The shop was thankfully located on a quiet street on Parry’s Corner, so named after a Welsh merchant named Thomas Parry who had set up his company there in the year 1787. The company, ‘East India Distilleries Parry’s Group’, manufactures sugar and nutraceuticals to this day and operates from the same heritage building ‘Dare House’ where it was first set up. It being one of the busiest and most congested areas of Chennai, Sarayu wondered if they would find a place to park their car. But as it turned out, the shop they were looking for was situated in a back street where there was plenty of space for parking on the near empty road.
“Thatha, please don’t mind me when you go to the shop. I may be asking a few things to the service person there. You just concentrate on getting this in working condition”, she instructed her grandfather while on the way.
“What are you up to, Sarayu? I don’t understand what you are trying to do”, said her grandfather.
“Nothing, Thatha. I’m just going to ask a few questions, that’s all”, Sarayu answered.
“Just don’t get into any trouble”, he said in a worried voice and concentrated on driving while following her navigational instructions to get there.
They parked and Sarayu lifted the bag containing the typewriter and they entered the shop. A man in his mid-forties, who looked like the owner of the shop greeted them from behind a counter.
“Uncle, Mr. Ramakrishnan…” Sarayu trailed.
“Yes, that’s me”, answered the man in Thamizh, coming over to meet them.
“Hello, Uncle. I called a while back asking to service our typewriter”, said Sarayu, placing the bag on the counter and taking the typewriter out.
“Oh! Yes, I remember. Is this the one you asked about?” he said as he pulled the typewriter closer to him for inspection.
“Ah! Remington!” he said and ran his hands over it.
“Is this yours, Sir?” he asked Muthuramalingam.
Muthuramalingam nodded enthusiastically. “I got this in 1966”, he said.
“This is Remington No.10”, said Ramakrishnan. “This is the most common one for ordinary use”, he said.
Muthuramalingam looked surprised. “Are there other models for other uses?” he asked.
“Yes, of course. There are different number models for billing & accounts, and for writing, adding & subtracting and even a folding model for easy transportation”, Ramakrishnan explained.
“How is the condition of this machine? Do you think it can be salvaged?” Muthuramalingam asked.
Ramakrishnan checked the machine and opened and closed certain parts.
“For such an old machine, it is surprisingly in good condition. It can be made workable again. But it may take some time. I used to employ four technicians. But now I have only two”, said Ramakrishnan and turned and called out into the interior of the shop.
“Shanmugam, can you come here for a minute?”
An old man of above sixty five years of age came out of the interior of the shop holding a screwdriver. He looked to be a little older than Muthuramalingam.
“Take a look at this and tell me how long and how much it’ll take to get it into working condition”, said Ramakrishnan.
Shanmugam nodded at Muthuramalingam as a way of greeting and bent over the typewriter.
“We’ll need some spare parts for this. Once they arrive, it can be fixed within a few days”, he said.
“We get our spare parts from Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. These companies have stopped manufacturing these machines now. So we have to source the spare parts from other second-hand machines. It might take a while”, explained Ramakrishnan.
Sarayu who had been silent all the while perked up as soon as Shanmugam came into the shop.
As Ramakrishnan was explaining things to her grandfather, she went up to Shanmugam who was still looking at the typewriter they had brought.
“Uncle, you look like you have been doing this for a long time”, she said.
“Yes, ma. I’ve been doing this for more than forty years now”, he said. “I used to work in the service section of the factories that manufactured these typewriters. But since they all closed down, I have come here permanently. Even while working there I used to come here once or twice a week to help with the servicing”, he spoke enthusiastically. He was glad that the young generation seemed to be taking an interest in a lost technology.
“Then you must know quite a lot about typewriters”, said Sarayu.
“You can say that I know almost all the olden day typewriters that exist in this city, child”, he said with pride.
“Then can you please help me with my school project, Uncle?” Sarayu asked beseechingly.
“School project? What sort of school project?” asked Shanmugam surprised. What help could a typewriter mechanic provide to a modern day school-going girl?
Sarayu took out the paper she had printed the bill of purchase on and handed it to him.
“Our school gave us this piece of paper and asked us to trace the shop from where this was sold, Uncle. I tried to look for the shop but it doesn’t exist now. I thought maybe you can help me in some way”, she said.
Shanmugam took the paper from her and looked at the typed words on it. He was glad that he had taught himself to read and write English. He had done it so that he could check the machines that came to him for servicing. But never in a million years did he think that one day that knowledge would let him help a school girl do her school project.
“How can I help with this, ma?” he asked puzzled.
