What is a Stamp?
What a silly question! We all know what a stamp is. After all, we live in a 21st-century metropolitan city,
everyone should know the answer! A stamp is a tiny piece of paper we buy at the post office for the purpose
of mailing letters.
When we want to send a letter off to a faraway land, we have to pay for the
journey - be it a train ticket, boat ticket or plane ticket, depending on the letter's destination and the
means of transport. You can pay the fare at the post office counter, where an uncle or auntie will hand you
a stamp. You then affix the stamp on the top right corner of the envelope for all to note - this letter has
paid its fare, and off it goes! This special kind of fare is called postage.
You don't have to run to
the post office every time you want to mail a letter. For convenience, you can pay the fare of many journeys
in advance and take home a stack of tickets - stamps. Whenever you want to send a letter, just put a stamp
on the envelope. When the letter arrives at the post office with a stamp, it is noted that the fare is paid,
and your letter will be on its way to the receiver.
Don't underestimate this tiny square of paper. It
is the proof of prepayment, as well as a promise of service by the post office. What's more interesting,
normal tickets lose their validity once a journey is completed, but for our tiny colourful ticket, that is
only the beginning of another game!