Journalism of Courage
The vanishing STD booths have left many families like the Bhopales of Kasba Peth in search for better employment avenues
On the annual income column of every application I always wrote Rs 60,000. But few days back when I went for a dental check up with my mother,she stopped me when I wrote the same. It struck me then, says Pradnya Bhopale the owner of one of the fast disappearing Subscriber Trunk Dialing booths,popularly known as the STD booths.
The yellow phone kiosks were omnipresent in India in the late 80s and the whole of 90s. However,it is breathing it’s last now before the government completely erases them, opines 62-year-old Anant Bhopale.
The Bhopale couple,Anant and Meena,worked at an STD booth in Shivajinagar. Inspired by the flowing profits the couple decided to open one such kiosk in the city in 1994. The location Model Colony,was centrally chosen due to the presence of foreigners and students. Beside their little chirpy counter was Mandi House,the house of Aundh’s Raja. It was always loud and vibrant with young and old alike in those days, says Meena Bhopale. Actors like Amol Palekar and Lalan Sarang would come to make phone calls. Palekar frequented the booth at least twice a day when he came to Pune for work. He always greeted us, Bhopale fondly reckons. She now makes sweets and savories on a small scale on occasions to make ends meet.
Their business flourished till 2005. With the reduction in the prices of the mobile phones the venture started running in losses and is on the verge of sinking now. Five years back we had queues of ten or more people waiting every night for calls. People asked us to leave the booth open till the wee hours of the night and before dawn,due to half rates. But now,we hardly have five people coming in two days, laments Anant Bhopale. Half rates which were applicable every day after 10 pm were made applicable only on August 15 and January 26. Later,the rates reduced overall and there was no question of paying half the amount for a call. To deal with this situation they installed four telephones with coin box,which are now stacked up in the lofts and one is a toy for Aarya,Bhopale’s grandson.
The Bhopales closed down one kiosk in early 2007 after trying to install a xerox machine,sell toffees,envelopes and shampoos. But nothing worked Before we closed the booth we had to pay Rs 200 for calls made worth Rs 18. We do not survive on STD booths anymore, feels Pradnya who has been working part time to finance her post graduation in Gender Studies.
STD booths were considered to be used for emergency services and the thus Bhopales acquired license to build one such emergency resource.But people do not need them now. Young boys come and break the glasses at night. Eight years back it was the same place which we left open till midnight due to callers demand! says Pradnya.
