A short-lived fame

Job typing was a lucrative business in 1940s as job seekers wanted their applications typed and the lawyers who had their offices in Balepet and Avenue road areas wanted their briefs typed with multiple copies. In 1942/43 I was not yet eligible for an appointment in government service and I was learning typing. I worked on a partnership basis in a job typing center; the premises, the machine, the paper, and carbon belonged to the center. The proprietor took most of the clients and let me attend to what he could not. All the centers worked on a rate schedule eg., one rupee for two copies of a foolscap document on brown paper and Rs.1.25 on white paper which was costing more. I got 50% of the charges and the rest went to the owner. On an average I got Re.one to Rs.2 net per day.

One day two young men came and wanted a letter to be typed. It was a “love letter” addressed to their favorite film star. They wanted it typed on white paper, couched in glowing terms and elegantly phrased. I had charged the usual fee. A few days later the young men came beaming and looking for me, reason they had received a reply from their idol! They brought with them another young man who wanted a similar letter typed addressed to another film star. My reputation as a composer of “love letters” seemed to have soared. It lasted a few days and faded. I went on to work as a copy holder in the government press where they did not care for my talent as a writer of love letters.