A tryst with a fountain pen.....

I have been a rebel most of my life, in fact I would say, for my entire life. Hence, I have never liked doing anything that I have been told to do, though at most times, I would eventually regret this contumacious attitude. 

Back in the day, when we started using fountain pens in school, I used to look at me seniors in seventh and eight grade with awe- their ball point pens, unlike the messy, compulsory fountain pens we were using! I waited so desperately for my time to come. It sure did come. And then Gemma happened!

I had this teacher who used to teach me Math and Sciences in tenth grade, Gemma Wasan, strict as ever, would select her students with great care, and would make them work the way she desired! I entered her first class with a ballpoint pen. She gave us a short exercise with some Math problems to see where we stood. At the end of it, she corrected them all right in front of us- rather tore them all up. Why? Well, there was no need to correct them. They were all written in ballpoint pen ink, and there were cancellations and corrections on pages.....so a rule was established on the first day of tuition classes- USE FOUNTAINPEN, CANCELLATIONS ARE AS GOOD AS NO SUBMISSIONS. Gemma and her class are worthy of their own entry. Today, lets talk about my journey with my fountain pen.

I hated it, only because Gemma wanted me to use it. I tried to use microtips and roller balls. Finally, I gave in. I want to go back and see her and thank her to this date. It was because of her, that I did not have a single cancellation on my 10th Grade University Exams. I fell in love with my fountain pens- one red and one blue Parker vector, which lie at home in Mumbai till date. I continued using them through junior college, medical school and even internship!

I now carry a Waterman Hemisphere, way more expensive than my Parkers, but nowhere as good! Not for me at least. This just goes to show that no matter how boring something might get, if you're used to it, you are going to miss it! And yes, distance does make the heart grow fonder.

Gemma would say- "Buy a fountain pen, buy a bottle of camlin ink, use it for years. Less pressure on the paper, on your wrists and on the reader's eyes".

I wish there were more people like Gemma. I used my fountain pen at my Nutritional Epidemiology exam. It was a horrid experience. Apparently, the whole recycled paper circulating in the US is of such low quality, it's not even funny! A fountain pen needs a marginally absorbent paper with a smooth surface. The better the quality of the nib, the more would you feel the dynamics of ink, nib and paper. And it hurt, it was torture! There were blank strokes on one side of the page, compared to great writing on the other. The blue books are used for most exams at UMass. So what I am going to do for my Advanced Epi exam day after, is use a ballpoint! I hate it! But using the classic fountain pen is an experience which is dying out. 

I am starting a new forum for fountain pen users. There are a couple out there already. All I can do is hope. AND BE A REBEL! 

Hope to see you there.