MEHER LAGHU LIPI’ – GUJARATI SHORTHAND – DEVELOPED BY SHRI NOSHIRWAN BAPUJI KARANJIA OF SURAT 

‘MEHER LAGHU LIPI’ – GUJARATI SHORTHAND – DEVELOPED BY SHRI NOSHIRWAN BAPUJI KARANJIA OF SURAT

–  By Ailesh Shukla, Surat (Free rendering in English from ‘Meher Laghu Lipi  Rachayitaa Noshirwan Bapuji Karanjia’ – by Burjor Daboo)

GUJARATI SHORTHAND WAS INVENTED BY A PARSI EDUCATIONIST OF SURAT – SHRI NOSHIRWAN BAPUJI KARANJIA.

Completing over 9 decades of establishment and approaching to complete a century. ‘The Cambay Institute of Commerce,’ Surat is a well-known institution for teaching commerce stream subjects. On 15th August, 1931, this organization was established in a small house in the ‘Parsi wad’ area on the outskirts of a small town called Khambhat in Kheda district. Then the name was ‘Institute of Commerce, Cambay’, whose founder was Shri Noshirwan Bapuji Karanjia.

He was a resident of the ‘Sheth Rustamji Mancherji Kooka Parsi Boys Orphanage’ of Surat, and studied in, ‘Sir J.J. English High School’, affiliated to the same Institution where He did his primary-secondary education. After that, as he got an opportunity to serve the same parent institution as a teacher. So on 6th September 1940, he came to Surat.

The School time was fixed. What to do after that? So he obtained the permission of the school authorities, and started the institution that he had established in Khambhat, at Surat during non-school hours. Since then an organization named ‘The Cambay Institute of Commerce’ was established in Surat and it is still functioning today. Someone has rightly said: ‘A man’s fortune is under the leaves.’ (If that leaf shifts, your life will reach the peak of success; name and honour will increase in the society)

The same thing happened to Noshirwan. He was an average student during his schooling days, but in AD 1931, an unwanted incident happened in his life, which changed his fortunes. Of course, this unfortunate incident turned out to be a blessing in disguise for him. It was this misfortune that opened the doors of his fortune and brought him to the pinnacle of success. Although here we do not go into the depth of that incident but to some extent the event is integrated with this subject of ours. We will Presently just mention it in short.  Like in today’s time, 12th standard examination is required to be passed for college admission; At that time one had to pass the ‘Matriculation examination’ conducted by the ‘Greater Maharashtra Education Board, Pune’.

At that time, English shorthand and typewriting were of great importance as these subjects were employment oriented. These subjects were also examined by the ‘London Chamber of Commerce’. With a view to encouraging students to repeat these subjects, the ones with highest Merit were awarded Gold-Silver-Bronze medals respectively by the ‘London Chamber of Commerce’ . Also, from that year, the student who came 1st at the school level in the same subject was to be awarded a gold medal – ‘Sheth Dhanjishah B. N. Vakil Memorial Gold Medal’ by the Famous Vakil Family.

Noshirwan, who disliked boring general subjects like and shorthand in his studies, dreamed of achieving these medals. After struggling continuously day and night for countless hours, Noshirwan achieved a feat that was considered impossible and impossible even for a high level student in a subject like English Shorthand, in a span of only two or three months. Not only this but also was the first Indian to receive the bronze medal declared by the ‘London Chamber of Commerce’ and coming first in the school, he became the 1st student to be awarded the ‘Sheth Dhanjishah B. N. Vakil Memorial Gold Medal’. This event proved that ‘even dreams can become reality.’

At that time the school used to conduct a preliminary practical exam to test the students for the matriculation board exams. Noshirwan could not pass this practical examination as he had spent most of his time preparing for the English shorthand and unfortunately his teaching career came to an untimely end. But the success in the field of English Shorthand planted an idea in his mind.

‘If The Mind Is Firm; The Goal Is In Sight; There Is A Strong Effort, And If There Is Hard Work That Sheds Light, Then Success Will Surely Be Awarded.’ This idea became his life Goal.

After the  misfortune of failing to clear the Matriculation exam, the love of shorthand increased, he studied the English shorthand writing system of different creators like  (1) Pitman, (2) Sloan Duplain, (3) Gregg and (4) Tandon. Which were in force abroad at that time and came to the conclusion that of  all these Methods Pitman’s method was the easiest; to learn, write and read but was also scientifically complete.

LET’S TAKE A QUICK LOOK AT A LITTLE HISTORY OF WHAT ENGLISH SHORTHAND IS.

