Altaf Qadri/AP
An employee reads a telegram message at the Central Telegraph Office in New Delhi, India, July 13, 2013.
Just 30 years ago the telegram was king in India, but the service has lost $250 million in just the last seven years as national cellphone subscriptions hit 867 million in April, more than double the number of just four years ago.
On Monday, the state-run telecommunications company will send its final telegram, closing the 163-year-old service that fast became a relic in an age of email, reliable landlines and ubiquitous cellphones.
Rafiq Maqbool/AP
Indians line up to send telegrams on the last day of the 163-year-old service at the central telegraph office in Mumbai, July 14, 2013.
Rafiq Maqbool/AP
An Indian woman shows her message as she prepares to send a telegram on the last day at the central telegraph office in Mumbai, July 14, 2013.
Rafiq Maqbool/AP
An employee processes a telegram on the last day of the 163-year-old service at the central telegraph office in Mumbai, July 14, 2013.
Rafiq Maqbool/AP
An employee checks a file inside the records room of the Central Telegraph Office in Mumbai, July 15, 2013.
India's last telegram went out late Sunday, marking the end of a service that millions of Indians had relied on for fast communication for more than 160 years.
Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP
Shubha Singh prepares to send a telegram on the last day of the 163-year-old service in Allahabad, July 14, 2013.
Rafiq Maqbool/AP
The dispatch section of the telegram office at the Central Telegraph Office appears deserted in Mumbai, July 15, 2013.
Rafiq Maqbool/AP
A man offers a banana to a cow outside the Central Telegraph Office in Mumbai, July 15, 2013.
Rafiq Maqbool/AP
Indian man Mahinder, who says he has worked as a telegram agent for 60 years, wipes his tears on the last day of the 163-year-old telegram service at the central telegraph office in Mumbai, July 14, 2013.
Rafiq Maqbool/AP
Indian telegraph employees process telegrams on the last day of the 163-year-old service at the central telegraph office in Mumbai, July 14, 2013.
AP
Indians line up to send telegrams on the last day of the 163-year-old service at a telegraph office in New Delhi, July 14, 2013.
Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP
Indian telegraph employees greet each other on the last day of the 163-year-old telegram service, in Allahabad, July 14, 2013.
Rafiq Maqbool/AP
Indians send telegrams on the last day of the 163-year-old service at the central telegraph office in Mumbai, July 14, 2013.
Rafiq Maqbool/AP
An employee walks inside the records room of the Central Telegraph Office in Mumbai, July 15, 2013.
