TYPEWRITER


If you happen to pass through The Gujarat University in Ahmedabad, you cannot miss the sight of an old, rickety table, loaded with books.

One evening, when I was on my way home from office, I came across this banner which read 'Patel Typewriting'. As I was on my two-wheeler, I slowed down a bit and on a closer look, I found a sexagenarian hidden behind the tall towers of books, sitting with a black machine. “Looks familiar,” I thought. Ah! It's a typewriter (I saw it nearly after a decade). And immediately my mind slipped into flashback.

Going down the memory lane, to my 10th grade, TYPE was considered an easy and scoring subsidiary subject. Naturally, I chose an the easier one for me – Type.

Then was the time when 'Type Classes' raked in moolah by taking up space in every nook and corner of the city. I could hear the 'thak thak' of the type bars, the moment I parked my vehicle in the parking area of Vijay Typewriting Institute, where I went for my coaching. The chaotic cacophony of typing would nearly pierce the otherwise silent afternoons. The class had around 30 typewriters, which were occupied most of the time. Filling the ink, oiling the machine, teaching to manage the typing speed, using the correct fingers on the correct bars, Vijaysir used to take care of it all. Knowingly or unknowingly, I develop a liking for Type and it became my favourite subject. Soon the board exams approached and I appeared for it......... Results were announced; 87%. Whoa! Not bad. Soon I moved ahead to another grade and the 'easy subject' was forgotten quite easily.

Recently, I was happy to see this 'thak thak machine' once again, which is now lost in the oblivion. The cacophony of typewriters has become silent. Sophisticated cousin – computer has replaced the inky machine in every way; be it as a subsidiary subject or on the professional front. Thanks to the coaching which, I took nearly 10 years ago, which has helped me to type faster and so, I am able to type this write-up.

This typist on the University Road has made typing his bread and butter. I wonder, in this high-tech, modern era of computers, who would depend on this age old machine? The day is not far when typewriter too will become an antique and find a suitable corner in an Antique Museum.
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