Video Editor: Prashant Chauhan
Cameraperson: Athar Rather and Abhay Sharma
Camera Assistant: Mayank Chawla
Producer: Harshita Murarka
The twisted, cramped bylanes of Old Delhi lead me to Universal Typewriter Company – home to over hundred typewriters, some even a century old.
As I enter, I see the owner Rajesh Palta embroiled in a tedious yet intense negotiation over the price of a few typewriters with a man who has come all the way from Kashmir to buy the seemingly extinct analogue. He runs a typing institute in the conflict-laden valley.
“Not just Kashmir, I even have customers in Kanyakumari as well”, says Palta sensing my astonishment. The fabulous collection that his shop houses stands testimony to his claim.
A third generation typewriter trader, Rajesh Palta has now taken to collecting rare typewriters for a museum he intends to set up soon. “It will be the first typewriter museum in India,” he says, pride and enthusiasm palpable in his voice.
On being asked his inspiration behind the endeavour, he narrates an interesting anecdote:
Since then, Palta stopped shunning these machines and instead gets them repaired regularly to be displayed in his soon-to-be-set museum on Asaf Ali Road. He doesn’t even offer the single pieces in his collection for sale, only parting with the typewriters of which he has more than one quantity.
To satiate my curiosity, he arranges a dekko of some very special models of typewriters – Remington Lifting model, Olivetti Valentine, German Triumph model, Japanese Remington, Royal Arrow, Hermes, Olympia – sitting neatly on old, rusty shelves.
Talking about the shelf-life of typewriters, Palta says, “A machine which is 30-40 years old is young for us”. A typewriter which is 70 years old or more is considered a classic. “Around 100 such classic machines embellish my collection”, says Palta with a gleam in his eyes.
This speaks volumes about the durability of typewriters.
That is perhaps why typewriters have survived so long. The last typewriter manufacturers, Godrej & Boyce, shut shop in 2009 and since then only second hand refurbished models are in circulation, adds Palta.
The old models which are available today range between Rs 4,000 for a basic model which is 40 years or younger to even Rs 1 lac and more for the rare antique typewriters.
“We still have the pavement typists to the elite creative young generation,” says Palta when asked about his customer base. But why are millennials trading their swanky laptops for rickety typewriters?
“Digital detox is one of the key reasons why young people are turning towards typewriters because when you work on a typewriter there is no distraction,” says Palta on the resurgence of interest in typewriters among youngsters.
Then there are the pavement typists, typing institute owners and students, courts and few firms which are defiantly holding on to the typewriters. If it is the lack of options that keeps the roadside typists going, the lure for a government job draws many youngsters to typing institutes.
For some places, however, typewriters are a matter of convenience. They are easy to use, economical and work even without electricity. “Not just this, typewriters are great at maintaining secrecy,” says Palta.
Revealing his trade secret Palta says many a times he acquires non-functional vintage machines which are discarded as junk by their owners. He buys them for a few hundred rupees, repairs them and brings them to full functionality. Thus, a new gem is added to his collection.
Sometimes though he gets the most unusual machines from the most unusual quarters. Reminiscing about one such incident he says, “A lady once gave me a rare model of typewriter along with an image of her father. The typewriter belonged to her father and she wanted me to preserve it.”
Lately, a gentleman from Mumbai, upon knowing about Palta’s plans of setting up a museum, expressed his desire to gift his Hermes typewriter to him for display.
While Palta’s enthusiasm about typewriters is infectious, a cursory glance at his shop will tell you he hasn’t forgotten to diversify his business for survival. On being nudged, he says, “I am in this business not because it makes business sense but because it is my passion.”
“Realistically speaking, I don’t think typewriters can make a comeback in full swing,” he shrugs adding, “Computers have just too much to offer.”
But is that all? Or there is more?
It’s not just the efficiency of computers that has superseded typewriters. Repairing typewriters is an expensive affair. Weighing the commercial viability of typewriters, Palta says:
Because of the high costs involved, a lot of spare part manufacturers are also shutting shop making it even more difficult for the typewriter. Even Palta who once had a big team of technicians now works with only two typewriter technicians.
Palta’s sentimentality for typewriters runs deep. When his family fled Pakistan for India during the 1947 partition, they carried with them their most prized possession – four typewriters.
He is still holding on to the nostalgia.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)