When words were duly counted

BEFORE communication became instant and incessant, it worked within limits. Telegrams, trunk calls and public call offices (PCOs) shaped not only how people stayed in touch, but also how they chose their words.

In the decades after Independence, urgent messages travelled by telegram. Telegraph offices were quiet and orderly places. People queued up with handwritten forms, aware that every additional word increased the cost. Messages were drafted with care. Brevity was not a stylistic preference. It was a practical requirement.

In order to standardise usage and billing, the Posts and Telegraphs Department introduced approved greeting phrases, each with a code number. These were used across the country and became familiar to regular users. On national occasions, telegrams often carried messages such as “Kind Remembrances and All Good Wishes for Independence Day” or “Sincere Greetings for Republic Day. Long Live the Republic.” The language was formal, fixed and sufficient.

General greetings formed the bulk of telegram traffic. Messages such as “A Happy New Year to You,” “Many Happy Returns of the Day,” “Loving Greetings” and “Congratulations” were widely used. They conveyed sentiment without elaboration and helped senders remain within the strict word limit.

Once sent, a telegram could not be revised. That finality encouraged forethought. Messages were few, but they were deliberate. Long-distance voice communication required similar discipline. Trunk calls had to be booked through exchanges and often involved long waits. When the call finally came through, conversations were brief and focused. Time was at a premium, and speakers adjusted accordingly.

A telephone at home was once a privilege. Connections were obtained after years on waiting lists. A ringing phone demanded immediate attention and interrupted whatever was underway.

During the 1980s and 1990s, PCOs became common at bus stands, markets and hospitals. Calls were charged by the minute. The ticking meter shaped conversations as effectively as the word limit once had.

Fax machines and pagers expanded reach but retained boundaries. Communication remained purposeful and planned. Mobile phones and the Internet removed most constraints. Telegrams disappeared. PCOs closed. Waiting ceased to be part of communication. Messages became quick, frequent and abundant.

Previous systems imposed curbs that encouraged planning, clarity and restraint. Today, communication is easier and faster, but often cursory. The difference is not merely technological. It reflects a change in how words themselves are weighed before they are sent.