Typewriters in India: A Matter of Form(s)

Among the many antiquities preserved in India is the manual typewriter. No artifact, it remains a vital part of daily life. While lack of rural electrification is a factor, this is chiefly a result of the Raj, the era of British colonial occupation. When the British withdrew, they left behind an entrenched bureaucracy and an ocean of official paper forms. The only way to legibly fill in paper forms: typewriters.

Read more: “The typewriter lives on in India,” Mark Magnier, Los Angeles Times

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Tags: bureaucracy, clerks, forms, government, India, manual typewriters, paper forms, paperwork, red tape, technology, typewriters, typing