Fountain pens are nostalgic. Yesterday I saw a fountain pen at a stationery shop, and it took me back to my school days.
Yes, I belong to the era of fountain pens. When more than the paper, our hands would need the cleaning, and sometimes even our shirts. Remember the ink-bloating stain on your shirt you couldn’t hide from your mother’s eyes which often led to long dos and don’ts lectures?
Keeping the scolding part aside, I remember my love for Chinese pens, the ones with small nibs. Trust me; the writing looked like pearls spread on paper (of course, your handwriting skills mattered, too 😉).
I couldn’t afford one then as my parents were a little restricted, “It’s just a pen, so use any fountain pen. How does it matter?” I can’t say they were entirely wrong, as they didn’t experience writing with one of my favorites.
In school, we would fight over these pens with our friends. And so, to resolve this, we thought of a new mantra, “Share the pen and ask a favor.” So, when anyone from our friend circle would bring a new fountain pen, we would exchange it with our pen, and they became eligible to ask for a favor from us. It was fun.
But I now realize that writing with a fountain pen is meditative. How do I say that? Well, remember I said I saw one at the stationery shop? Yes, I bought one for myself and couldn’t wait to return home and start writing with it.
The experience is spellbinding, and it binds you with the present moment so well that writing becomes fun and relaxing simultaneously. I wish we, as children, would have known this fact then. And bless our teachers; they weren’t so expressive themselves to emphasize enough on writing with fountain pens. Their strictness felt like another school rule, and who likes to follow the rules?
And who knows, maybe if they would have explained it well, I could be lucky enough to buy myself a Chinese pen.
What’s past is in the past. Now is the era of Gel pens, but fountain pens would remain my first love, and I still can’t put my finger down on any fountain pen. But yes, all I can say is if you didn’t trust a word I said and still thinking, what’s with the hype, buy yourself a fountain pen and experience it yourself how you can write to relax, impress, experience ease, and grace all at the same time.
Do you miss writing with a fountain pen today?