Indian Medic

I have an HP all-in-one printer that is a boon in itself, for about two years now. I have used it to print countless documents, mostly formal letters for my mother’s use, scan a million photographs and copy a lot of stuff. It’s very special to me.

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As is expected, the black cartridge gives way sooner than the color cartridge does. And broke as I am I can’t afford to buy new ones (they are pretty pricey!). So I usually get them refilled at a local stationary store for a nominal amount. Apparently, this is a perfectly acceptable thing to do. So the black printer cartridge has been refilled for about 4-5 times.

Sometime last year, there was a short-circuit in our apartment’s electricity supply and it blew my desktop’s power supply box and took down the printer as well. So many things went wrong with my already ailing desktop that it would be cheaper to buy a spanking new PC than get it repaired. Meanwhile I had bought my notebook, so it obviated the immediate need for a Family Desktop PC. But the printer was very much a needed thing, so I got it repaired.

The people at the HP customer service (after a weeks wait!) informed me that my dear printer was beyond repair and that they would replace it. And they did it for free, I am very thankful for that, coz the warranty period had already expired. But after a couple of months of ‘happily-ever-after’ the not-so-new replaced printer conked out as well. It didn’t completely break down, but works on its own whims and fancies. I tuned into its tantrums and wheedled out as much work as I could. Meanwhile, the color printer blanked out and I got it refilled as well.

Our flat is on the seventh floor and my bedroom faces the road. Consequentially, there is a lot of dust coming in through the windows, which is good neither for my darling Notebook and printer nor for my Allergic rhinitis. Try as I might to protect the dust sensitive gadgets, some particles always manage to find their way into the printer and settle on the cartridges. I try my best to clean them as well as possible, as per the instruction manual. I don’t claim to be tech savvy, but I can find my around and fix basic practical problems.

But the problem has only got worse. Nowadays, even though I know the cartridges are full, the pages come out blank, even though the contraption makes all the noises and motions of giving a perfect print. Today trying to print out an important letter, and receiving a beautiful blank white sheet in return, I got really pissed. I pulled out the dog- eared manual, which I thought I knew by heart and went over the troubleshooting pages for the umpteenth time. I even took out the cartridges and cleaned them with ‘a lint-free cloth, dipped in bottled water after squeezing out the excess water’ as said in the manual. No luck.

Then almost by divine intervention, I chanced to glance upon the illustration. It would be an understatement to say I did a double take. I read the circled lines a dozen times. If I didn’t know better I would have thought that there was some sinister force in play that had changed the instructions.