Imp Pre-script : long long ago before the invention of Mobile
phones (GenX may think it as stone age) – there was an ubiquitous equipment
which provided employment opportunities to lakhs of people .. .. the subject
matter of this post is – ‘a portable equipment’ and about its famous Owner from
Triplciane.
Pangram : "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog". ** asdfgf ;lkjhj ** - asdfgf with left hand fingers and ;lkjhj with right hand fingers is what all of us typed on day 1 at a Typewriting Institutes. Most of us loved the Typewriting Institutes, for some, it was more memorable aslove developed at those lovely places; there for sure were some heart-broken stories too.
“asdfgf ;lkjhj” – – keys are primarily the middle row of the typewriter and typing this initiated the acclimatisation with the keyboard. Later day mobiles too had keyboards (QWERTY) in this pattern, enabling typists to type their messages faster. Every keyboard typically has characters engraved or printed on the keys and each press of a key typically corresponds to a single written symbol. However, to produce some symbols requires pressing and holding several keys simultaneously or in sequence. While most keyboard keys produce letters, numbers or signs (characters), other keys or simultaneous key presses can produce actions or execute computer commands.
In
those days - 3 to 4 decades ago -
Godrej, Facit, Remington and Underwood were household names and Tripicane streets were dotted with Srinivasa,
Padmavathi, Sarathi, Shivish Halda, Ganesh ………… and more …. .. ..the learning
courses were usually of an hour’s
duration… the last 10 minutes, if you
were to enter the hall, you might be frightened with the typical sound –
keyboards pressed hard not at random, cylinders moving, occasional paper
change… people with total concentration seeing printed matter placed on their
side and deftly moving their fingers.
The typewriters were the backbone of every office; you could have seen typists sitting in front of Courts; Registrar offices ~ and all important places where documents were the key…. From marriage certificates – to divorces; property registration and every other service were documented neatly…. mostly without mistakes by lowly paid people. I learnt Typewriting at ‘Srinivasa Institue’ ~ 27 Car Street, Triplicane, Chennai 600005 and later honed my ‘Shorthand skills’ also there.
This great invention Typewriter rose to become one of the most indispensable tools of documentation and paved way for employment opportunities and for many other ancillary industries as – typewriter ribbon manufacturing; carbon papers for taking more copies, typewriter mechanics, cleaners etc., ‘good things too come to an end’…. over the era when computers became popular … what was the backbone of all offices slowly started losing its sheen and significance in the late 1980s and were replaced with electronic typewriters, word processors and then computers …
At
Institute, I loved Halda machine – this portable equipment – I saw this
portable Remington typewriter
(beautifully maintained one) at Sathyananda Yoga Centre and with the permission
of Shri Jayagopal ji (Shivrishi) photographed and posted this on FB 4 years ago
!! .. .. at that time, I also posted a
message that sooner I would make a post
(and promptly forgot !!)
Not many had Portable Typewriters at home – it was costly those
days, only those with need for documentation, skill of a Typist and flair for
communication had one at home. The one
pictured here belonged to Shri NKT Muthu, a very well known personality of
Triplicane, famous as Vizha Venthan Muthu, and a philanthropist.
In my younger days- when Vasantha Bungalow was a sprawling garden, and there existed a Petrol bunk at Besant road – Suresh furnitures was active and famous. Now in that place stands a Hall – Sathyananda Yoga Centre, imparting Yoga and also used as hall for many functions. The yoga Centre is doing great work under the impressive leadership of Sannyasi Shiva Rishi formerly known as NKT.M.Jeyagopal (sure need to post one on this gem of Triplicane too!)
In a tete-a-tete – Shivarishi was to say that it belonged to his
father (Shri NKT Muthu) who started typing when he was 14. He retired as a Senior Typist from Personnel
Dept, Southern Railway. As early in his
school days, he used to type out school notes and distribute to fellow students
at 5 paise, starting his entrepreneurship; later as a patron of Arts, he would
type out the Advertisement contents with this typewriter.
Sri NKT Muthu was a disciplined veteran. He started the Thiruvateeswarar Sabha in 1952. He visited houses for membership canvassing and subscriptions every morning. He was a regular contributor for Vaana Kuyil, a hand written magazine. He was actively involved in the 'Thamizharasu Kazhagam' and became a close friend of many politicians including Maposi, late CMs - M. Karunanidhi and MGR.
Old
timers remember NKTM for organising a mammoth rally from Thiruvateeswarar
temple to the beach prior to the release of Veerapandia Kattabomman to overcome
some of the film's earlier adverse publicity. He also organised functions to
honour veteran film and other artists like M.K. Radha, G. Ramanathan and dance
teacher Vazhavoor Ramaiya Pillai. N.K. Thirumalachari
of NKT School made NKTM the cultural wing advisor and allotted a separate room
for him on the school premises.
Vizha Venthan Shri
NKT Muthu and Smt. Sulochana Muthu
NKTM was the first to introduce hero cut-out concept publicity format for dramas by erecting R.S. Manohar's mythology title role cut-outs all over Triplicane, illuminating it with serial sets. He was the first person to conduct drama festivals. NKTM formed the drama troupe, Durga Dramatic Association, along with his school classmate and veteran dramatist Kudandhaie Maali. Their first play was "Thanthai Yen Deivam" in which they introduced dramatist K.S. Nagarajan as the first time director. They went on to stage other milestone plays like "Kadavul Yengey?" and "Kurunji Malar".
NKTM himself used to act only in the role of the aged father. It was only because of NKTM's meticulous planning and publicity strategy that NKT hall was always full of thousands of people for every show conducted by him. In his later years, NKTM conducted Carnatic music kutcheries at his "NKT Muthu Hall" at Triplicane – his son Shivarishi is now continuing and doing many philanthropic activities in remembrance of his beloved father.
Shri NKT Muthu well known for his organizing skills is remembered
for his philanthropy – he had patronized and donated for many Organisations
including SYMA and Brahmins’ Association, many a times.
Me
with Shivarishi & TA Sampathkumar – taken in 2021
Closing on the equipment – in every Office, those good Typists were premium and respected. Only some could churn out error-free documents – neatly made on a typewriter ; remember typewriter has no correcting mechanism and a mistake made would remain to be seen by all….. yet there were quality typists who could type big statements- multi-pages, which would then be pasted together … quite an achievement indeed.
Though I have known Remington to be a typewriter, founded in 1816, Remington is "one of America's oldest and largest manufacturers of firearms," and went to insolvency few years ago ! In the mid 1970s while India was producing four brands of Desktop Typewriters, Remington produced this portable Typewriter - Remington Travel-Riter - in their new plant at Faridabad, in Haryana. For many years it remained the only portable Typewriter manufactured in India. This unique history makes this Typewriter an extremely rare collectible.
Regards – S Sampathkumar
6.11.2025
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