Monday, October 2, 2006
Photoblog : Sepia-Tinted Words
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Sepia-Tinted Words
Castle In The Clouds
Moultonborough, New Hampshire
There’s something very warm and friendly about old typewriters. Like a friend you sit down with and unburden your heart to, safe with the knowledge that he’ll take it to his grave. The steady clackety-clack reassuring you that he is listening. Each tching of the carriage-return, comforting you, making you lighter.
Then again, they’re like old men you meet near park benches. Weatherbeaten yet full of spunk. Packed with stories waiting to be told and retold. Of love, of valor, of sadness and of hope. And just when you thought you’d heard them all, a new one’s pulled out of the bag.
And sometimes they’re artists. Taking your disjointed thoughts and putting words around them. Making sense of your nonsense. Finding images within your incoherence and painting them for you. Giving you a chance to take a step back and look at your thoughts from the outside. Reintroducing yourself to you.
Some letters clean and precise. Others blackened and worn. Warm rusted metal and cool flashy chrome. The familiar smell of ink, like an old pal’s cigar. And the odd sharp edge that lurks around, nicking you when you least expect it. Little wonder that they make such good friends.
And the odd incisive post that lurks around, one for the heart when you least expect it. Little wonder you make such a good blogger.
Monday, October 2, 2006 @ 10:25 PM
Wonderfully expressed. I’ve saved a few my mother’s letters from the early 1940’s . Whenever I read the blue carbon print, I imagine what she & life may have been then .(She may have been touching 20, and fancy freee!)
This particular post is so beautifully written…in a lighter vien like kishore kumar stunning you with a Kehna hai.. in padosan?
Thanks
Tuesday, October 3, 2006 @ 12:16 AM
Excellent composition and exposure. I just bought meself a new Canon 400 D, so expect lots of pictures on my blog, starting tomorrow. :)
–Anurag (dogjournals.blogspot.com)
Tuesday, October 3, 2006 @ 2:08 AM
An awesome picture and a great piece of writing.
Dad-lee combination!!
Tuesday, October 3, 2006 @ 2:36 AM
a beautiful ode to typewriters .. a lovely post
Tuesday, October 3, 2006 @ 4:05 AM
sorry ..attention/memory lapse!
lighter vien == lighter vein
Tuesday, October 3, 2006 @ 4:40 AM
One more Tuesday: a few more thoughts, and a few observations, and a few more points of view!
Lovely post and a befitting picture!
Typewriters do bring out something in us that’s latent. They give your writing a boost that just isn’t there in a pc. They have this earthly, solid feel which gives a sense of proportion to your perception. Your article reminded me of an article written by Busybee a.k.a. Behram Contractor, the late editor of Afternoon(an english eveninger in Mumbai). He wrote all his columns on his old Remington typewriter, even though, he had a brand new pc at home. The hammering of the keys, the tack-tacking of the keys created a rhythm which helped his writing. It helps to gather your thoughts, he said. This post brought back memories of his writing, and for that, the old man from the bench thanks you.
Tuesday, October 3, 2006 @ 7:34 AM
Jaise bimb jari bachakechi ewade, pari prakashasi trailokya thokade,
shabdachi vyapti tene pade, anubhavavi. - Sant Dnyaneshwar
Meaning: even though the Sun appears like a small sphere, the Universe is not enough for it’s light to traverse; thus you have to experience the capacity / spread of a word.
Though a word might be small, of a couple of syllables, the meaning behind it may fill oceans and cover a million miles. That’s why words are the most precious and perhaps the most abused currency in the world.
You are one of the few lucky ones who has managed to learn the value of words.
Tuesday, October 3, 2006 @ 7:50 AM
this picture of this “old guy” reminded me of minds… for me it resembles a typical mind… :)..
you know why.. mind is just like this… when it works, it creates lotsa sounds and it spill out words. if you have ink and paper on it, other wise just sounds… no words… but it needs some one to make it work. and in the case of Mind its our thoughts which do the work, if no thoughts then no Mind.. calm…….
sweet silence………..
and that is our true nature, like this silent old typewriter…… thankyou for sharing this beautiful pic…
Tuesday, October 3, 2006 @ 9:24 AM
awesome post! why do people keep coming back - this is why!
