KOCHI: Come Christmas the first thing that comes to everybody’s mind is the beautifully decorated tree, cakes, gifts and the most important thing-cards. With the onset of the 21st century, greeting cards slowly gave way to the online variety and people began sending messages sent via the social media. However, there are still people who are like the anomalies found in a software programme. Seena Shine is one such anomaly.
Seena and her brother have been sending cards right from their childhood. Today a mother of two kids, Seena’s fascination for cards has not waned. “It may be how we were brought up. The entire process takes a lot of time and effort, but I find it worthwhile. Cards provide me with a means to tell the people whom I love that they are in my thoughts during the festive season. I think its all about preferences. I prefer to wish my near and dear ones this way,” she said. Seena, as a child, loved receiving cards. “And this has not changed. So I share my happiness with my cousins via cards,” she added.
However, cards are yet to find more takers. For Radhakrishnan, who has been selling cards for the past 10 years, the trend is yet to catch up. “The sales have gone down and I have stopped bringing in new models. Even the rates are low. Only teachers and students buy cards today,” he said.
Oranges, a music card shop at Broadway, is yet to sell a card this year. But those at the Archies Gallery near Convent Junction said, “Two years ago the sale was dull. However, in the past two years, the cards are slowly coming back in vogue. The alumni of St Teresa’s and naval personnel drop in to buy cards in bulk.”
(Inputs from Anna Jolly and Nimmy Joy)