Old and forgotten: The two-hundred-year-old hand-operated machine at Sinha Press. Picture by Biplab Basak

Aggressive technology and the mushrooming of modern offset units have left printers of Jalpaiguri so worried that they have forgotten the centenary year of printing and publishing in the town.

According to researchers, the first printing house ? Planters? Press ?was opened in Samajpara of Jalpaiguri in 1905, five hundred years after Johan Guttenberg invented the printing technology in Germany. Planters and bankers used to keep the press busy then.

Though that particular press does not exist now, Bina Press, which opened in 1910, continues till today as the oldest existing printing press of the town.

Anup Kundu, a researcher, said it was sad that most printers of the town were unaware of the centenary year of printing in Jalpaiguri.

?Earlier, printing was done on hand and foot operated machines. Some of these are still there. The century-old machines are precious pieces of history and needs to be preserved. The owners running such presses however, are not interested. Even in this centenary year, they are thinking only of competition and profit,? he said.

?The Sinha Press has a hand-operated printing machine which is 200 years old and still functional. It was made in England and has wooden blocks. There is also another machine, which though not operational, is 90 years old. These two are probably the oldest machines in the region,? Kundu added.

Asim Sinha, an octogenarian and owner of Sinha Press, while reminiscing about the days when printing press owners did brisk business in Jalpaiguri, said: ?There were few printing presses then, catering to definite customers like planters, bankers and Nawabs. We used to get bulk orders. But with the advent of modern offset printing, we started losing out to technology.?

?Though many of us have closed down or set up offset units, a few are still struggling with the old machines,? Sinha, who has been associated with printing since 1952, added.

The printing press owners are, however, the last on earth to celebrate the centenary year. ?Instead of thinking over the good times and the centenary year, we are busy with our business. We have no time to sit and relax,? the perturbed printer added.