Dehradun, Nov. 10 -- Madan Sharma.

On the grapevine, I hear that Pramode Sawhney is chugging along. After decades together on the Board of the Mussoorie Library, I find myself scrambling for a phrase to describe him. Perhaps, 'Gentler than gentle,' fits like a glove.

'When did Art Press start?' I ask him.

'My father's family came here from Lahore in 1933. Analogue printing meant running out of 'e's!' he rues. With his two children settled overseas, it is time to draw the shutters on the press, so I put it up for rent.'

'This is all I carried away as I walked away from a place where I'd spent a lifetime,' he said, pointing at a sheaf of pink papers wedged between his books on his shelf.

Rummaging through early copies of The Mussoorie ...