India sends its last telegram

Chief Superintendent of Central Telegraph Office (CTO) Kolkata, Subrata Kumar Das shows a part of the old Telegraph machine at the Central Telegraph Office in Kolkata on July 14, 2013.  After 162 years of connecting people, India is now set to disband the world's last major telegram service and its legions of cycle-borne delivery workers - July 14 is the last day that messages will be accepted by the service, the world's last major commercial telegram operation. (AFP)

An Indian customer fills in a telegraph form at the Central Telegraph Office in Kolkata on July 14, 2013.  After 162 years of connecting people, India is now set to disband the world's last major telegram service and its legions of cycle-borne delivery workers - July 14 is the last day that messages will be accepted by the service, the world's last major commercial telegram operation. (AFP)

Maya Shah, fills up an Indian telegram form to send her maiden telegram to grandparents in Mumbai on July 14, 2013. Thousands of Indians crammed into telegram offices to send souvenir messages to friends and family in a last-minute rush before the service shuts down. July 14, 2013, is the last day that messages will be accepted by the 162-year-old service, the last major commercial telegram operation. In the days before mobile phones and the Internet, the telegram network was the main form of long-distance communication, with 20 million messages dispatched from India during the subcontinent's bloody partition in 1947. (AFP)

An Indian employee inspects a telegram at a counter in Mumbai on July 14, 2013. Thousands of Indians crammed into telegram offices to send souvenir messages to friends and family in a last-minute rush before the service shuts down. July 14, 2013, is the last day that messages will be accepted by the 162-year-old service, the last major commercial telegram operation. In the days before mobile phones and the Internet, the telegram network was the main form of long-distance communication, with 20 million messages dispatched from India during the subcontinent's bloody partition in 1947. (AFP)

In this picture taken on July 12, 2013, an Indian employee holds a British period 'Date Stand'  which is still in use at the Targhar civil lines telegraph office in Allahabad. Thousands of Indians crammed into telegram offices to send souvenir messages to friends and family in a last-minute rush before the service shuts down. July 14, 2013, is the last day that messages will be accepted by the 162-year-old service, the last major commercial telegram operation. In the days before mobile phones and the Internet, the telegram network was the main form of long-distance communication, with 20 million messages dispatched from India during the subcontinent's bloody partition in 1947. (AFP)

In this photograph taken on July 13, 2013, Indian customers wait at the counter at the Central Telegraph Office in Ahmedabad.  Thousands of Indians crammed into telegram offices to send souvenir messages to friends and family in a last-minute rush before the service shuts down. July 14, 2013, is the last day that messages will be accepted by the 162-year-old service, the last major commercial telegram operation. In the days before mobile phones and the Internet, the telegram network was the main form of long-distance communication, with 20 million messages dispatched from India during the subcontinent's bloody partition in 1947. (AFP)

In this photograph taken on July 10, 2013, an Indian employee demonstrates the now defunct "Duborn Sounder" telegram machine at the Central Telegraph Office in Mumbai. Thousands of Indians crammed into telegram offices to send souvenir messages to friends and family in a last-minute rush before the service shuts down. July 14, 2013, is the last day that messages will be accepted by the 162-year-old service, the last major commercial telegram operation. In the days before mobile phones and the Internet, the telegram network was the main form of long-distance communication, with 20 million messages dispatched from India during the subcontinent's bloody partition in 1947. (AFP)

In this photograph taken on July 10, 2013, Indian Central Telegraph Office (CTO) and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) Senior Telegraph Operator, Veena Sahota (L), is watched as she types telegrams at The Central Telegraph Office in Amritsar.  Thousands of Indians crammed into telegram offices to send souvenir messages to friends and family in a last-minute rush before the service shuts down. July 14, 2013, is the last day that messages will be accepted by the 162-year-old service, the last major commercial telegram operation. In the days before mobile phones and the Internet, the telegram network was the main form of long-distance communication, with 20 million messages dispatched from India during the subcontinent's bloody partition in 1947. (AFP)

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