“I don’t know, Uncle. Maybe you can identify the type or something”, Sarayu said innocently. She could play dumb when she chose to.
“Hmm…identify the type? How is that possible?” Shanmugam asked, looking at the piece of paper intently.
“I don’t know, Uncle. I read that each typewriter brand has unique typefaces. Maybe you can identify that”, she said.
Shanmugam looked up at her sharply, his brows creased in thought. ‘Hm! Internet generation!’ he sighed inwardly. But even as he thought so, another thought pushed itself through his brain, and he looked at the paper in his hand again. The typed letters were teasing at the wealth of stored knowledge in his head and he reached for a magnifying glass that was lying on the table and looked at the paper through that.
Sarayu, who was watching his face closely, thought she saw a whisper of recognition flit across his face as he looked at various words through the magnifying glass.
Shanmugam looked up at her and smiled.
“What’s your name, dear?” he asked Sarayu.
“Sarayu”.
“Well Sarayu, what exactly is your school project?” he asked.
“We have to identify the shop from where this bill was printed” she said.
“What if the shop doesn’t exist anymore? After all the bill is dated 1964”, Shanmugam said.
“We asked the same thing to our teacher, Uncle. But they said that they have verified that the shop exists, but it may be under a different name and at a different address. They said that they would not send us on a wild goose chase”, Sarayu lied glibly.
“What school gives such projects?” he mused aloud. He then took out his phone and looked up a contact and called a number.
“Dei Sunil, enna da kadai pakkame kaanom? Machine nallaa velai seiyuthaa[1]?” he said and listened to the answer from the other side.
“Sari, sari, location anuppu. Antha pakkam varappo vanthu paarkaren[2]”, he answered.
Sarayu’s heart skipped a beat when she heard the last words.
“Sarayu, give a missed call to that number”, Shanmugam said and showed a mobile number that was written on a paper against his name that was pasted on the wall.
Sarayu did immediately and also saved the number on her phone.
In a few seconds her Whatsapp pinged with an incoming message and she opened to see that Shanmugam had forwarded the location sent by the fellow called Sunil to her number.
“That is the location of the store you asked for”, Shanmugam said as she saved the location.
“Oh My God! How did you find it, Uncle? And that too so quickly and easily?” Sarayu almost yelped with joy.
Shanmugam smiled at her excitement.
“As you said, each typewriter brand has its own typeface, Sarayu. I recognized the typeface on the bill to be that of Remington, the same brand as your grandfather’s. It’s not just the typeface. When a machine gets used for years together, it develops certain quirks and characteristics. Some of the letters may be misaligned. Some may have become worn out in certain parts of the letter. It is the same with this machine also. See this ‘J’ here”, Shanmugam said, pointing out a capital J to her. “See how the dot at the end of the bend is worn down. And also see this small ‘o’. The bottom half of it is filled up with ink. There are a few more things that made me realize that I have been servicing this machine for so many decades. It used to come to the service centre earlier and now that all that is closed, it used to come here. Since the guy always brings the machine here, I don’t know where the shop is. That’s why I called him and asked him for the location”, Shanmugam finished his long explanation.
“Super, Uncle! Thank you so much! I really didn’t think that you would be able to find it. I just asked as a trial”, said Sarayu, unable hide her joy.
“That’s just experience, Sarayu. I have been in this business for so long, right?” Shanmugam said with a smile.
“Experience and knowledge, Uncle. Thank you so much. I’m sure I’ll be the only one to have finished this project. If anyone else comes bringing such a project, please don’t help them, Uncle”, requested Sarayu, embellishing her lie.
Shanmugam laughed but didn’t answer.
“What, Sarayu? Did you finish your project?” asked Muthuramalingam, adding to his granddaughter’s falsehood.
“Yes, Thatha. And I was requesting Uncle Shanmugam here not to help anyone else who comes here asking for help with the same project”, she said.
“Oh, that’s not fair, Sarayu”, said her grandfather.
“When should we come back for the machine?” Sarayu asked, changing the subject. She didn’t want to pull her grandfather deeper into the drama.
“I’ve given my number. Ramakrishnan said that he will call me and inform when the machine is ready. We can come and pick it up then”, answered her grandfather.
“Ok then, shall we go?” asked Sarayu.
She thanked Shanmugam once again and she told her grandfather all about the charade she had just pulled and the result it got her on the way back home.
[1] Hey Sunil, why haven’t you come to the shop? Is the machine working properly?”
[2] “Ok, ok. Send me the location. I’ll take a look at it when I come that side”.
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