A LOVELY, TRUE and ELABORATE MESSAGE

 FROM SAMPATH’S DESK:

A LOVELY, TRUE and ELABORATE MESSAGE:

What the above terms meant to us in our

old days when we were in service?

WINDOW:

A very old and shabby window was 

available in a room that could be 

likened to THE BLACK HOLE OF CALCUTTA

 that had gathered massive dust with 

the painting and bolting system gone. 

If you close, it cannot be opened and 

vice versa. No air would come in,

 and the damn old fan in operation

 would only send the air inside the room

 out through this window.

APPLICATION:

They were written in different papers

 then available - the thinnest manifold

 paper - that might even tear if you 

give a little more force while writing -

 you can see the image of what you

 have written on one side of the paper

 on the other side - the so-called typing

 and stencil paper would be like blotting 

paper and while writing on, it may 

absorb more ink making g the writing 

shabby and unreadable. It's therefore

 better to type on it, but still, there was 

the risk of the paper getting perforated

 like in a cheque book.

KEYBOARD:

A stand or a box where the caretaker

 of the office used to keep the keys of 

all rooms in the office duly numbered

 and marked.

MOUSE:

Why mouse, even big rats, bandicoots, 

and other reptiles were the regular and

 frequent visitors to our office! And, 

one had to be wary of it!

FILE:

It was a cluster of papers wrapped in 

a folder called ‘file’ and tagged together 

on the top-left through a thin thread with

 sharp edges. One was to handle the file 

cautiously and carefully, lest it would 

injure his/her hands.

HARD DRIVE:

Whether the commuting to the workplace

 and back home was by bus, train, auto,

 or van, it was really a HARD HARD DRUVE!

CUT:

Either you could cut a joke or hear

 the one cut.

PASTE:

The covers containing letters were to be

 properly closed using paste. More care

 and attention was required to close, 

paste, and seal the CONFIDENTIAL COVERS.

 The sealing should be done inch after 

inch, as per the rules governing classified

 documents, right!

WEB and VIRUS:

Both in office and home, we had the 

WEBS of some insects and VIRUS hubs 

creating health menace.

APPLE & BLACKBERRY:

Being costly fruits, we could eat them 

barely, or once in a blue moon.

FAMILY and FRIENDS:

They were and are there, of course.

R.SAMPATH 

11.9.2025