Sir Isaac Pitman, who was an English teacher; It was a script invented by him. Pitan Shorthand method was first published in 1837 as ‘Phonographic Sound Hand’. It was a system of rapid writing based on the sounds of words. Sir Isaac Pitman, (born: January 4, 1813, Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England – died: January 12, 1897, Somerset) was an English teacher before being a clerk in a textile mill. Then Pitman entered the Teachers’ Training College in 1831. Then invented this English Shorthand. Thus, as mentioned above, preferring the English shorthand method of typewriting and Pitman’s method, he had established the ‘Institute of Commerce’ in Khambhat. That study gained momentum in Surat. Noshirwan’s birthplace was Valsad Gujarat, Matru Bhumi Khambhat Gujarat, Education and Karm Bhumi Surat; Mother tongue being Gujarati, It is natural that they have bias towards Gujarati. He cherished the dream of having a Gujarati Shorthand Just like the English shorthand, who could pick word by word and put it on paper, but then it was almost unlikely to come true. However, he started working on Gujarati shorthand script from 1954-55 only for self-satisfaction. Slowly, the raw structure of the script started to be prepared in the mind, but where the national language of the country is Hindi, and all the work of government-semi-government offices or private companies is done in English, how much will it spread, promote and spread? The dream will remain only a dream! He would be saddened at that thought.

On 1st May 1960 when Gujarat-Maharashtra separated and Gujarat State formed its own new government, Hon’ble Shri Hitendrabhai Kanaiyalal Desai of Surat, became the Law Minister of Gujarat Legislative Assembly. This newly formed Gujarat government insisted that ‘all the work of the state should be done in Gujarati language’. For that, it was decided to prepare ‘Gujarati Language Abbreviations’ for quick disposal of daily work. On 21st October 1960, Hon’ble Minister Shri Hitendrabhai himself visited the ‘Cambay Institute’ in Surat, and apprised Noshirwan of the said decision of the Government. At the same time, it was suggested to prepare Gujarati Language Shorthand for the administration of Gujarat state. This news shone a ray of light in Noshirwan’s life. His dream began to come true. During the discussion with Hon’ble Mr. Hitendrabhai, Noshirwan said that, “The structure of Gujarati short script is ready, but there is a problem of cost.” Hon’ble Shri Hitendrabhai was originally from Surat and was familiar with the methodology and teaching style of ‘Cambay Institute’. So he immediately said, “You start the work, you will get assistance from the state government on expenses.” The discussion went on for a while. In the meantime, accepting the responsibility of training the personal secretaries of high-level bureaucrats who managed government departments,  by preparing a text book. the Honourable Minister assured with a request, “If the shorthand book of Gujarati language is proved to be effective, the government will approve it as a text book and the use of this script will be considered mandatory for Gujarati shorthand writers.”

Noshirwan, deeply impressed by the kind words and courteous behavior of Hon’ble Mr. Hitendrabhai on the occasion of the book release, verbally promised to provide free training in the field of ‘Gujarati Shorthand’ to the first batch of short-handers nominated by the government in the shortest possible time. After this visit, work on ‘Gujarati short script book publishing’ started on a war footing. Gujarati Shorthand letters means ‘line figures’; Lineage of language words; Depicted by a Line curve or circle. As the science of the script is ‘phonetic’ (writing according to the sound of the word) depending on the meaning word by word according to syntax. Accordingly the figure is different. It means that the same word is written in different ways. Because of this, shorthand letter moulds could not be made; So how to publish a book? That problem arose. At that time only one magazine called “Shorthand Reading and Dictation Exercises” was published from Delhi. Noshirwan reached Delhi with his son Rohin. An interview with a magazine owner revealed that ‘shorthand figures can only be printed with blocks.’ This meant that blocks of all the pages of the textbook had to be prepared. The way for publishing the book was opened, but who and how could one scientifically create the shorthand figure required for the blocks? Thinking about this, the name of his school-time friend and surveyor of Mumbai’s commercial art ventures, Seth  Poonawalla, came to his mind. Seth Faramroj and Noshirwan both stayed in the same hostel, studied in the same school.

 Noshirwan reached Mumbai with son Rohin. Friends meeting after years exchanging Pleasantries, shared childhood memories. Noshirwan then explained the purpose of his coming, and sought to know if Seth Faramroj could assist in this direction. Feeling proud that an ordinary classmate of his time had achieved the feat of creating an unfamiliar script, Seth Faramroj showed his readiness to make all the blocks that had to be prepared at a nominal price. Not only this, but he also assured of giving full support in this work if he can be helpful in any other way. On the condition That ‘He will deliver the design of the pages as required within the agreed time. So that he can prepare the blocks at his convenient time.’ He also suggested that, on all the pages of the textbook where the figure of shorthand is written, An artist should paint it with poster color. Problem arose again on the task, very politely Naushirwan told Seth Faramroj, ‘But Seth, this is a new research, where in a city like Surat can one find an artist who is familiar with the subject of shorthand and can also inscribe the graphic figure on paper in a regular manner? Seth Faramroj gave courage and said: ‘This work is no doubt challenging for creating a new method; But not impossible. We need someone who can work honestly with time, patience, diligence and concentration, I will take care of the rest.” Noshirwan replied that his son Rohin, could do the work diligently. But He Neither Knows Shorthand Nor is he an Artist. Faramroj said, “if you could let your son stay here in Mumbai, I will train your son to draw shorthand figures for blocks under the guidance of John Lewis, the supervisor of the art department of my company.”

