Employees at the closed Central Telegraph Office in Patna. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

Typing a message of death has hardly ever brought tears in his eyes but Monday morning was different for H.N. Prasad.

Prasad has seen it all. Even keying in messages of love, marriage, birth, death and others for over three decades could not leave Prasad a tired man. He was crestfallen on Monday. “The government could have easily saved the telegram service,” said the veteran, who joined the telegraph office in 1982. Prasad — like his 13 other colleagues at the Central Telegraph Office (CTO) — was upset that he could not turn the telegram’s fate.

Till 10 on Sunday night, enthusiasts, including youngsters and first-timers, were seen joining a serpentine queue at booking counters of the telegraph office sending last message to their near and dear ones, and even to the Prime Minister. A message from Satyendra Mishra to the Prime Minister read: “Respected Prime Minister ji, please don’t close the telegram service which has been continuing for more than 163 years.”

Once the death knell was rung in the age of instant messaging services, it was difficult to put telegram back to life. Dhruv Prasad — quite conversant with cellphones — wrote to his son in Allahabad: “This is the first and last message I am sending you through telegram service, how are you?” Dhruv won’t get a reply, on telegram, as Sunday was the last day to book one.

The CTO received 178 bookings on the last day and eight messages were sent to far-flung places where direct telegram service still eludes people. Chandrashekar, a senior officer at the CTO, said: “We received the eight messages on Sunday night.”

As the officials prepare themselves for shifting to other departments of the BSNL, an elderly man suddenly trudged in to say a final goodbye to his friends, and the telegram service. “It was a tearful goodbye,” said S.N. Prasad, who retired in January after 40 years in service at the CTO.