Reminiscing the typewriter days
Remington typewriter |
At least a typist
job
Most
parents in the middle class homes (mine included) of India always encouraged
their children to go and learn typing at a local type institute so that they
could find a job at least as a typist in some private firm or a government
organization because the job of a typist is secure, they felt. I never went to
learn typing because I never wanted to become a typist. But the laptops and
mobiles have made everyone, whether a CEO or a clerk, a typist. There used to
be several type institutes in almost every locality of a town/city where typing
was taught. At the end of the course and a typing exam, the learner would have
passed either a lower or a higher grade. Typing is viewed as one of the major
qualifications and those who typed a certain number of words in a minute (of
course with least mistakes) or treated as winners and were also preferred while
selecting for a typist job. The parents used to encourage learning of typing
during summer and other holidays so that their wards didn't waste time.
Type Institutes as
Love Junctions
The
type institutes were also a place where love between the opposite sexes
bloomed. Some teenagers went to those institutes just for the sake of the
girl/boy to whom he/she desired to ‘submit’ his/her ‘love application’. They
preferred the same hour as that of the one whom they were attracted to and to sit
on the adjacent machine while learning to type. The typing classes were
attended as long as the ‘friend’ too attended the class. Some of the college
going students who used to bunk the regular college never missed to attend the
typing classes regularly just to have a glimpse of their ‘love’. I know of some
whose love started at the type institute and locked them for life through
marriage. I am sure each one my readers too may be in the know of some such
stories.
Dance of the fingers
- Music to the ears
Seeing
some people type on a typewriter was a treat to the eyes as their fingers kept
dancing on the keys. The sounds that the machine made while setting the paper
to type, at the time of typing on the keys and while moving to the next line were
all music to the years. I am sure some great music maestros of yesteryear's would have learnt a bit or two by listening to those sounds. The song ‘Typewriter Tip Tip Tip kartah hai,
Jindagi ki har kahani liktah hai…” sung by Kishore Kumar and Asha Bhonsle in
the movie ‘Bombay Talkie’ for which music was composed by Shankar Jaikishan is
proof enough for this. It was equal fun for both the typist and the one
hearing/seeing the type machine in action.
Cornered but alive
Just
as all good things must come to an end; the type machine too has become
outdated in this electronic age having been comfortably replaced by electronic typewriters
and later on by the computers. But the impact and influence it made on human
advancement is invaluable and will remain etched forever in the history of
print. The fact that it is still being used in courts to record statements of witnesses and in
some organizations is testimony to its user-friendliness. The QWERTY keyboard
model borrowed from the typewriter will continue to be irreplaceable in the
years to come.
Some
inventions changed the way we communicated, recorded and progressed and typewriter invention definitely ranks among the top ten.
Thank
you Sholes for doing your bit.
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