Journalism of Courage
Despite typewriters becoming obsolete,typing institutes continue to survive in the city
Located in the interiors of the local market at the Range Hills Estate,the Vijaya Type Writing Institute is a no frills,back to basics,affair. The Godrej and Remington typewriters placed in neat rows have a set of students rapidly typing out a given article on paper. As compared to a comparatively less noisy keyboard of a computer,the hard clicks and clacks of the typewriters are almost rhythmic. In his 50s,Om Prakash Sharma has been running the institute for almost 25 years now. People need to learn to use the typewriter if they want to increase their words per minute count. It is a reason why typists are much better at using computers. There is less margin for error. A letter once printed,cannot be deleted. It makes the person more precise in his or her output, he says.
Typing institutes are still concentrated in places like Khadki and Dapodi. Most of these institutes have a typing exam that the student needs to clear if he or she is applying for a government job. However most students come to learn typing not for having it on their resume but to ensure that they become prolific typists on the computers. The Guru Krupa Typing Institute located in Aundh Road is another such place that has stood the test of time. Run by Ranjit Ahuja,the 42-year-old place,can house 15 students at a time. He adds that he gets around 40 students a month and that the cost of maintaining the typewriters amounts to only Rs 1000 per month.
Dilbar,interestingly,also makes another point about the layout of the typewriters. The sloping design is such that it suits the movement of the fingers on the keyboard and it doesn’t do them harm in the long run. Computers and laptops have flat keyboards which is not ergonomic in nature. Sometimes it is okay to go to the basics to become very good at some things, she says.
