Goa’s ‘Typewriter Man’ And His Shop That’s Frozen In Time

Almost two years ago I picked up a stunning Oliveta Letra 31 in Mexico City. After passing it once on the street, I later retraced my steps in the evening to purchase the beauty with an sea green casing and a no longer produced black and red ink ribbon. This sturdy little typewriter then journeyed to Texas, later to Kenya, landed in Mumbai, and finally found its way to Goa.

After hauling the dang thing across the world it has slowly been coated in a growing layer of dust. All the letters I promised to write my Grandmothers have never come to fruition, as I have only clacked away a few pages of a seriously crap crime ‘novel’, mostly fueled by an excess of Old Monk.

Nonetheless, I still love the contraption, even if I can’t type a paragraph without committing an absurd amount of spelling errors. Rather than stare at a bright screen rested in my lap, which is probably slowly giving me testicular cancer, my Oliveta gave me a chance to have a different kind of fun while writing, even if it took me the better part of an hour to type a coherent page.

I had begun to miss using my Italian typewriter, and decided to get it cleaned, put in a new ink ribbon, and add a protective covering to the bottom. After much research I found the closest option to me was my best bet, Rosmos Typewriters in Panjim City.

On Corte Oiteiro Road, next to the Patto footbridge, Mr. Rosmos opened the doors to what was once Panjim’s booming typewriter repair store. The small workshop boasted a high ceiling, with stacks of drawers and long-reaching shelves extending at least nine feet in the air.

Much closer to the ground, Mr. Rosmos shuffled about, slowly moving around the cluttered workshop, circumventing various stools holding rare typewriters from Japan, India, and Germany. While assessing the condition of my typewriter Mr. Rosmos seemed to have an almost preternatural ability to stretch out his hand and grasp the exact drawer that harboured the specific tool he needed without even glancing upward.

The adroit, yet relaxed nature in which Mr. Rosmos operated within his typewriter repair shop can be attributed to the fact that he is a purebred professional. Since the 70s he has been at the forefront of Goa’s typewriter tuneups, at one in point time repairing over 2,000 typewriters per year with his arsenal of repairmen.

Nowadays he is a one-man-shop, long butted out of the major leagues by the computer frenzy. Nevertheless, Mr. Rosmos is far from bitter, and has maintained a love for typewriters that pulls on your heartstrings. The care with which he administered to my typewriter, gently, but with deft fingerwork, was a silent testament of that love.

Mr. Rosmos’ side business of collecting, repairing, and selling vintage typewriters further fleshes out his innocent obsession with these now-archaic tools for typing. He was kind enough to show me three of the up-and-running typewriters that are currently for sale.

Yet no matter how good looking these Japanese and German typewriters appear, Mr. Rosmos’ favourite typewriter will always be his Godrej 2000.

If you need a repair or are looking for typewriter, Mr. Rosmos is a great guy to approach. He has a genuine love for typewriters, which is represented in his affordable and honest pricing.

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