Who is calling?

Tring-tring....tring-tring....!

Discovery consists of looking at the same thing as everyone else and thinking something different.

-Albert Szent Gyorgi

Alexander Graham Bell worked for years on the telegraph to improve its function and introduce the novelty of human voice to it. History sings praise of Bell as the inventor of the telephone. Had he not worked to bring about the changes, history of communication through telephone would have run a different course. 

Bell is also credited to have made the first telephone call. It was a call that brought about a revolution in the way humans would reach out to other humans. It was a call from Mr. Bell to Mr. Watson, his assistant. The words that were spoken were

 "Mr. Watson - Come here - I want to see you,"

When Bell was working on the telephone, many people considered that it was not necessary. They thought that telegraph served the purpose of sending messages well and another equipment was not needed. But Bell overcame all discouragement and continued his work. It is said that after his invention gained public recognition, Bell had to face several patent lawsuits. Nevertheless, history regards Bell as the inventor of the telephone. He is truly a hero who left behind a legacy that immortalized him is the history of mankind.

It is hard to imagine a life without phone these days. Connecting to our friends happens through internet too now, no doubt. But a phone is a phone. How often do we check if there is a missed call on our phone? How many calls do we make each day, to talk to our friends and loved ones, to hear their voices and have a heart-to-heart conversation. It would be apt to quote that 

If we discovered that we only had five minutes left to say all that we wanted to say, every telephone booth would be occupied by people calling other people to stammer that they loved them.

Christopher Morley

There was a time when people wrote letters to each other. Internet and telephone changed it all. The era of hand-written letters is gone. But it still holds its charm. When I was little, my grandpa used to exchange letters with his friends. I can still feel the eagerness that I used to have waiting for the postman to deliver the replies. I would rush to my grandpa with the letter in hand. Sometimes, grandpa would make me write too and uncle (my grandpa's friend) would reply with the letter addressed to me. My heart would flutter with delight if I received a letter in my name! And though it is all history now, it still titillates the senses if you get a letter by mail. The appeal remains.

So is it with the human voice. No matter how much we message each other, ping each other, update our status to let others know what we are up to, a call is a call and a voice is worth a thousand messages. We still want to hear each other out. We still make calls and are happy to receive some from our loved ones. Don't you think so?

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.

Wow Badge for the prompt 'Hero, Missed Call, Discovery'