The Versatility of Paper - From Legalities to Creativity and Environmental Impact

The word ‘paper’ has a versatile and robust character and lends itself to different connotations in varying contexts.

Something ‘looking good on paper’, for instance, means that it is being judged by how it has been planned rather than how it may work in practice. Likewise, something ‘not being worth the paper on which it is written’, is to say that it is totally useless. To give ‘in writing’, again, is to enter into a formal and legally binding agreement. While ‘Carte blanche’, or a blank piece of paper, stands idiomatically for giving someone a free hand, in the manner of execution of a task entrusted, a ‘paper tiger’, similarly, is someone who, at first glance, seems to be in charge but who, on closer examination, is completely powerless. I remember fondly how my father, who was a judge, was a real paper tiger while on the bench, but never at home!

Paper has also for long been a theme that has spurred the creative urge of poets, writers and movie makers. At the beginning of the first part of this article, I had mentioned that the inspiration to write on the subject of paper had come from watching a couple of Hindi movies. The subject, was also the theme of a Hindi movie of 1959 vintage, ‘Kaagaz ke phool’, which tells the story of a famous film director, a movie which became a trend setter, as it marked the advent of technical revolution in Indian cinematography and was considered way ahead of its time. The ubiquitous, and all pervasive, nature of paper is brought out, in a most appealing manner, in the monologue that comes at the end of the movie, with Salman Khan, the matinee idol, giving the voice over. And the narrative describes how paper can either be a newspaper, a letter, a daily necessity, a medium for conveying the permission to live or die, a conduit for love, marriage or divorce, the maker and destroyer of happiness, or something which can bring tears of either joy, or suffering, to the eyes of a human being.

A waste paper basket, literally and figuratively, is the recipient of trash or worthless garbage. Where, between you and me, I suspect most of what I write lands up, in the rooms of the editors of magazines!

Paper is manufactured from several types of raw material in the form of cellulose pulp derived from material including wood, cotton, rice or wheat straw, linen rags. Partly with a view to saving on paper, which often comes from wood obtained by the felling of trees, and partly in the interests of accuracy and speed, most offices are, nowadays, resorting to what is called a ‘paperless’ environment, choosing to rely, instead, on digitised means of communication and preparation/storage of documents. What with the threat of climate change looming large across countries in the world and the alarming denudation of forests, the need is being felt, increasingly, for conserving trees and finding substitutes for wood for manufacture of various things including paper. The reason why paperless offices are becoming increasingly common. While on that subject, handmade paper, produced from cotton rag waste from the garment industry, is an extremely useful and eco-friendly substitute, for paper made out of other raw materials. The production process not only precludes the use of any toxic chemicals or non-dashboard raw materials, thus resulting in less trees being felled, but also uses renewable solar energy, an environment friendly feature. The paper is, also of premium quality and an elegant appearance.

Interestingly, scented paper is crafted using a proprietary process, select papers and alcohol-resistant odorless inks. As a result of scented print eliciting stronger emotional responses, information is better retained in memory and leaves a longer lasting impression. Paper flowers, are becoming increasingly popular as they last longer, and continue to remain just as beautiful, as they were to begin with.

The mouse and the keyboard of a computer are for the children of today, what paper used to be earlier. Thus, the tactile experience of writing on paper, which can help them develop their motor skills, so important for learning and overall physical development, is denied to them for good. Childhood, with all its innocence, is invariably associated with games and toys for joy and fun. I cannot imagine a child not having played with boats made out of paper, exploring creeks and streams with nothing but some paper and some folding tricks as raw material! Nobel laureate, poet, lyricist, and philosopher, Rabindranath Tagore, captures in his own inimitable fashion, the joy a child finds in imagining communication with an exotic friend through a paper boat.

There is plenty of news and opinion across Indian media, with one exception the print media. On account of a severe shortage of newsprint, several newspapers have been forced to reduce their pages, pare down editorials, and do away with weekend glossies and special editions. Others have increased cover prices or are using paper so thin that readability is compromised. A shortage of newsprint – a low-quality paper made from either wood pulp or recycled wastepaper – is a problem that has arisen before, but it has been exacerbated by a number of interrelated factors, global and domestic, over the past couple of years. Supply chain disruptions and price hikes due to the Russia-Ukraine war have just made the crisis more urgent and severe. In fact, back in the year 1955, the Essential Commodities Act also covered newsprint. The Newsprint Control Order of 1962, which controlled its production and trade, was revoked in 2004 and newsprint removed from the list of essential goods.

The word paper also stands for a piece of writing on a particular subject written by an expert and usually published in a book or journal, or read aloud to other people: Two research papers, written by me as a research scholar, on the Theory of Relativity, were published in reputed journals.

While, as we have seen, paper can be put to many beneficial purposes, there also is the occasional harmful purpose for which it can be used. Cigarettes come wrapped in paper. Not only does smoking burn the lungs of the smoker, but cigarette manufacture causes destruction of precious forests, so important for the protection of the environment.

The credence people attached to what is printed in the newspapers varies sharply, depending upon the bringing up of persons, which shapes their attitudes. I had a friend, for instance, who refused to believe even what was happening in front of his eyes unless it was reported in the papers. And, there was, at the other extreme, this senior colleague of mine, who poo-poohed the value of the print media, saying that today’s newspaper is, after all, tomorrow’s ‘mithai potlam’ – (being the Telugu word for the paper wrap in which sweets are sold by shop keepers)!

(The writer was formerly Chief Secretary, Government of Andhra Pradesh)