The other day while cleaning up stuff I found some old mobile phones, a cordless phone and our very own BSNL phone. It has been many years since I had a proper conversation on the BSNL phone mainly because it was not working most of the time. Mostly I would get calls from BSNL to pay the bills etc. Only one person remembered the landline from our college days, Rithu, and its amazing how she would only remember the landline and call on it. So much so that I would joke that I only kept it for her.
Last year we decided to stop using it simply because it had become unusable - inaudible with lots of noise - and I had no reason to get it repaired. So we simply stopped paying and told the company we wanted to get it disconnected. The company cut the connection and we thought that was it. Until we got a reminder some time ago about a pending bill of 1500 bucks. The department did not seem to be too bothered either and left it at that.
So when I saw the phone in my hand in the junk I decided to close this chapter nicely. It did deserve it after all for all those wonderful calls we made and received over all these years. The landline phone which was a luxury item almost with a long waiting list back in the day was a feature in our house since my father worked in the government. In Hyderabad the number was a four digit or a five digit number at first if I remember right - ending with 304 - 1304? Eventually it became 2371304. But in between it was a five digit number, then a six, then a seven.
In younger days I remember long calls with my friends Naresh and Vidyuth, mostly because we would discuss the latest music. It was crazy but we would discuss music for long hours. I remember a crucial call one selector made to my father when i stopped going to the Under 15 camp because I felt they were sidelining me unfairly and just because of that call I went back and one guy fell sick and I not only played for Hyderabad but for South Zone as well - and further more. Calls to and from girls grew much later in my college years - and they would attract a lot of attention from my mother and sisters who would hover around - unlike mobiles where we can go to some faraway nook, with landlines we are tied and have to do with their suspicious glances and weird behavior as if they were not listening. My other friends would call once in a while to check if I was home or to make plans to watch a movie or something. Then there were those precious calls I would make home when I was working and I could use the STD booths to call home late at night from Calcutta, Dhanbad, Budge Budge, Durgapur, Bombay and have a word with Mom and others at home. I remember how effectively my mother would use the telephone to send telegrams and wishes to marriages she could not attend- perfectly timed messages. I never learned that art from her. Then there were friends who would stop by to make calls but none like this doctor from my mother's family side who would come home and under the pretext of making local calls would make a bunch of STD calls! When we checked our burgeoning bills we scanned the bill, found the offensive numbers, made the connection and then mom told him off in no uncertain times about what she thought of him. I never saw him again.
We could use the phone to set an alarm and it was quite a comfortable back up. There were some other services too but I forget - I think we could send greetings. Late night calls or phones ringing at odd hours always filled one with dread about some bad news - uncles passing on and so forth. In the era of trunk calls we would all have to book a call and then the operator would connect and listen in to the call. Mostly the line would be so bad that we would all shout loudly enough for the voice to travel all the way across - a habit that continued even when long distance calls were much clearer later - people would still yell into the phone. The phones with rotary dialing system were a pain because it would take forever to go back after you dialed a number - especially a long number. So a quick call would not happen quickly if you did not gt through the first time and we had to dial it all in again.
Paying phone bills in those days were as painful as any of the tasks I was assigned with at home - ration shop, electricity bill, property tax - with long queues. We'd get late to work but had to pay and there was one time when I forgot and could not pay on time and for almost a year the unforgiving department would not let me pay in anything but cash and that too upfront. As usual the clerks would scoot off right on time for tea or lunch or whatever break and we would be fuming and fretting. It was in those days that I found that BSNL had a counter at what was called Vikram Building near the Secretariat and boy was the system there quick! I loved paying bills there because I'd hardly be in for a minute!
But overall it has been such a wonderful ride with the landlines. More when I think about it. So when I paid the bill the other day the clerk seemed surprised that I showed up and thanked him for the services. He looked at me suspiciously this time. I then gave him the instrument which I was planning to get rid of and he quickly took it - I know there must be some procedure for returning it but we just let it be. Easier.
So, my dear BSNL, thank you for all those wonderful calls and services.
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