Once, the mention of my name
brought a lot of despair in most households, especially if heard during late
nights and early mornings. However, the mood turned joyous if I was asked to
convey a birth in the household. By now you would have guessed, Yes, I am the
telegram and have made my exit today. I have become outdated thanks to email,
SMS, Whatsapp and god knows what and all. Earlier I did wade of a stiff
challenge from the Page but now I have lost the war. Nobody uses me any longer and I am being
terminated because I have become uneconomical to maintain. My glorious journey
of 160 plus years has come to an end.
How times change? Until the start
of this millennium, I had a special place of pride. Every Government office and
reputed company had a grams id. I was the fastest means of communication
available in the good old days, when even a landline connection at home, was a
rarity. I was used to communicate deaths, births, arrival, departure, job
interviews, etc. Government offices also used me to communicate unauthorized
absence to their erring employees. I was even admitted as a proof in the court
of law. Those were the days, when a special wire connection called the telegram
cable used to run across length and breadth of the country. Unlike the cheap
SMSes or the free for all messenger services of these days, I was pricey. Each
time somebody used my service, they had to pay. I had a minimum charge for a
certain number of words and beyond that each word was charged. Many a
prospective secretaries’ English knowledge was tested by asking them to frame a
telegram with the use of least words but conveying the entire message.
I was an honest servant. I never
conveyed anything other than what was written. I am of course not responsible
for typos like when somebody wrote `Seth Ajmer gaya’ and the Tamilian clerk
typed it as `Seth Aaj Mar gaya’
I am proof of national
integration in this country. Sample this, once David sent a telegram to his
Brother in Law Abdul, that Saraswati, his wife, gave birth to a baby boy.
Thank you!!! Mr. Morse and Au
revoir citizens! I am going but remember the words of the Terminator “I will be
back”. If life is a wheel, I will be back and who knows you maybe desperate to
have me back
