*Glimpse Through an Old Postage Stamp on this Valentine's day.* 💌 This old Indian postage stamp from the early 1960s commemorates a remarkable moment: One of the first love letters in literary history, written on a lotus leaf with fingernails. It features a painting by Raja Ravi Varma, depicting Shakuntalā, the heroine of Kalidasa’s play, surrounded by her friends in a hermitage. 🌹 In a moment of longing for King Dushyanta, Shakuntala, lacking writing materials, is given a lotus leaf ‘as soft as the breast of a parrot’ by her friend Priyamvadā. With her fingernails, she inscribes heartfelt lines expressing her torment of love: ```तव न जाने हृदयं मम पुनः कामो दिवाऽपि रात्रावपि। निर्घृण तपति बलीयस्त्वयि वृत्तमनोरथाया अङ्गानि॥``` _I don't know your heart. But O merciless one, Cupid does forcibly day and night burn my parts that have fixed their minds on you._ ❤️‍🔥 This poignant scene captures the timeless essence of love. 🎧 *Listen* here : youtu.be/v9KECTVR4Q0&t=1m18s #celebrating_sanskrit