Step 1
Ask at the India Post counter at Kisama during the Hornbill Festival if they have a parcel box large enough for the plate. Receive confirmation that such a box exists and can be sent internationally.
Step 2
Go and purchase a plate at one of the festival stalls (1,200 Rs).
Step 3
Return to the India Post counter to discover that none of the boxes there are large enough. Tell them you will go back to the main post office in Kohima to send the parcel. They tell you that there will be boxes there.
Step 4
Take the plate to the India Post Office in Kohima.
Step 5
Discover that there are no boxes large enough, but the bookshop across the street can help with packaging.
Step 6
Go to the bookshop with the plate and ask them if they have a box (or 'carton' as people usually call them here).
Step 7
Watch as they try to squeeze the plate into a cardboard box that is clearly too small for the plate, then line the inside of the box with styrofoam before trying to squeeze the plate in again, even though the box is already buldging. The box is then tied up and taken away to be wrapped in cloth and stitched up.
Step 8
Wait one hour at the bookshop for the parcel to come back, then watch as they apply red sealing wax all over the parcel. (Optional step: purchase a copy of People magazine to pass the time.)
Step 9
Pay for the packagaing service (250 Rs).
Step 10
Bring the parcel back to the post office and write the addressee's details all over the parcel, along with contact details and 'FRAGILE' and 'HANDLE WITH CARE'.
Step 11
Pay the fee for registered mail (1,000 Rs).
Step 12
PRAY that it gets to the intended destination in one piece!
The package without addressee details etc.
(Mum, if you're reading this, please take a photo of it if / when it arrives before opening it - although I suspect that it might already have been torn open by then.)
No comments:
Post a Comment