Page 15 - Seniors Toady - September Issue 2020
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shorthand notes getting converted into
typed drafts. Speed was of the essence and
it was so musical hearing the rat-a-tat-a-pat
hitting of the key pads and the typefaces on
to the paper and the turning and returning
of the roller line after line, interspersed
with the shifting of the keys to highlight
words/sentences in red. Given her speed,
making changes to the draft and finalising
it, though tedious, was fairly manageable.
The stacking of papers, inserting them into A high typewriting speed on one of these magnificent
machines was a virtue for a new recruit
the roller interspersed with the carbon paper
for copies (without smudging your fingers), in it. A high typewriting speed was seen as
changing of the Kores (does anybody a virtue in a prospective recruit. I used to
remember the famous name of yore, it has practice in office with one finger initially
still managed to survive by reinventing (and in the bargain getting smirked at as
itself) ribbon spool which used to come in a ‘ekbote’ or ‘one fingered’) but eventually
cute square plastic case, the cleaning of the became a proficient typist good enough for
typefaces, the roller and everything else in a job and gloating on being the fastest typist
the typewriter monthly were all efficiency in the draw. WFH was nothing new, we used
metrics in those days, which technology of to work at home on Sundays too, ably aided
today has made it a breeze with a simple by a compact version of the Underwood
scan or digital version. The electronic typewriter.
typewriters (like Godrej, IBM, etc.) were
an improvement for a brief spell before Hello, hello?
the advent of computers in the mid 1980s. Getting a phone connection in those days
Learning typing in those days was seen as was a minor victory and getting a preferred
a sign of efficiency and self dependency. colour other than the black one was a major
I, and so did all my siblings, used to go to victory, coming as it did after years of wait.
typewriting classes and became proficient Rotary dial phones are rare to come by these
days and are cherished as antiques. We had a
black one initially and getting more colours
was like a mini opening of the economy!
The charm of dialling and the sound of the
whirring rotary dial while looking at the
number in the phone book or directory
(running into hundreds of pages with
alphabetically placed names and hundreds
of yellow pages selling everything from pen
to panacea - was the most referred tome at
homes and offices) was an event itself with
The precious landline telephone was even more hal- more than one person milling around the
lowed if the instrument came in colours other than the
standard black dialler to speak to the dialled. All that has
SENIORS TODAY | ISSUE #15 | SEPTEMBER 2020 15
