STENOGRAPHERS – (A Testimony to South Indian Stenographers.)
When I returned home with the SSLC-failed result, I found my father waiting at home. I was ready to take some rebukes but surprisingly, irrespective of the result, my father was more concerned with what I should do next. “Go to Muruga Typewriting Institute in the town. I have already registered your name there”, he said. “Whether you pass or fail in SSLC, your only option is Stenography”. That was the message. The situation was more or less similar in all Brahmin families down South those days and those who had the potential to become Journalists, Accountants, Professors, Lawyers or Doctors were all uniformly trained to become Stenographers. It is a different matter that their inherent qualities surfaced later and there were many cases of Stenographers becoming Chief Executives, Journalists, and Engineers.
But when I came to my father after completing my Stenography course, I was fortunate because this time he gave me two options. “Calcutta or Mumbai; choose whichever you like”, he had said. I had no idea of either Calcutta or Mumbai. Dadar, or Matunga to be precise, was the most preferred destination those days. My friends said that even if the Board of Secondary Education has failed you, Bombay would never fail you. It is believed that whoever lands at the abode of Goddess Mahalakshmi would definitely get placement somewhere.
When I was contemplating the possibility of going to Bombay, something quite unbelievable happened. A well-wisher from Calcutta had said that he was prepared to provide me a shelter. That settled the issue and I landed at Howrah station one fine evening. Years later, I realized that Rasogulla tasted more delicious than Mumbai’s Vada Pav, Ma Kali was equally generous as Mahalakshmi and tram-ride were more peaceful that 9 O’Clock fast from Kalyan.
Coming back to our central question, Stenography, I must say that it is used not only as a means but an end in itself. There were many who used Stenography as a ladder, climbed up, and occupied a high position of power. There were also others who became Stenographer par excellence and stuck to its profession just for the love of it. That reminds me of a candidate, Ramakrishnan. When the interviewer asked him what his higher aim was, promptly came his reply: “120/60”. When the puzzled interviewer asked him to explain, our man replied: “It is my life’s ambition to write Shorthand at 120 words per minute and Typewriting at 60 words per minute”. Observing the man’s obsession with his profession, he was readily offered the job. But Ramakrishnan was not alone. There were many like Ramakrishnan’s caliber in South India and most of the advertisements in national dailies appeared like: “Wanted Stenographer, preferably South Indians….”
“What exactly is Stenography?” Some of the present IT professionals might ask. Stenography can be defined as the art of converting speech into strokes, dots, and dashes and transcribing them in good typed order. It was Sir Isaac Pitman (1813-1897) who invented the system of Shorthand. Perhaps, he would never have dreamt that far and far away from his land of England, there would be innumerable South Indians to perfect this art and perform it successfully in the corporate world. One can never under-estimate the power of a Stenographer. This is evident from an instance where the Stenographer even over-ruled a Supreme Court Judgement. The judge convicted an accused and pronounced his judgment thus: “Hang him; not leave him”. But the Stenographer at the Court did not agree with the judgment and he typed: “Hang him not, leave him”. The clever usage of coma by the Stenographer saved the life of a human.
Stenography may have flourished in Calcutta or Bombay but it was Chennai that provided a foundation for it. Chennai had the unique distinction of fulfilling the 80 % of the Stenographic requirements of the country, followed by Palakkad and other towns of Kerala. The Stenographers’ Guild at T. Nagar at Madras is a living testimony to the dedication shown by Stenographers. The hall always used to reverberate with speeches of great leaders being dictated to students at varying speeds. The sound emanated from the Typewriters there was music to the ears of all. The Stenographer’s Guild at T. Nagar continued to give quality education to all the aspiring students. A few years before, the Guild organized a grand function to mark the 107th death anniversary of Pitman, the Creator of Shorthand and invited his great-grandson, Mr. Christopher Miller to preside over the function. Mr. Miller was too willing to oblige and he came all the way from England to Madras, the land of Shorthand lovers. “It is an extraordinary situation in India,” Mr. Miller said addressing the gathering. “While in England, the birthplace of Pitman, most people have forgotten him and his invention, it is rejuvenating to note that far from England, here in South India, there are people who continue to patronize Pitman passionately and keep his memories and works alive”, he added. It is a different matter that even Mr. Miller did not learn Shorthand and is actively engaged in the stock-broking business now.
The Stenographer’s Guild had all the qualifications to be declared as a Deemed University but then the tragedy occurred. The IT Tsunami came and swept away all stenographers. While some notable Stenographers who participated even in major decision-making of the company quietly withdrew from the scene, some others threw away their note-book and pencil and opted for the mouse. When the young professionals, carrying a bundle on their back, came to the center stage and indulged in mysterious applications like Java and Oracle, the Stenographers have become the endangered species. But Stenography is not a dying art. It is at the base of all professions. The act of dictation and transcribing takes place in some form or other. In retrospect, I thank my father who guided me to Muruga Institute of Typewriting that day; the decision which made my career very satisfying. I also thank Lord Ganesa, the first Stenographer, who took down what Veda Vyasa dictated and presented to the posterity an invaluable treatise called: Mahabharata.
– Written by a Stenographer.