End Of Dots And Dashes, India To Send Last Telegram On July 15


Bangalore: “What hath God wrought,” the first telegram message Samuel F B Morse sent from Washington to his business partner Alfred Vail in Baltimore on May 24, 1844, started a whole new era of communication over long distances via dots and dashes. Morse’s code was base of this system where each alphabet was represented by set of dots and dashes and was transmitted electronically via wires to long distances.   The system that was introduced in India in 1855, after a long run, creating history on the go, will be laid to rest on July 15.

In India the telegrams weaved their own cultural image. They were sent to friends and family only when there was urgency, and in many cases it used to be the news of someone being seriously ill or passing away. The reason may have been its high cost.

Though there were instances of telegram being used to distribute the good news too, like birth of child, many times it has been associated as the harbinger of bad news, and whenever a post man is found walking around with the telegram, people immediately felt nervous about their ailing friend or family.

It also resulted in some of the misunderstandings too, for the telegram was usually drafted with minimum number of words. When a life insurance agent telegrammed his friend asking the age of his client “How old Anil?” his friend replied “Old Anil Good, You?”

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