Every locality has its landmarks.
LIC of Kumaran Colony was a well known place for more than last three decades in our locality.
It’s the place where every youngster of our locality learnt to type.
The present generation of students and youngsters may not understand the pain and pleasure associated with the typewriters, as they are initiated into the process of typing on the computers at a very early age.
From the days of the British rule to till recently, it was very common, particularly in Chennai for parents to get their wards enrolled into a typewriting institute soon after the 10th standard. Learning typewriting and shorthand were considered passport to get a job in Government service.
LIC or “Lakshminarayana Institute of Commerce” was the only institute in our colony that catered to the needs of several adjoining areas like Saligramam, Dasarathapuram, Gandhi Nagar, Telephone Colony and some parts of Vadapalani apart from Kumaran and Dhanalakshmi colonies.
Located in a large plot in a muddy road with a very few houses, the small structure was visible from a far distance or rather heard from a long distance. During the days when there was no traffic, people could hear the synchronized sound emanated from several students typing at the same time. The music started very early in the day; as early as 5.00 a.m. There was a great demand for some specific slots. 6.00 a.m. to 7.00 a.m. and 5.00 p.m. to 6.00 p.m. were the most sought after slots. For a very long time, there was no compound wall or gate to the building. The founder was a visionary. He knew, that youngsters would not take effort to keep the gates closed and hence, had not spent on fixing one. Though the tiny building was on a large plot, except for a lone Pongam tree, there were no plants or trees. The students parked their cycles under the shade of Pongam tree.
Everyone addressed the founder/owner/instructor of the institute as “Master” and his wife “Miss”. While the classes were conducted in the first floor, they lived in the ground floor. There was just one large room and a verandah. While typing was done inside the room, shorthand classes were taken in the verandah. The Master woke up early, got ready, opened the institute, cleaned the room and kept it ready for classes by 5.00 a.m. He took care till 8.30 a.m. and then left for work. He was also employed elsewhere and in his absence, his wife took care of the institute till he returned in the evening from work.
My mother wanted me to join the 5.00 am classes, as she thought that, that would bring discipline in my life. Those days, I was the first one to fall asleep and the last to wake up. The road was deserted and low lying and strangely water stagnated even during peak summer in that road. Croaking of frogs from the stagnated water in vacant plots and the garbage dumped in the pits of the road irritated me very much. But the pleasure of typing was worth all the pain.
asdfgf;lkjhj; asdfgf ;lkjhj; asdfgf ;lkjhj; asdfgf ;lkjhj; asdfgf;lkjhj;
This is what all of us typed on the first day. All exercises were typed and pasted on a cardboard and the relevant cardboard was given to the students. We had to keep the cardboard to our left and without looking at the keyboard of the typewriter, we had to type. We had to practice the same exercise for a week. We were taught to use specific fingers for specific keys and slowly got familiarized with the entire keyboard. Initially, the procedure appeared silly. But I later understood that, the syllabus and methodology were perfect. Senior students assisted our Master and Miss.
There were around twenty typewriters in the institute by various manufacturers viz., Remington, Halda, Godrej and Facit in various sizes and I was given a Facit machine, the largest in the institute.
Every weekend, we had either a test or mechanism classes.
Government of Tamilnadu conducted technical exams twice a year and many students from LIC attended and successfully cleared the exams year after year. There were State toppers also from our Institute.
For every exam, our Master carried all the typewriters to the examination venue the previous day and waited for us at the venue, which certainly was very laborious. We paid him just Rs.20/- as monthly fee.
Learning shorthand too was very interesting. He taught stenography strokes to every student individually and after one had completed 144 exercises, dictation was started. The dictation session started exactly at 6.00 a.m. or after the first student had landed. The dictation was at three levels; 80 words per minute, 100 words per minute and 120 words per minute. Irrespective of the level, the students reaching the venue had to start taking notes as he dictated holding a timer in one hand and a paper in another. The students had to later transcribe the dictation into longhand and read out aloud in turns. We enjoyed this session most, as we not only learnt newer strokes and vocabulary, but also had hearty laugh at the mistakes we made.
For our shorthand exams, we had to travel to Women’s Polytechnic College in Taramani and it was like an excursion for us.
We also celebrated Ayudha Pooja during Navaratri and anniversary of the Institute every year in a grand manner.
The crowd that assembled there was always young and the atmosphere was fully charged. Our Master and Miss were childless and they treated every student like their own child. The institute was a hub of activity. For no extra charge, they offered placement service, circulated information on Government job notifications, helped in filling applications, lent typewriters for Government exams etc.
Also, many youngsters either arrived in pairs, with their respective girl/boyfriends (Jodi aga vandavargal) or met their partners at the institute (Jodi sethukondavargal). The main purpose of their attending classes was to spend some quality time with their partners. Though decorum was maintained, Master and Miss were not overtly against such affairs. Whenever, someone eloped from our locality, the parents of the concerned first landed at the Institute for verification. With some, like in my case they were also protective. Whenever someone tried to impress me, Master would caution him “Annanunga irukkanga paa, vendam” (She has brothers, please don’t pursue).
Those who have successfully passed the exams have become clerks, typists, stenographers and secretaries and those who have failed have become Engineers, Programmers, Managers, Businessmen and Homemakers.
Our Master and Miss tried to keep up with times and also started a computer centre. But, with the stoppage of manufacturing of typewriters, getting spare parts has become difficult and so the maintenance of a typewriting institute. Slowly the number of students for typewriting and shorthand diminished and so the shutters are brought down and for personal reasons, they shifted to another town.
Recently, as I walked through that street, I felt very strange without any cycles and vehicles parked outside their house, without the synchronized noise of the typewriters, without the dictation of our Master, without the giggles of the youngsters.
P.S. Photo courtesy - The Internet.