Hearing These Kind Words of support Noshirwan, respectfully bowed to him, and arranged for Rohin to stay at his brother Kaykhushru’s, house in Mumbai,  Dropping Rohin There Noshirwan came to Surat. The first thing he did after coming to Surat was to study the Gujarati language thoroughly and Diligently. As he studied further, he refined the deficiencies that came up of structure of shorthand that he had in mind, and perfected an entirely new science of writing. While designing the text book, he took the help of ‘Mr. Sitaram Prabhudas Chhodiwala’, a teacher of the Gujarati subject of the higher standard of the school where he worked, regarding his language as well as the various parts of the language.

After Completing his training on how to write shorthand words in a book, as well as how to integrate them with Gujarati script words, from Mr. John Lewis, Rohin returned to Surat. As soon as he arrived in Surat, he took on work for Printing the stationery for Cambay Institute. He contacted Mr. Jashwantsinh Gulabsinh Thakor, owner of Surat City Press, who handled the entire printing of ‘Cambay’ stationery The page design of the book was getting ready, the blocks were made. In the process of preparation, sometimes even the page number indicated by Seth Faramroj and the timing to submit did not match; In those circumstances, many times had to sit together for 48 hrs. once or twice even had to stay together for 72 hrs.

The book was completed in two parts. 1st from pgs. 1 to 8. Then from 9 to 24;. In this Manner the Effort of  10 year research and printing process took another 5 years, A total of 15 consecutive years, Naushirwan finally dedicated the ‘MEHER LAGHULIPI’;  Our own ‘Gujarati Shorthand’, for Gujarati language. Pursuant to Hon’ble Mr. Hitendrabhai’s initial discussion with Noshirwan, a group of 18 students were selected from different areas like Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Dahod, Godhra to train the English language stenographers as Gujarati language stenographers, with a Target of 60-80 words per minute be transcribed into shorthand, within 6 months. For that a batch was prepared on 1-7-1966. At that time the printing of the second part of the book was going on in full swing.

On 25th July 1966,the present and ex-students of ‘Cambay aptly honoured their sir, Naushirwan with a silver casket ,at the hands of Shri Ranchhodrai Popawala of Udhana Udyognagar, for this rare achievement. Also, it was decided to honour him publicly by the Surat Nagarpalika on the occasion of the Independence Day on 15th August that year. Unfortunately On 1 August 1966 Noshirwan was bedridden due to a heart attack and the program was postponed. As the New shorthand Script was created, and Noshirwan had become bedridden, his son Rohin Karanjia, who designed the book pages, was the only one who was aware of the science of this script. So, as his father was bedridden, the task of completing the training of the stenographers, by the Government was entrusted to Rohin. Who took up this task very well and at the end of the training On 31st December 1966, a shorthand test was conducted by the Gujarat government, where they achieved 100 % for the speed of 60 words per minute and 94.44 % for the speed of 80 words per minute. The unrelentless efforts of Noshirwan to create  the ‘MEHER LAGHULIPI’ finally saw success and ‘MEHER LAGHULIPI’ was accepted as the Official  Gujarati Short hand Text book.

A sad incident Occurred during that time, On 26-8-1966, a telegram from Seth Faramroj that the work of the book has been completed. When Naushirwan was apprised of it, Recalling that day, son Rohin Karanjia sadly states, “He could not contain the joy of his dream coming true, and he breathed his last at 11.20 that night.”

In February 1967, when the state government offered remuneration for preparing shorthand stenographer, Noshirwan’s heirs with great respect refused to accept the money and clarified, “When the state government had entrusted with full confidence, on our Father, the Onus of preparing the Gujarati Shorthand stenographers, he had promised to train them free of charge. Even though the promise was verbal, it was his promise. Today, when our father is not alive, we should not hurt his soul by violating his words. Which has to be Honoured.”

This was the illustrious history of ‘Gujarati Shorthand’; It will be written in golden letter; in the History of Surat reason being Gujarati shorthand, ‘MEHER LAGHULIPI’ was invented by shri Noshirwan Bapuji Karanjia, a Parsi educator from Surat; Also the history of Gujarat will remember this skilled Craft, invention in Gujarati language,

—  Ailesh Shukla, Surat

On 15th August 2022, is the Foundation Day of Yazdibhai, Rohinbhai and Late Mahernosh Karanjia’s father (Noshirwan Bapuji Karanjia Sir’s) ‘Cambay Institute. The institution will complete 91 years and enter 92 years. (Established on 15-8-1931 Saturday) hence the appropriate time for This documentary article is prepared.

From: ‘Agradoot Sanchar’ (Fortnightly Magazine) Surat 1-8-2022 (the 1st & Only magazine in which the history of ‘MEHER LAGHULIPI’ – The Gujarati language Shorthand is published.)

Burjor Daboo