There was a time when December in Kolkata meant stacks of greeting cards piled at shops. Families would walk into New Market with long lists of cousins, friends and neighbours to whom they would send Christmas and New Year wishes. Children saved pocket money to buy tiny cards for school friends.
Cut to 2025, greeting cards only exist in fading memories, overshadowed by WhatsApp GIFs and reels.
In Hogg Market, once home to at least half a dozen greeting card shops, only one survives. With no name or signboard, it stands in the chaos of the market amidst toys and stationery shops, reminding the passersby of a ritual that once defined winters in the city.
Inside sits Nirmal Dutta, who has been working in the shop since 1989. He remembers every detail of those crowded years as if they happened yesterday. He says he has seen the rise and fall of greeting cards in the market. “There was a time when people crowded at this shop, waiting to buy cards for every occasion. Christmas, New Year, weddings, anniversaries and seasonal greetings filled the shelves in endless designs. Hundreds of orders were placed every year between December and January,” Dutta said, confirming that there are only two or three sales now every week.
His voice holds no bitterness. The shop he runs once had many distributors and new designs came every season. But today there is only one distributor left and hardly any orders. “We have to run the shop, but we cannot stock more cards because there are no customers. These are from last year’s stock.”
Hanging above the counter are cards starting at Rs 50, many still sparkling with foil and colour, waiting for someone who prefers paper over pixels.
Among the few who still come looking is Indrajit Sinha. On the day My Kolkata visited, he was browsing through the anniversary section. He said he was buying a card for his friend’s 53rd wedding anniversary, a ritual they have kept alive for years. “Every year we exchange cards. In the age of text messages, these feel more personal,” he said, picking up a design he liked.
His words echo the sentiment that once made greeting cards meaningful. They were not just paper. They were a messenger to the loved ones, a moment taken to choose the right message, the right picture, the right feeling.
Technology has made wishes faster, but perhaps a little emptier as well. Messages now arrive in seconds, typed out on glowing screens and forgotten just as quickly. The warmth of paper, the excitement of waiting for the postman or the simple joy of opening an envelope no longer hold the same place in daily life.
But in that lone shop in New Market, the tradition still breathes. As long as Dutta arranges his cards each morning and as long as people like Sinha return every year, the memory of Kolkata’s greeting card ritual will remain alive.