<p>With the 163-year-old Indian telegram service set to be consigned to the pages of history, hundreds of people across the State, in a final farewell to the traditional and one of the oldest forms of communication, sent telegraphic messages to their near and dear ones. <br /><br /></p>.<p>However, what they did not bargain for, was, instead of the familiar tap tap tap sound transmitting the message through the ubiquitous Morse Code of dots and dashes, that their messages, though telegraphic in nature, were sent online by the click of a mouse. <br /><br />With phones, e-mails, texts and instant messages sounding the death knell for telegram’s dots and dashes, what the BlackBerry and Ipad generation did not realise was we do not use those technologies any longer and send the messages online, said BSNL Subdivisional Engineer (Telegraph Traffic) M S Manjunath.<br /><br />According to him, telegram bookings dramatically shot up following the announcement that telegraph service was on the verge of closure with patrons eager to send telegrams for one last time and milling the telegraph centres in the hope of seeing the transmission of message via morse code machine or teleprinter that was so much an integral part of their lives all these years. <br /><br />Eulogising the good old days when telegram was such a novelty and instantaneous mode of communication for his generation, sexagenarian Venkatesh Sharma, one of the telegram applicants, gushed: “As I remember, telegram was like a paid SMS. We used it during emergencies, but since it cost us by word, we were very meticulous in conveying the message pithily and parsimonious to every single paise one paid. When exam results were declared, we rewrote the message several times on a rough sheet before finally drafting on the telegram draft, to be sent to its intended destination.<br /><br />According to officials, there has been deficit demand for telegram services since early 90's. “Over 70 per cent of telegram traffic has decreased and was causing a loss of crores of rupees to the exchequer. Moreover, customers’ preference to newer technologies that gave superior control to send, alter and instantly receive replies, forced traditional communication services such as telegram to take a backseat,” said Bangalore Subdivisional Engineer Krishnamurthy.<br /><br />Today, the demand for telegram service is almost nil among the public, only a few institutions such as the defence services, courts, law enforcement authorities and insurance companies use telegraph to send bulk intimations.<br /><br />Meanwhile, the end of telegram services evoked emotional responses from employees whose appointment to the then postal and telegraph department itself was under telegraph cadre.<br /><br />“I received my appointment order through telegram, back then we had to undergo eight months of rigorous training to learn morse code and then clear a test only after which we were assigned a task,” said BSNL Basavanagudi Branch Telegraph Cadre Chief Section Supervisor Malathi Prakash. <br /><br />Shailaja S S, a 1981-batch telegraph cadre employee currently serving as Chief Telegraph Master at BSNL, recalled, “We used to work round the clock booking, transmitting and receiving over 500 telegrams every day, but now we barely transact 20 to 30 telegrams a month; in districts the figures are lower. It is heartbreaking that telegram services will no longer be in use.”<br /><br />The former telegraph cadre employees are redesignated at various positions at BSNL customer care service. While Bharath Sanchar Nigam Limited would cease the telegraph operations from Monday, the service might go beyond the reach of common man a day prior, owing to weekly holiday at BSNL customer care service that handles telegram services.</p>
<p>With the 163-year-old Indian telegram service set to be consigned to the pages of history, hundreds of people across the State, in a final farewell to the traditional and one of the oldest forms of communication, sent telegraphic messages to their near and dear ones. <br /><br /></p>.<p>However, what they did not bargain for, was, instead of the familiar tap tap tap sound transmitting the message through the ubiquitous Morse Code of dots and dashes, that their messages, though telegraphic in nature, were sent online by the click of a mouse. <br /><br />With phones, e-mails, texts and instant messages sounding the death knell for telegram’s dots and dashes, what the BlackBerry and Ipad generation did not realise was we do not use those technologies any longer and send the messages online, said BSNL Subdivisional Engineer (Telegraph Traffic) M S Manjunath.<br /><br />According to him, telegram bookings dramatically shot up following the announcement that telegraph service was on the verge of closure with patrons eager to send telegrams for one last time and milling the telegraph centres in the hope of seeing the transmission of message via morse code machine or teleprinter that was so much an integral part of their lives all these years. <br /><br />Eulogising the good old days when telegram was such a novelty and instantaneous mode of communication for his generation, sexagenarian Venkatesh Sharma, one of the telegram applicants, gushed: “As I remember, telegram was like a paid SMS. We used it during emergencies, but since it cost us by word, we were very meticulous in conveying the message pithily and parsimonious to every single paise one paid. When exam results were declared, we rewrote the message several times on a rough sheet before finally drafting on the telegram draft, to be sent to its intended destination.<br /><br />According to officials, there has been deficit demand for telegram services since early 90's. “Over 70 per cent of telegram traffic has decreased and was causing a loss of crores of rupees to the exchequer. Moreover, customers’ preference to newer technologies that gave superior control to send, alter and instantly receive replies, forced traditional communication services such as telegram to take a backseat,” said Bangalore Subdivisional Engineer Krishnamurthy.<br /><br />Today, the demand for telegram service is almost nil among the public, only a few institutions such as the defence services, courts, law enforcement authorities and insurance companies use telegraph to send bulk intimations.<br /><br />Meanwhile, the end of telegram services evoked emotional responses from employees whose appointment to the then postal and telegraph department itself was under telegraph cadre.<br /><br />“I received my appointment order through telegram, back then we had to undergo eight months of rigorous training to learn morse code and then clear a test only after which we were assigned a task,” said BSNL Basavanagudi Branch Telegraph Cadre Chief Section Supervisor Malathi Prakash. <br /><br />Shailaja S S, a 1981-batch telegraph cadre employee currently serving as Chief Telegraph Master at BSNL, recalled, “We used to work round the clock booking, transmitting and receiving over 500 telegrams every day, but now we barely transact 20 to 30 telegrams a month; in districts the figures are lower. It is heartbreaking that telegram services will no longer be in use.”<br /><br />The former telegraph cadre employees are redesignated at various positions at BSNL customer care service. While Bharath Sanchar Nigam Limited would cease the telegraph operations from Monday, the service might go beyond the reach of common man a day prior, owing to weekly holiday at BSNL customer care service that handles telegram services.</p>
