The 163-year-old telegram service, a cornerstone of communication in India, officially ended on July 14, 2013. The final message was booked at 11:45 PM at the Central Telegraph Office (CTO) in Janpath, New Delhi, by Ashwani Mishra, who sent telegrams to Rahul Gandhi and DD News Director General SM Khan.
On its last day, the service collected ₹68,837 in revenue from 2,197 bookings, with many individuals visiting the few remaining telegraph centers to send their final messages. Among them were first-time users, nostalgic for the legacy of the telegram.
Introduced in 1850 for experimental use between Kolkata and Diamond Harbour, the service became public in 1854. It played a significant role during India's independence movement and evolved from Morse code to web-based telegraph mailing in its later years.
Though overtaken by SMS, emails, and mobile phones, the telegram remains a poignant symbol of an era when it served as both the bearer of good news and the harbinger of urgent or somber messages.