this podi tale, that was made very personal, didn't fail to leaving a lasting impact, unlike the shortlived virtual memories - for this one is real, and real is rare! This is simply pure love! Lots of love to you!

Thank you, dear Push (her short name :))!

Leaving you with a glimpse of her handwriting!