Tuesday, October 3, 2006 @ 2:00 PM
mm.
:)
Tuesday, October 3, 2006 @ 9:07 PM
Err uhm… my comments aren’t turning up on your blog… most unusual. I was actually here first… tried twice too, and yet…
Wednesday, October 4, 2006 @ 12:28 AM
typewriters leave no room for mistakes. No edit/ delete/ revert possible, only commit. Some friend.
Wednesday, October 4, 2006 @ 3:18 AM
Beautiful Post! Nicely composed. I like the colors of the picture. Has that quintessential touch. Brings out the character with your words otherwise it would have been just any other typewriter.
[Shreemoyee]
But it always gives you a chance to do it all over again and this time you will be mindful of mistakes. A chance to be better! Ain’t that all we want?
Wednesday, October 4, 2006 @ 1:54 PM
true true true…. feels very nostalgic! After a million years, probably we’l look at our keyboards n talk like this :) yohoo! hv fun!
Wednesday, October 4, 2006 @ 2:35 PM
There is something always very romantic about past/old thing.
Very nice picture! :)
Btw, typewriters are a pain in the fingers too! :P
Thursday, October 5, 2006 @ 2:47 AM
‘make sense of nonsense’..like the way you do..this post is beautiful
Thursday, October 5, 2006 @ 5:37 AM
Beautiful.
Thursday, October 5, 2006 @ 12:39 PM
Very very nicely written…
You truly are good at this :)
Friday, October 6, 2006 @ 5:07 AM
Hmmmmm….
Sunday, October 8, 2006 @ 7:51 PM
Hmmmmm………………….
Sunday, October 8, 2006 @ 7:51 PM
hi..
been a lurker for a couple of weeks. but this time’s post has inspired me to come out of the closet! :-) had been expecting some kick-ass, smart-alecy stuff (have gotten used to cracking up and falling off the chair!) but was pleasantly surprised to see this time’s piece. beautiful. soul warming. amazes me just how some words string together to evoke great emotions.
p.s. managed to catch bits of qaid mein hai bulbul recently.. a must watch in case you haven’t seen it!! :-))
Monday, October 9, 2006 @ 7:21 AM
WOW! That was a fantastic post. Very touching.
Monday, October 9, 2006 @ 3:44 PM
Megha
Good post this one. Different from your usual posts and good. The usual “you go girl” gang is not in full form in the commentspace. I wonder why?
Tuesday, October 10, 2006 @ 1:17 PM
*feels compelled to post a response, since he hates to disappoint anyone who is dying to see a response
You go girl!
*Knows that one’s response was not what was expected. It was expected that the “Y” had to be in lower case. Additionally there was no “!” in the accepted “usual response” template. However, since one is a grammar nazi who does not fail to correct people, decides to keep the “!” and go with the upper case “Y”. One decies to go with bold font to “dingchakofy” the otherwise “usual” response.*
You go girl!
* hopes that this would satisfy vivek and anyone else who wondered about the lack of “usual” responses and also hopes that this will goad the other members of the “you go girl” gang into action.
Tuesday, October 10, 2006 @ 2:15 PM
[Vivek] mehfil nahin, landfill hain
The usual gang of idiots has been kidnapped by lil green Bhappi Lahiris in sequin tights, but not to worry. You make up singlehandedly in asinine comments for a bunch of us!
