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Ta Ta Telegram !




A small piece in The Telegraph today said," Telegram no more in India. STOP. "
Telegram evokes both heartening and saddening memories in our parents minds. The very arrival of the telegram used to set hearts pacing!The gen-next screenagers can never understand the significance of the "taar". Telegrams sure were a concise and precise way of sending messages.My father remembers how he used to send telegrams about their achievements to his mother in colourful envelops by paying a little extra.  It is certainly the "end of an era" for those who have witnessed the evolution from the "katta-kat" times to the watsapp chats.

 The government realised that India now only has 75 offices with only 1000 employees. Thus, this service which was currently being managed by the BSNL(Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited) had been running huge losses. It was losing its significance and further technological advancements would finally make it a dead letter. The BSNL has made many attempts to help the fading telegram get revived. They raised the charges in 2011 from Rs. 4 to Rs. 50 for 50 words after a interregnum of 60 years.Since, the service had no demand it was not economically viable to continue the state-run utility.It was decided that the infrastructure can be utilised for more productive activities . Even though this would render many people jobless, they must be trained so that they can join the emerging IT sector. 

While this medium of communication is symbolic of the reminisces of the past, I believe it is the right direction to take.With the spreading tentacles of the world wide web, communication is always a click away ! We can say a lot more things in lot less time! Now, we can talk to a person miles away just as if he/she is few steps away. Thanks to the tech-craze that has brought people closer and bridged the gap of space and time. It's always a pleasant experience to stay in touch with our nears and dears and find long lost buddies through social networking sites. If that is so, keeping the telegram service would have meant a sheer waste of resources. However, we can keep telegram as a novelty service like Japan. This in my view is an elegant way of  honouring the "tele-service" which has connected so many of us for so many years in the past.     

BSNL would be sending the last telegram on 15th July 2013 to a location which is still unknown. The telegram has indeed travelled a long adventurous journey from 1850(when Samuel Morse sent his first telegram to Alfred Vail) to 2013. Adieu telegram. STOP. 

Comments

  1. Justice Garg14 July 2013 at 06:38

    Akshita, u have written a very interesting and instructive passage which has delighted us. We extended our thanks from the core of our heart. Please keep it up and continue to write on the burning subjects with all the zeal at your command.
    Looking forward to see you.

    ReplyDelete

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