People in India used to wait at yellow STD booths.Before mobile phones
In the 1990s, the most memorable part of making a phone call was often not the conversation itself, but the wait before hearing someone's voice on the other end.
Just imagine, there is a small shop on your street that has a bright yellow board that immediately catches your attention – three words are written on it: STD, ISD and PCO. Once inside you will see a simple phone, a chair and a meter that is constantly running and keeping track of how long you are talking. But the most interesting thing happens outside the shop – there are many people waiting patiently for their turn so that they can talk to their loved ones who live far away, who may be in another country. It was a kind of 'connection hub', where people could connect with their close ones, even if they were physically away from them.
For many people in India, it was a normal part of everyday life before the advent of mobile phones. Because of these small phone booths, even those people could call who could not get a phone installed at home or who did not have a phone. This was very helpful for many Indians who needed to make phone calls but had no means of doing so from their home.
When having a telephone at home used to be a luxury.
In earlier times, very few Indian homes had phones. Getting a landline connection was a big deal and often took a lot of time. For many families, making long distance calls was too expensive. At that time phones were not as common as they are today; This was a facility that not everyone could afford. But things have changed a lot since then, and now almost everyone has a phone in their pocket.
If someone moved to another city for work, studies or business, staying in touch with family was not as easy as sending a WhatsApp message like it is today. People often relied on letters, and talking on the telephone was considered a special and important event.
This experience changed completely with the advent of public telephone facilities. There was no longer a need to have a phone at home; People could simply go to a nearby shop and pay money and make a call.
What did STD, ISD and PCO mean?
These three words (acronyms) written on those yellow boards outside the shops had different meanings:
- STD: Subscriber Trunk Dialing, used to make long distance calls within India.
- ISD: International Subscriber Dialing, used to call other countries.
- PCO: Public Call Office—a place where people could pay to use the telephone.
These features made it really easy for people to talk to each other. Even a small neighborhood shop could connect people living far away—hundreds or thousands of miles apart.
Why did people wait till 10 pm to make calls?
One of the most striking memories of the STD booth era is the late-night rush.
People used to make long distance calls at night because it was cheaper. They used to wait to call after 10 pm, so that they could save some money. This meant that phone booths were always full late into the night, with people checking in on their family and friends at low cost. It was a way for them to stay in touch with each other without burning a hole in their pockets.
Imagine, you are standing in line, waiting for your turn, while the person ahead of you is trying to finish his or her conversation. When it's finally your turn and you go in, you have to keep a close eye on the meter—the longer you talk, the more money you'll have to pay.
A lot of emotions could have been contained in a five-minute conversation. Parents used to inquire about the well-being of their children studying away from home; People working in other cities called their families; And after being separated for a long time, friends used to connect with each other again.
While on the one hand the telephone meter was running continuously and increasing the expenses, on the other hand, for the person waiting to hear a familiar voice, every second had its own and deep significance. How yellow STD booths became a part of Indian life
By the late 1980s and early 1990s, yellow STD booths became common in cities, towns and local markets across India.
Because of this people were able to start small businesses. For example, retailers could make money by letting people use their phones. This was very helpful for those who did not have their own phone at home. The government wanted to make sure everyone had access to a phone, so they continually installed more public phones. According to the Ministry of Communications, they installed approximately 773,000 public phone booths during certain years. This was a big deal and helped a lot of people.
These booths weren't just a place to make phone calls they became local meeting places, where people discussed the latest news, waited their turn, and sometimes even asked the shopkeeper to pass a message on to someone else. People often spent time there, chatting with shopkeepers and others waiting; In this way these booths became a familiar part of the neighborhood environment.
How mobile phones changed everything
The arrival and gradual spread of mobile phones changed the role of STD booths.
People no longer needed to walk to a shop every time they wanted to speak to someone. As mobile phones became more affordable and calling services improved, the need to pay separately for each public telephone call declined.
A report published by The Indian Express in 2011 described how falling mobile phone prices affected the business of an STD booth-owning family in Pune. A business that had once attracted queues was struggling to survive.
Slowly, many familiar yellow signs disappeared. Some shops closed their booths, while others shifted to photocopying, mobile recharges and other services.
Technology had made communication easier, but it also changed the lives of the people who had built small businesses around older ways of connecting.
A Small Booth That Holds Big Memories
Today, making a phone call takes only a few seconds. We can speak face-to-face through video calls, send photographs instantly and contact people across the world from our pockets.
But before all this became normal, a yellow STD booth could be the closest thing to a lifeline for someone far from home.
Its story reminds us that technological progress is not only about new devices. It is also about the places, habits and people that disappear as life changes.
For those who remember waiting outside an STD booth, the yellow sign may bring back a time when a simple telephone call was something worth waiting for.