Tuesday, October 10, 2006 @ 8:47 PM
प्रीय मेघाजी:
अनेक दिनों पश्च्यात आपके ब्लाग पर टिप्पणी कर रहे है. इस विवेक नामक पात्र की खिल्ली उडाने से पहले अतिउत्कृष्ट छायाचित्र के लिये आपका अभिनन्दन करते है|
अब रही बात इस माहामूर्ख की. ऐसे लोगों को समझना ईश्वर की भी क्षमताके पार होगा|
कदाचित बचपन में यह माता-पिता के स्नेह से वन्चित रहा होगा, जिसके कारण यह आपके शुभचिन्तकों से प्यार की भीख मांग रहा है|
अथवा इसके बचपन में किसी सनकी कुत्ते ने भयभीत करने पर इसने अपने वस्त्रों को मैला किया होगा, इसीलिये आज यह अपने मैले कपडे आपके ब्लाग पर धोता है|
या कभी मोहल्ले के अन्य बालकोंने इसके बहते हुए नाक से उत्तेजित होकर इसे भरे रसते पर पीटा होगा जिसकी वजह से आज भी यह इस प्रकार की पिटाई के लिये उत्सुक है|
हमारे माता-पिता ने हमपर अच्छे सन्स्कार किये थे, इसलिये हम विवेकसे असभ्य व्यवहार नहीं करेंग| यही कहेंगे कि, “Vivek, You are a Moron.”
Tuesday, October 10, 2006 @ 10:57 PM
nice post megha!
never worked with a typewriter… and your post makes me feel that i’ve missed out on a fun thing! :)
hmm…now i’m wondering, is there a typewriter out there that can be plugged to my laptop as a keyboard?! if not, i shud get on the idea… writing like yours will defly create a big market for them ;)
Wednesday, October 11, 2006 @ 11:24 PM
beautiful pic!!
Thursday, October 12, 2006 @ 5:00 AM
can someone translate pls.
Thursday, October 12, 2006 @ 9:58 PM
To the style of writing - hats off!
Content - Typewriters!! How many of us have actually seen a typewriter in their whole life? I haven’t come less than 2m closer to one, forget caressing its keys. And this was once when I had a chance to go to the Judiciary in Dehradoon. I was standing and staring at this antique invention wondering if it lead to arthiritic fingers if you use it. But I guess that’s true with every machine. From typewriter to keyboard to touchpad, PDA and probably voice recognition software… what lies ahead you never know.
Monday, October 16, 2006 @ 8:05 AM
Pardon me, but where was this again (we want exact address pliss)? And does anyone know how much it would fetch if i *ahem* sold it as an antique? (This may or may not involve stealing it from the location that Megha may or may not provide.)
Monday, October 16, 2006 @ 2:21 PM
arreeeeee, this remembered me of a time long ago when i had the luck to lay my hands on a typewriter !! fond memories of hammering away like crazy !!
Monday, October 16, 2006 @ 6:54 PM
nice.
by the way did you see the typewriter-laptop hybrid?
Wednesday, October 18, 2006 @ 5:37 PM
hyperlinks don’t show up in the comments?
here is the typewriter-laptop link…
http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2006/10/portable_typewr.html?CMP=OTC-0D6B48984890
Wednesday, October 18, 2006 @ 9:42 PM
*knock knock* Is anybody here… hellooooo
(Wonders if the browser hasn’t refreshed the page yet) Hmmm… HELLOOO…
Where is everyone? So much inactivity here. Strange. And rare.
(scratches head)
Monday, October 23, 2006 @ 11:56 AM
Nice composition.
Monday, October 23, 2006 @ 4:39 PM
Why the silence? Awaiting your next blog post eagerly.
Wednesday, October 25, 2006 @ 2:23 AM
Among other things, the image brought back wonderful memories of the dollops of fun I had as a brat of about 7, typing up a whole host of weird stuff, just to ‘play’ on this amazing ‘gadget’. I still remember the feeling of incredulous wonder I had when I learnt that one needed only to lift a little lever to one’s right and push to the left and voila, new line!
Apart from the very tastefully selected subject, the tint and composition of the picture are lovely, and the words ooze poetry so delightful, it would stretch a grumpy face into a smile. The overall effect is nothing short of stunning and gets better with every viewing. Kudos (and thanks).
Monday, October 30, 2006 @ 12:41 PM