Summary
Coachman Ali is the central character of this story. He had been the driver of a horse carriage. When he was young, he was clever shikari. He was known for fighting the partridges, the hares and other animals and birds which were almost invisible to other people. He had a daughter named Miriam. She was married to a soldier who was posted in the regiment in Punjab. He had not received any letter from his daughter for the last five years. This made him all the more lonely.
Usually, Ali was the first man to arrive at the post office and the last one to depart from there. Trough he had not received any letter for the last five years, he did not lose hope. He went to the post office religiously every day with the hope that one day he would receive a letter from his daughter Miriam.
Ali was considered a madman in the post office. In this selfish world, nobody had time or interest to peep into his agonized mind. He was a butt of jokes for all the clerk, the postman, and even the postmaster. Many times, just to tease him, they would call out his name a if a letter had come for him. When Ali was disappointed and dejected, the man hope and innocence, went into peels of laughter but Ali, being a man of hope and innocence, never took their ridicules to heart.
Ali’s health was deteriorating very fast. Now he could ill-afford to come to the post office. But as a man of determination, whenever he got some strength, he would never miss a visit to the post office. It was writ large on his face that his days were numbered patience in ali was coming than the end. He met the postmaster and asked him if there was a letter for him from Miriam. The postmaster was a cruel, cold and callous person. He humiliated Ali by calling him a pest, a nuisance. Ali’s eyes were filled with tears of helplessness and hopelessness, as he walked out of the post office. No doubt his patience was exhausted but not his faith. Then he came across a clerk and give him five golden guineas. He begged a favor of him in return. In a pathetic tone, he requested the clerk to direct Miriam’s letter to his grave. In an assertive tone, he declared that it was his last day.
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After this incident, Ali has never seen again in the post office. One day the postmaster himself was in trouble. His own daughter who lived in another town fell ill. The postmaster was anxious about her well-beings.
When the bag of the post was brought, he started sorting out the letters impatiently. He picked up an envelope but it was addressed to coachman Ali. This letter gave him a jolt. The realization dawned upon him that he was also an anxious father like coachman Ali. Now he could well understand the anguish and anxiety of separation from somebody near and dear one. He was repentant of his rude behavior towards that poor old man. He decided to hand over the letter to Ali himself.
Laxmi das, the clerk, came to the post office and asked who the postmaster was talking to. The postmaster told him that he was talking to Ali. But it was a matter of bewilderment when Laxmi das told him that Ali had been dead for more than three months. That evening both of them visited Ali’s grave and placed the letter there. Now the postmaster did not consider the letter as a piece of paper but a warm, pulsating heart. In this way, the postmaster was transformed from a rude and callous man to a feeling and compassionate person. [/signinlocker]