LIC of Kumaran Colony was a well known place for more than last three decades in our locality.
It’s the place where every youngster of our locality learnt to type.
The present generation of students and youngsters may not understand the pain and pleasure associated with the typewriters, as they are initiated into the process of typing on the computers at a very early age.
From the days of the British rule to till recently, it was very common, particularly in Chennai for parents to get their wards enrolled into a typewriting institute soon after the 10th standard. Learning typewriting and shorthand were considered passport to get a job in Government service.
LIC or “Lakshminarayana Institute of Commerce” was the only institute in our colony that catered to the needs of several adjoining areas like Saligramam, Dasarathapuram, Gandhi Nagar, Telephone Colony and some parts of Vadapalani apart from Kumaran and Dhanalakshmi colonies.
Located in a large plot in a muddy road with a very few houses, the small structure was visible from a far distance or rather heard from a long distance. During the days when there was no traffic, people could hear the synchronized sound emanated from several students typing at the same time. The music started very early in the day; as early as 5.00 a.m. There was a great demand for some specific slots. 6.00 a.m. to 7.00 a.m. and 5.00 p.m. to 6.00 p.m. were the most sought after slots. For a very long time, there was no compound wall or gate to the building. The founder was a visionary. He knew, that youngsters would not take effort to keep the gates closed and hence, had not spent on fixing one. Though the tiny building was on a large plot, except for a lone Pongam tree, there were no plants or trees. The students parked their cycles under the shade of Pongam tree.
Everyone addressed the founder/owner/instructor of the institute as “Master” and his wife “Miss”. While the classes were conducted in the first floor, they lived in the ground floor. There was just one large room and a verandah. While typing was done inside the room, shorthand classes were taken in the verandah. The Master woke up early, got ready, opened the institute, cleaned the room and kept it ready for classes by 5.00 a.m. He took care till 8.30 a.m. and then left for work. He was also employed elsewhere and in his absence, his wife took care of the institute till he returned in the evening from work.
My mother wanted me to join the 5.00 am classes, as she thought that, that would bring discipline in my life. Those days, I was the first one to fall asleep and the last to wake up. The road was deserted and low lying and strangely water stagnated even during peak summer in that road. Croaking of frogs from the stagnated water in vacant plots and the garbage dumped in the pits of the road irritated me very much. But the pleasure of typing was worth all the pain.
asdfgf;lkjhj; asdfgf ;lkjhj; asdfgf ;lkjhj; asdfgf ;lkjhj; asdfgf;lkjhj;
This is what all of us typed on the first day. All exercises were typed and pasted on a cardboard and the relevant cardboard was given to the students. We had to keep the cardboard to our left and without looking at the keyboard of the typewriter, we had to type. We had to practice the same exercise for a week. We were taught to use specific fingers for specific keys and slowly got familiarized with the entire keyboard. Initially, the procedure appeared silly. But I later understood that, the syllabus and methodology were perfect. Senior students assisted our Master and Miss.
There were around twenty typewriters in the institute by various manufacturers viz., Remington, Halda, Godrej and Facit in various sizes and I was given a Facit machine, the largest in the institute.
Every weekend, we had either a test or mechanism classes.
Government of Tamilnadu conducted technical exams twice a year and many students from LIC attended and successfully cleared the exams year after year. There were State toppers also from our Institute.
For every exam, our Master carried all the typewriters to the examination venue the previous day and waited for us at the venue, which certainly was very laborious. We paid him just Rs.20/- as monthly fee.
Learning shorthand too was very interesting. He taught stenography strokes to every student individually and after one had completed 144 exercises, dictation was started. The dictation session started exactly at 6.00 a.m. or after the first student had landed. The dictation was at three levels; 80 words per minute, 100 words per minute and 120 words per minute. Irrespective of the level, the students reaching the venue had to start taking notes as he dictated holding a timer in one hand and a paper in another. The students had to later transcribe the dictation into longhand and read out aloud in turns. We enjoyed this session most, as we not only learnt newer strokes and vocabulary, but also had hearty laugh at the mistakes we made.
For our shorthand exams, we had to travel to Women’s Polytechnic College in Taramani and it was like an excursion for us.
We also celebrated Ayudha Pooja during Navaratri and anniversary of the Institute every year in a grand manner.
The crowd that assembled there was always young and the atmosphere was fully charged. Our Master and Miss were childless and they treated every student like their own child. The institute was a hub of activity. For no extra charge, they offered placement service, circulated information on Government job notifications, helped in filling applications, lent typewriters for Government exams etc.
Also, many youngsters either arrived in pairs, with their respective girl/boyfriends (Jodi aga vandavargal) or met their partners at the institute (Jodi sethukondavargal). The main purpose of their attending classes was to spend some quality time with their partners. Though decorum was maintained, Master and Miss were not overtly against such affairs. Whenever, someone eloped from our locality, the parents of the concerned first landed at the Institute for verification. With some, like in my case they were also protective. Whenever someone tried to impress me, Master would caution him “Annanunga irukkanga paa, vendam” (She has brothers, please don’t pursue).
Those who have successfully passed the exams have become clerks, typists, stenographers and secretaries and those who have failed have become Engineers, Programmers, Managers, Businessmen and Homemakers.
Our Master and Miss tried to keep up with times and also started a computer centre. But, with the stoppage of manufacturing of typewriters, getting spare parts has become difficult and so the maintenance of a typewriting institute. Slowly the number of students for typewriting and shorthand diminished and so the shutters are brought down and for personal reasons, they shifted to another town.
Recently, as I walked through that street, I felt very strange without any cycles and vehicles parked outside their house, without the synchronized noise of the typewriters, without the dictation of our Master, without the giggles of the youngsters.
P.S. Photo courtesy - The Internet.
