It’s funny how something can be there and never quite catch your attention. And just when it decides to say goodbye, you want it to stay some more. You scamper to save a memoir from the roads you’ve travelled earlier. You want to hold on for just a bit longer. And so it was when BSNL announced that they were retiring the 163 year old telegram service.
Yes, it made sense. Present day communication was at the click of a button. Yet, it was a part of my childhood fading into oblivion. Just like the Rotary Dialing phones, the telegram too would be something my daughter would have no clue about. It did not matter till now. But on the brink of extinction, anything can achieve the elusive status. And so armed with a camera and all good intentions, this afternoon, I headed to the Post and Telegraph Office in Santacruz West. The rains were playing truant and Bombay was on the brink of another regular flood. I knew it was now or never. Sneha’s post had further strengthened my resolve.
I found the quaint little post office nestled comfortably near a local school. The 3 staff members out there looked at me, almost expecting me. And then I figured why. I had a gentleman before me who had sent 3 telegrams. While I was still getting mine organized, an executive walked in and asked for a bunch of forms. He was sending about 20 telegrams to all his friends. Suddenly, everyone wanted to own this little piece of ‘soon to be yesterday’.
I got talking with the staff and told them that I was sending a telegram to my daughter. The lady in charge of giving me the receipts smiled, however, she wasn’t too floored by my handwriting. I felt like a school girl being asked to cross her t’s and dot her i’s. But she was sweet enough to let me take pictures.
The office was a typical government office. Spacious, yet congested with papers and files, and boasted of minimal facilities. The office had a board which listed the common greetings with their corresponding numbers. I read through the list, remembering how many of those telegrams we’d received, both in joy and sorrow.
I was done in about 20 minutes, super elated that I had made the effort. My telegram as I write this post is on it’s way and will be delivered tomorrow. What I have out here is my first and last visit to a Post and Telegraph Office, in monochromatic hues.
Going, going, gone. STOP.
Comments
Great idea Vini…when I read Sneha’s post and told my daughter that we too should, she looked at me like I have lost it. You just did it on time.
Thanks Janu. I wanted to do it, I had promised myself. The rains were dampening my spirits. Yesterday was a now or never situation, I went for it. 🙂
How quaint! But, it takes a whole day for it to be delivered??
By the way, do you remember the TELEX????? I have spent hours in it when I used to work at IMRB Delhi…pinging field offices in Chennai, Bhubaneshwar and what not! That was such a lifetime ago, it feels now!
Isi liye toh they are phasing it out. And oh yes…………TELEX, gosh, it’s like we are so closely related to the Dinos……Sigh!
That’s really some nostalgic post. I remember the first time I had ever gone to a Post Office when I was filling forms for some colleges and had to send our money orders for the exams. The last I went was 2 years back when a cheque came and they had asked me to collect it from the PO.
A nice post 🙂
Oh the post office I have visited abundantly. The telegraph office, this was the first and last. As they say, all good things must come to an end.
Yay! I am so happy, T is a lucky girl 🙂 Thank you for posting your experience.
Thanks to you and your post, I managed to do this. You know how we plan and never really execute it. So a big wala hug to you!
I remember reading those boards in Post offices – with common greetings. So many things are becoming extinct – Typewriter, Rotary dials and now Telegram ! Our first phone was a Rotary dial one .. and I have been looking for another one since !
I know what you mean. There is comfort in the known.
Your post made me realise that I have not visited a post office since god knows when! I’ll stop by a post office soon to collect some post cards and inland letters for the boys!
You must. I am sure, else, they’d miss out on an integral part of our childhood.
How I now wish I should have taken that tour. But really, why is it that when the things start fading away, we realize their value?
That is a very valid question Jas. I don’t know either. So flawed are we, no?
This reminded me of the telegrams I used to get to let me know that the L & M had reached his destination, each one of them preserved with the snail mail 😀
Awwwww, maybe we will get a sneak peak in a blog post 🙂
Very true… only when they decided to put it down forever did my heart begin to cry. I wish I had gone out to send one though… but I did rummage through my old belongings to ensure some inland letters I had are still intact.. it wont be long before we hear a headline about that..
You are telling me? I think, I am gonna visit with the princess some time soon. Sigh, new makes way for the old, even though they could hang on for some more time.