As India drew curtains over its 162-year-old telegram service chapter on Sunday night—the last country to do so in the world—there were hardly any tears shed over it.
Even the older generations were not visibly upset over the closure of the service as they find newer communication technologies like internet and mobile telephony to be convenient and personalised than the good, old telegram.
Going down the memory lane, 70-year-old Jagadish Bhaskaran says he still remembers the day when he got his first offer letter via telegram almost 50 years ago.
But then, Bhaskaran has no strings attached to the telegram service as he easily evolved to the new-gen technologies.
“I have a decent knowledge of the cell phone and my grandchildren help me out reading the emails my daughter sends me from Australia. So, I don’t think people would feel the absence of telegram much when there are much more convenient and cheaper alternatives.”
Sixty-eight-year-old Hemlatha K, however, was more emotive over the telegram service closing down. She remembered that the news about the death of her father was delivered to her via telegram. And sadly, she got the telegram a day late, so she could not attend his funeral. When there are much quicker technologies at people’s disposal, why cry over the death of the telegram, she asks.
Had the mobile phone technology or the internet been there when her father died three decades ago, she would have received the information instantaneously, she adds.
PK Mohanty, a 62-year-old retired engineer and SM Raj (name changed), a 55-year-old army officer, say that although the telegram played a crucial role during its time, it was now time to move on as newer technologies have come in place, making communication dissemination unbelievable quicker.
The post and telegraph officials said the telegram services were undergoing losses as the number of customers exponentially decreased from an average 1,000 a month to a paltry 100. However, no one would be rendered unemployed because of the closure, they said, explaining that all the employees who earlier worked on telegram section would now be shifted to other departments within BSNL.
