It's goodbye to telegrams

...Respected chief minister. I took my child to the new primary health centre in Allahabad where I was charged Rs 100 for a bottle of syrup. Few days later, I was given the wrong medicines for my illness to the extent that I had to be admitted to a private hospital. On enquiry, it was found that the doctor who prescribed the medicines was anayurvedic expert having no knowledge ofallopathy. I request you to help us get rid of the quacks and take stringent action against them...

LUCKNOW: The above telegram was received by Lucknow's Central Telegraph Office (CTO), on Thursday and the short text was worth a million words. But with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) having decided to shut the telegram services forever, such messages will have nowhere to go. No more, will there be a postman ringing the doorbell to bring the urgent news, good or bad. "Telegrams are the only source for poor to share their news,'' said Mohd Taiyab, a telegraph official at GPO.

The advent of smart phones, emails and SMS finally made the humble telegram redundant. Postman Harish Tiwari says "Till a few years back, telegram generated excitement as I would ask for a signature before delivering the telegram.''

For officials, the visit of Indian politician and socialist, Rafi Ahmed Kidwai to the telegraph counter was something to boast about. "I couldn't believe that Rafi saheb had come personally to send a telegram. Like a common man, he asked for the telegram form, filled it up, deposited the fee and thanked us,'' recalled an official.

For a veteran telegraph officer, NN Ganguli, one of most memorable moments was when Indian actor Utpal Dutt came over to the CTO. "The junior level officers panicked as Utpal spoke fluent English. To rescue them, senior officers were called in. It was a sight. Everyone was speechless,'' said Ganguli. One of the oldest officers, Ganguli spent 40 years of his life at CTO.

In Lucknow, telegram services began in early 1850's. For a long time, it was supervised by Anglo-Indians. In early years, the 24 hours telegram service used to be the main source of income for the postal department. Over 10,000 telegrams were sent every day, generating revenue of Rs 1.5-2 lakh every day. One of the major clients was military. "They sent bulk telegrams,'' said an officer. Today, the traffic is only 80-150 every day generating less than Rs 40,000 per day. The 300 plus staff came rolling down to 40 in the past three decades. When TOI contacted chief general manager, telegraphs, AK Jain, he refrained from talking anything on the issue.

Source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com