‘He was Director, Postal Service. It was my good fortune to work under him. In those days, the project for giving Pincode for each part of the country was going on. Each State had to be divided into different districts, talukas, towns and places. Often two or more places with same name existed. You had to ensure that they got different pincode. You also had to consider how many different post offices might be required in future in that vicinity. As cities develop, new areas come up and require new pincodes, but you have to make a provision for them at the beginning. You also need to plan how many employees might be needed for that region. Such major nationwide projects are never under the control of any one individual and therefore it would be wrong to give entire credit to any one individual for this project. But it is certain that Velankar had a major role in it and I was working under him. I enjoyed those days. He was a wonderful boss. We used to chat a lot even beyond our official work. He had good knowledge of Sanskrit. It was also my favorite subject. On the whole we clicked well. There are very few persons I met during my service years for whom I had respect, and Velankar was one of them.’ One advantage of that posting in Delhi was the opportunity Joshi had to travel abroad a few times. Universal Postal Union (UPU) was a part of the United Nations and naturally India too was a member of UPU. Two or three times he went abroad for UPU conferences. There were also two or three other trips. To travel abroad as a government officer was a luxury. Five star hotels. Parties. Contacts with influential persons. All that was part of the “perks’’ of a job like that. However, these foreign visits also enlarged his intellectual horizon. During that period family life kept blossoming. Immediately after marriage Leelatai completed her final year of B.A. Elder daughter Shreya was born on 7 April 1962 and younger Gauri on 23 November 1963. Recalls Joshi, ‘I remember the date of Gauri’s birth because that was the day the news of the Entering the Professional World
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