Write here, write now

Tracing the 'evolution' of my writing - from the start to date…

We never used slates in school but Baba always insisted I use one at least for practicing Math problems using chalks (for ease and of course saving paper); the subject which was under his tutelage. 

That was the stage of pencils as well. At the start of each academic year in the month of June, every child had a brand new set of pencils, along with of course the other ‘accessories’ such as the eraser and the sharpener and a pencil box to keep them. It was the parents' duty to sharpen each of them (not the child, the pencil!) and arrange them neatly in the pencil box and it was the child's duty to lose at least one of them (not the parents, the pencil!) on the first day itself. The pencil shavings were another source of inspiration and fascination! Some of us used to preserve them and create objects out of them (their degree of sophistication is debatable), the most common one being the ‘rose’, created by simply collecting the shavings and curling one over the other. Then there were some who used to poke others (no Facebook Poke then, the 

real deal) after sharpening the pencil to the maximum point. 

The next stage, the one I was awaiting, came when I was in the 4th standard - the fountain pens! The smell of the ink, the proud feeling of holding a ‘grown ups writing instrument’, the stains on the fingers, clothes, bag and of course, the smooth flow of the nib against the sheet of paper. There was a lot of variety to choose from, and I don't mean the Parkers etc. They differed based on the way they stored the ink (plain filling or suction) and so on and so forth… 

The crucial times were the tests and exams. You would have to be foolish to not carry an extra one then as unknown to us, Murphy started influencing our lives then itself - if a pen had to malfunction, it would do so right on the day of the test/exam! The stress was sometimes relieved through the pen and there were a few students who would unknowingly shake it, not to help the ink to flow, but out of habit and ‘tension’ and inadvertently sprinkle some drops on those sitting around him/her :D

After that came "the others". I wouldn't want to waste too much space for them as though they have made our lives simpler and brought down the costs drastically, they are neither functionally fascinating nor aesthetically pleasing. Yes, the ball point pens. Of course I have dismembered them too, to check how they function. There was this one pen which used to be a favourite during exam time – Cello Maxwriter, now that one really did write smoothly and strained the hands lesser than when holding the others.

The gel pens, the fibre tip pens (not very reliable, especially if you write with great force) and of course the ‘pilot pens’. Remember those black/white ones with the arrow mark at the head near the nib? Those were really the rage sometime (many years) back!

I fear that's about it. Nowadays any ‘writing’ involves this keyboard and the mouse. Not much fun in that if you can't even doodle on the last page, or scratch off something after second thoughts (now don't be a smart alec and mention the html code for "strike out")!