Objects, though inanimate, can sometimes tell our story better than we can. Gandhi’s charkha, for instance, is testament to both the Mahatma’s simplicity and his power to disrupt. From the Amul butter we spread on our toast, to the Bajaj scooter we rode in the 80s, everyday objects—ordinary, sometimes extraordinary, things—have guided our habits and our lives. They have brought us delight, comfort, even emancipation. Our identity, we see, is coded, in part, in our shopping list. As independent India turns 75, we celebrate the things that have been loyal companions in our freedom.
HOW WE COMMUNICATED
Godrej Typewriter (1955–2011)
By 1947, Godrej had already built for itself a solid reputation. Founded in 1897, the company’s popular soaps were free of animal fat; its lockers and steel almirahs had also proven to be sturdy. A few months after Independence, Pirojsha Godrej was visibly excited when his son, Naval, proposed they start manufacturing typewriters. As Pirojsha knew, they’d be the first in Asia to do this.
Having cornered the Indian market, the Remington typewriter had already ushered in a new modernity by having mechanised writing, making it faster and universally legible. Women, too, had started joining the workforce as typists, but the M-9, Godrej’s “all Indian” typewriter, first introduced in 1955, earned vast appeal and was hailed by PM Jawaharlal Nehru as the symbol of an “independent and industrialised” India. Here was “today’s typewriter with a touch of tomorrow”.
Bu hikaye Reader's Digest India dergisinin August 2021 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye Reader's Digest India dergisinin August 2021 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
THE UNBELIEVABLE MR RIPLEY
The creator of Believe It or Not had an insatiable curiosity about strange and astonishing facts
HE OPENED UP THE ARC TIC
\"You don't just sit and wait for adventure to come,\" famed polar explorer Knud Rasmussen liked to explain.\"You go out and make it happen!\"
Discovering Babasaheb
This Dalit history month—which also marks the 134\" birth anniversary of Dr B. R. Ambedkar, we recount four momentous incidents from his life
Lion in the Living Room
Five decades after two young men brought a playful cub into their London home, the tale has touched a whole new generation
The Many Roles of SUNIL DUTT
Through many personal tragedies, this favourite matinee idol finds strength and solace in helping others
AGATHA CHRISTIE MURDER BY THE BOOK
More widely read than any other English writer, she baffled the world with masterly tales of murder and remained something of a mystery herself
THE DAY WE MADE Flying History
Ona sunny September day in 1913, the author set three world records ina homemade flying machine
THE COMMANDO WITH THE TATTOO
Ganesh Dhangde was just six years old when he got lost. Twenty years later, his mother had a visitor
MARILYN: HER MAGIC LINGERS ON
The real Marilyn Monroe was nobody you'd look at twice—unless she wanted you to
I Think, Therefore, I Spam...
...has become the way forward for too many e-mail pests. Here's how I deal with them every single day