LUDHIANA: E-mails, text messages, faxes, all might have taken the place of traditional communication channels, but the hustle caused by the sight or news of a telegram has not lost its significance to date. Probably, this is why the 48-year-old Yash Pal Chhabra, a real estate developer from the Old City, decided to send his last telegram to the Prime Minister of India. "Yes, I admit that the social media today has taken the place of a telegram and has made communication easy. However, what it has not been able to change is the impact of a telegram and the tension it creates in the mind of the receiver. Because a telegram, as known to everyone, only delivers urgent news," he says.
And this is what drove Yash Pal"s decision to send this very important telegram for something that needed attention at this point if time. "In my telegram, I not only thanked the government for the support they have shown to the victims in Kedarnath and the surrounding areas, but also put forth my suggestion. I asked him to constitute a "Char Dhaam shrine board", like the one in Vaishno Devi Temple", he says. He wanted his last telegram to aim at social good.
"The number of casualties in the disaster is not known until now, because there was no check on the number of people visiting the shrine. I have asked the Prime Minister to take note of this and have proper checks," he says.
Furthermore, talking about how telegrams were once used for speedy delivery of information, he asserts that change is inevitable. "Change is the law of nature and telegrams too had to come to an end. Social media might have led to the downfall of the telegram, but this does not mean we overlook how important social media is at the present time," he says. He stressed on why social media should be made a part of the postal department in India.
He says we have to accept that modern communication is very quick and accurate, and hence, this should be made a part of communication at government offices, so that people who do not have an easy access to such things, can make use of it and send information across. Eagerly awaiting a response from the Prime Minister"s end, Chhabra says his next telegram before the service ends, would be to the PM again about this suggestion of using social media in government offices.
When Om Prakash Sharma was 20 years old, he received the first telegram of his life wishing him a very happy new year. "The first telegram that I received was when I was 20 years old. It dates back to the year 1975 when my cousin elder brother sent me this telegram," says the 58-year-old Om Prakash from Vikas Nagar. And my last telegram is dedicated to the same man, BM Sharma from Amritsar. "He would often send me telegrams wishing me a happy birthday or on new year"s day. It was a craze those days and it felt nice to have someone send you such greetings. Every such telegram made me ecstatic," he says.
So when Om Prakash Sharma addressed his last telegram to the same man, he was very puzzled as to what he should write to him about? "I couldn"t find an occasion. Had the telegram waited until December, I would have ended this ritual with the same greeting. I wondered for quite some time and finally knew what strings to play," he says. He says he had known his cousin, who is technically not his cousin, ever since he was born. "I am not related to that man, but he is certainly more than these human relationships. My father had accepted him as his elder son, and so the relation. However, through all these years, he has been very supportive and has cared for me like a father. Hence, in my telegram, I have asked him about his daughter"s arrival to India and about his health. Mini is in Canada and is due to return in a few days. She has been a darling daughter and is very attached to me. So, I decided to mention her in my last telegram," he says.
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