'Walking postbox' triggers curiosity at Kolkata book fair

A 'walking postbox' has been making people curious at the 44th International Kolkata Book Fair for the past eight days, officials of the postal department said.

The presence of postbox man, a person donning giant red cardboard model of a postbox has increased footfall in the stall, they said.

The postbox, moving around in front of the India Post stall at the book fair ground in Salt Lake's Karunamoyee, has become a great hit, especially among children, the Chief Postmaster General of Bengal Circle, Goutam Bhattacharya, said on Friday.

"We have come up with this idea to generate interest among the present generation and show them how postboxes have been connecting people for ages," Bhattacharya told PTI.

People, after purchasing books from the fair, can approach the walking postbox to send the books to their respective destinations by post, Bhattacharya said.

"Children along with their parents are posing for photographs and selfies with the postbox man," one of the officials manning the stall said.

They are also buying postage stamps and silver pendants from him, the official said.

"We are trying to explain to the visitors how the good old postal department has no alternative even in this age of mail and WhatsApp, and why Speed Post and postal savings schemes can still be among the most reliable options," the official said.

The department has also released a special postal cover and a metal seal on the occasion of the 44th International Kolkata Book Fair.