bls31
April 20th, 2014, 10:09 PM
The other day I was at Tees Hazari Delhi in connection with some legal matter and was required to submit an application post haste.
Bereft of the support of a Computer /Printer I looked around, searching for some one free and unoccupied from those busy in the innumerable miniscule open cubical displaying Court Marriage, Affidavit and such sundry jobs on small boards, lining the narrow road with heavy traffic plying in both directions, making walking across on my wobbly legs a dangerous proposition.
I made slow haste towards one, who appeared to be free and without business, hoping to get the job completed quickly.
Next to his seat, under the same shed, a Court Marriage was being solemnised, the young couple, the bride in her finery, possibly, self made-up and dressed, as there was no one accompanying them, were setting up on a journey, with hope and love , in un chartered waters and an uncertain future : what are their aspirations and worries, forgetting my on immediate concern for a moment , I wonder.
He happens to be an old man with an even older Remington typewriter, possibly a family heirloom handed down from generation to generation, on rickety table, next to it is a stack of files, possibly containing templates of the various legal documents in demand for typing. Both are an aberration, in the company of young operators, with computer/printers, around and stand like a sore thumb.
Distracted briefly, by the happenings nearby, I quickly draft the required matter, in my nearly illegible hand and had not only dictate it but, due to his rudimentary knowledge of English, also spell most of the words.
Despite his age, his typing skills appear to be that of a beginner, with no delete /insert facility and apparently no whitener available, I have to be content with what ever he could and have produced.
A wise man nonetheless, with the going rate being per typed page, I notice, he has typed in double space, trying to stretch the matter on as many pages as possible.
The typed page now in my hand I query
“How much”
“Rupees Twenty “he replies.
With the business settled amicably I leve wondering as to how many such Rs 20 he will earn in the day to subsist upon
bls31
Bereft of the support of a Computer /Printer I looked around, searching for some one free and unoccupied from those busy in the innumerable miniscule open cubical displaying Court Marriage, Affidavit and such sundry jobs on small boards, lining the narrow road with heavy traffic plying in both directions, making walking across on my wobbly legs a dangerous proposition.
I made slow haste towards one, who appeared to be free and without business, hoping to get the job completed quickly.
Next to his seat, under the same shed, a Court Marriage was being solemnised, the young couple, the bride in her finery, possibly, self made-up and dressed, as there was no one accompanying them, were setting up on a journey, with hope and love , in un chartered waters and an uncertain future : what are their aspirations and worries, forgetting my on immediate concern for a moment , I wonder.
He happens to be an old man with an even older Remington typewriter, possibly a family heirloom handed down from generation to generation, on rickety table, next to it is a stack of files, possibly containing templates of the various legal documents in demand for typing. Both are an aberration, in the company of young operators, with computer/printers, around and stand like a sore thumb.
Distracted briefly, by the happenings nearby, I quickly draft the required matter, in my nearly illegible hand and had not only dictate it but, due to his rudimentary knowledge of English, also spell most of the words.
Despite his age, his typing skills appear to be that of a beginner, with no delete /insert facility and apparently no whitener available, I have to be content with what ever he could and have produced.
A wise man nonetheless, with the going rate being per typed page, I notice, he has typed in double space, trying to stretch the matter on as many pages as possible.
The typed page now in my hand I query
“How much”
“Rupees Twenty “he replies.
With the business settled amicably I leve wondering as to how many such Rs 20 he will earn in the day to subsist upon
bls31