When you go to the post office in India, pack a lunch.
Here’s how the process goes. First, you have to purchase cloth to ship your package in. Then you must find a tailor to sew cloth around your package. Larger post offices have a tailor on premises who performs this task for 10 rupees. It takes anywhere from 10 minutes to 2 hours, depending on how many people are head of you. And how much the tailor-guy chats you up in a mixture of languages neither of you understand.
After the tailor has hand-sewn the package, the seams must be hand-sealed with wax. The guy who does this at the post office is often the same guy who does the tailoring. But, often, not. Hand-sealing involves melting the wax and inserting a seal and covering the package in wax. This takes another 10 minutes to a half an hour.
There’s an enormous sign on the left-hand side of the post office in Darjeeling, which is housed in a landmark building. The sign reads: “India strives to have the most efficient postal system in the world.”
Good luck with that, India. Here’s a tip: Envelopes, boxes, tape and a computer might come in handy in attaining that goal.
