On the banks of Kashmir’s Dal Lake, amid rows of waiting wooden shikari boats, rests what is believed to be the only floating post office in the world. Two-centuries old, the two-room houseboat moored near Nehru Park in Srinagar city serves not only the community living by the lake but also the curiosity of visiting tourists from all across the world.
The floating post office itself dates back to 1953, when the local postal department established a mobile delivery service for residents near the lake. Tourists would often come to stay in several of the community-owned houseboats.
At a time before the internet and mobile phone networks, the mobile postal service was a crucial lifeline, collecting letters and postcards and posting them to families back home.
The floating post office was officially opened in 1970 by an Indian minister of state and was renovated in 2011. Today, it has three full-time employees and is one of the 1,700 permanent post offices in Jammu and Kashmir.
“People living on the lake have been availing various postal and insurance schemes we provide here,” says Showkat Ahmad Rather, the office's sub-post master.
“And tourists from across India and all over the world who come to see the lake also visit,” he says. The visitors like to take pictures and post a special shikara-stamped postcard back home, he says.
“Whoever comes to see the lake also comes to see this unique post office,” says Rather, who has gone on to befriend several visitors and customers over the years.
The post office has featured in several Bollywood films and travel TV shows. Last year, a small museum space was added, exploring the culture of Kashmir. Alongside them is a set of old, framed postage stamps.
“The post office also provides a special postal seal with the image of the shikara boat that is stamped on all postcards,” says Ajay Pandita, an officer at the general post office in Srinagar city centre – where post from the floating office is taken at the end of each day for onward delivery.
Having served at the floating post office for four years, Rather says he finds it more fulfilling to work here than at any of his previous places of work. He and his colleagues often help illiterate local residents complete paperwork.
“I also take posts, parcels and fill out all the required forms for local people who come on their boats from this window, and not just from our front desk here,” he says with a smile, pointing at a window that opens out on to the lake. “And this may be the only post office in India where you can’t come inside wearing shoes.”
The floating post office boat was damaged during devastating floods in 2014, as the water level of Dal Lake rose. However, it was later returned to its rightful place and made functional after renovation.
However, on August 5, 2019, the ruling BJP government in New Delhi revoked the region's special status and downgraded the former state into two union territories – leading to back-to-back lockdowns and communication shutdowns, which dragged on throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.
Despite several lockdowns over the years, employees say they made sure that all the post was collected and delivered, even when mobile network and internet services were shut down for months on end.
“During the 2019 lockdown, we received mail in bulk and the volume of the post increased,” says Farooq Ahmed Khan, who has worked as a multitasking staff member in the floating post office for eight years. “We made sure it was delivered even when there was some delay due to the months-long communication shutdown.”
As he talks, an elderly woman takes her shoes off at the entrance of the houseboat and steps inside. After greeting to the two employees, she hands them some forms she needs help completing. She is asked to sit on a chair and wait.
“As she can’t read and write, I always fill out all her forms so that all her registered accounts here remain updated,” says Farooq.
“The local lake community is closely linked with this post office,” he says, as the lady thanks him. “They treat us like family.”
