I am sure most of us will remember the facility called the telegram which existed before the days of convergence; the era of mobiles, Facebook or Instagram when the world was analog and urgent messages were sent through this facility called the Telegram.
It was on 15th July 2013 that the Government of India decided to discontinue the 160-year-old telegram service in India due to massive losses, sparking a feeling of nostalgia amongst civil society and the media. Digitalisation of communication resulted in making the Telegram obsolete since all forms of news could be communicated across any distance with a simple mobile call or a message on the internet
It is now ten years since Telegrams were discontinued and we at “Kumily Calling” would like to honour this with cherished memories and would also like to hear your experiences with the telegram.
The Telegram was used to deliver both good and bad tidings with a sense of urgency. It used to be delivered by a humble postman who cycled miles across the hinterland and was the bearer of urgent news through the telegram which connected the world to places in many a land.
Its arrival across the world in any a household brought about a sense of the ominous for it could convey sad news in a manner which was very cold and abrupt as we opened it with tremulous hands wondering what the news would be. At times it brought us good news; a greeting or news of a birth or news of a job or a call for an interview which made us jump with joy. It also brought us news of bereavement or sickness of beloved few and then did make us mourn.
Though the telegram appeared curt and terse with sentences printed in capital letters its messages were far more important and could put to shame most editors by stripping the message to very basic words to shorten the message and thus reduce the cost to the sender.
The most dramatic of all these features was the word “STOP” at the end of every sentence since a simple dot as a full stop was not acceptable in the language of Morse code which was all about dots and dashes.
Some notable milestones in the History of Telegrams in India are given below:
The first experimental electric telegraph line was started between Calcutta and Diamond Harbour during 1850.
In 1851 it was opened for the use of the British East India Company
A separate department was opened for telegraph facilities in 1854.
The Indian Telegraph Act was introduced in India during 1885
India moved from cable telegraph to wireless telegraph in 1902.
On 1st April, 1914 Post Office and Telegraph departments were merged and Indian Posts and Telegraph Department was formed.
From 1st January 1985 Post Offices were separated from Telegraph and department was bifurcated in to Department of Posts and Department of Telecommunications.
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) was established in 2000 by the Government of India, which provided a wide range of telecommunication services including Telegrams.
In order to keep pace with technological developments BSNL introduced Web Based Telegraph Messaging System in India by 31st March 2010. The WTMS changed the way of sending telegrams through computers.
Realizing the declining usage of Telegraph Services, the Establishment branch of BSNL Corporate Office defined Telegraph Services as diminishing services vide the circular No. 19-1/2009/TE-II dated 19th February 2010.
The international telegraph service was terminated by BSNL on April 30, 2011.
BSNL decided to discontinue the Telegram Service and issued circular on 11th June 2013. It was also requested to all telegraph offices to take photograph of booking of five telegrams message with sender of telegrams and all the staff working on WMTS on 14th July 2103 which was the last working day of telegrams and to keep record of such photographs in an album and to send one set of such photographs to Sr. GM’s. Office.
The Telegram facility may be no more but it still remains fresh in our memory. We welcome the memories of Kumilites who have used the telegram service and have some fond memories to share.
Kindly send your thoughts to: kumilycalling@gmail.com
