PAGES FROM HISTORY : OBITUARY ON TELEGRAM By A.V. narasimha Murthy, former Head, Department of Ancient History & Archeology, university of Mysore The privilege of receiving a telegram addressed to me happened in January 1957. When the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) sent a telegram appointing me as an Exploration Officer at Hyderabad and it also asked me to confirm the acceptance of the job by an express telegram. Normally my father used to get telegrams but this time it was my proud privilege. A couple of years later, another telegram came in my name and this time it conveyed me the good news of the award of Fulbright Scholarship at Harvard University, USA. This time it was a reply paid telegram for confirmation. Thus both the telegrams conveyed the good and happy news and not the usual bad news. In those days of leisure and stress-free life, telegram brought tension in the form of death or seriousness of mother, father etc. Though I have not kept a count, I should have received hundreds of telegrams in connection with my official work. I do not remember to have received a single telegram conveying bad news. By the time I had become old enough to receive the news of death of relatives, telephone and mobile had taken the place of telegrams. Thus telegram had been kind to me. All these thoughts came to my mind when I heard the news of the imminent end of telegram from July 14, 2013 night. By the stroke of a government order, telegrams are cremated or buried for ever and enters into the dustbin of time. I do not know if anybody mourns the death of telegram. At least people of my age or generation who grew with telegrams and used it in times of need will feel sorry and become melancholic over the death of telegram. Telegram means distant message and is a public service of telegraphy. Telegraph is a Greek word which literally means distant writing. This word was first used in 1792 in France by a scientist named Claude Chappe. Actually it was signalling system. After some improvement electric telegraph system was developed in England and USA in 1830. The signals used to be transmitted through wires and hence in Kannada it is referred to as tanti (wire). The first telegraph line was introduced by linking Paddington to Drayton, a distance of 21 kms. However, the credit for further improvement should go to F.B. Morse, who opened a line between Washington and Baltimore, a distance of 64 kms. In 1842, submarine cables were developed and it was laid under the English Channel. In 1950, Western Union made major advance in submarine cables. Murray developed a system of signals in which instead of alphabets, signs were used. For example two dots side by side represented the letter A; one dot represented letter E, etc. Thus the operator sent signals and they were converted into letters and words, and reached the customer as a telegram. However, the code of Morse became more popular. Morse used dots and strokes to represent alphabets. For example A was represented by a dot and a stroke; B was represented by a stroke followed by three dots; T was shown by a stroke; N was represented by a stroke and a dot etc. In the same way numerals were also represented. Under this system of Morse, the name Star of Mysore can be signalled as follows: …/-/.-/.-./---/..-./--/-.--/…/---/.-././ When all these developments were taking place in different parts of the world, India was showing interest in adopting it. The telegraph was born in India in 1853. Dr. William Shamfressy was a professor at Calcutta Medical College and he took interest in telegraphy and developed a system and laid wires between Calcutta and Diamond Harbour, a distance of 21 miles. Officially this is considered to be the inaugural telegraph line in India, and hence its centenary was celebrated in 1963 November. Then another telegraph line was laid between Agra and Calcutta in 1854. 1865 is a landmark in telegraph history because England and India were connected by this system. Hundreds of telegraph offices were established which provided telegram service to people. To minimise cost of telegrams, greetings were given numbers which denoted phrases appropriate to marriages, victory in elections, house-warming, birthday, marriage anniversary and also condolences. Thus telegrams became people-friendly. Reply paid telegrams were also introduced. Thus telegrams became a social partner in those days. Lord Cubbon took great interest in developing telegraph lines in Mysore. In 1856, 334 lines of telegraph were in operation. However in 1870, there were only two telegraph offices one at Mysore and the other at Bangalore. The main line from Mysore passed through Madikeri to Kerala. Subsequently Mangalore was connected. It will be of great interest to note that Mysore Division booked about 4.6 lakh and delivered five lakh telegrams in 1980. That people in Mysore area were sending telegrams (cables) to foreign countries is attested to by more than 2500 telegrams in 1980. In addition to the statistics connected with telegrams there is a more lively side also. The parents wanted their son, who was at another place, to get married. He would not come to see the bride to-be. Then the father would send telegrams stating ‘mother serious, start immediately’. As soon as the son received the telegram he would arrive at the parent’s house without any delay. This was a common trick played by the parents almost 4 to 5 decades ago. There is also another side. The officer who was very strict would not sanction leave to his subordinates to go home. The latter would write to the parents to send an express telegram stating ‘father serious, start immediately.’ As soon as he received the telegram, he would show it to his boss. Reluctantly, the boss would sanction leave and ask him to go to his native place. After staying in his father’s house for 3-4 days, the employee would send a telegram requesting for extension of leave as his father was still not well! Decades ago telegrams were used to send messages of death. Hence during marriages and other festivals telegrams would not be opened at all and kept safely to be opened only after the function at home. It seems people used to go to the Telegram Office and request the officer not to deliver any telegram to their house as they have function at home. Even the telegram staff were so kind and humane that they would not deliver a death-telegram to a house where celebrations were being held. They would make a remark ‘house locked’ and satisfy their rules. Thus telegrams had their own humane side also. All these will be passed on to the pages of history. A tragic end to a people-friendly service indeed ! -Star of Mysore
Posted on: Sun, 21 Jul 2013 14:12:09 +0000
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