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In praise of … the tar babu In praise of … the tar babu
(2 months later)
There was a time when 58-year-old Baljit Singh was one of the busiest employees at Delhi's Kashmere Gate telegraph office, a double-storey Raj-era building with high ceilings.There was a time when 58-year-old Baljit Singh was one of the busiest employees at Delhi's Kashmere Gate telegraph office, a double-storey Raj-era building with high ceilings.
The broad-shouldered Mr Singh was a much-in-demand "tar babu", a man in charge of the telegram desk. "The workload was tremendous. I would often spend nights here," he says.The broad-shouldered Mr Singh was a much-in-demand "tar babu", a man in charge of the telegram desk. "The workload was tremendous. I would often spend nights here," he says.
Of all the millions of messages he transmitted, he remembers one particularly vividly: it conveyed the news of the death of a newly married young woman.Of all the millions of messages he transmitted, he remembers one particularly vividly: it conveyed the news of the death of a newly married young woman.
But times have changed and the telegraph age is all but gone. Today only 5,000 telegrams are sent daily in all of India, a precipitate fall from the 60m that were sent in 1985, and even the Delhi office has been sending only a handful of telegrams.But times have changed and the telegraph age is all but gone. Today only 5,000 telegrams are sent daily in all of India, a precipitate fall from the 60m that were sent in 1985, and even the Delhi office has been sending only a handful of telegrams.
The 163-year-old service will stop in India on Monday and for tar babus the future is uncertain.The 163-year-old service will stop in India on Monday and for tar babus the future is uncertain.
"We have not been fired," says Singh. "We have become obsolete.""We have not been fired," says Singh. "We have become obsolete."
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