Last Mail Delivered, Ram Sharan "Postman" Signs Off From Parliament

The common man who found himself among India's most powerful, Ram Sharan retires on Tuesday, content, he says, to have served "all with equal importance and without a single complaint".

Prime ministers changed as did ministers and there were new MP faces every five years but Ram Sharan "Postman", assigned the Parliament beat, remained a constant - walking up and down the corridors of power for the last 21 years. Right till he delivered his last "daak". The common man who found himself among India's most powerful, Ram Sharan retires on Tuesday, content, he says, to have served "all with equal importance and without a single complaint". "You don't get to deliver mail inside the House for 21 years if you make mistakes and bring back complaints," Ram Sharan told PTI, a day ahead of his final adieu from the postal service on Tuesday and three days after he dropped his last "daak" in Parliament on Friday. Had Monday not been Janmashtami, today would have been his last working day "in Parliament". After long hours of walking from one office to another to deliver mail inside the sprawling Parllament House complex, Ram Sharan said he would take a few moments to quietly sip tea outside the Red Cross building on Sansad Marg and reflect on the day that had been.