Wednesday, January 27, 2021

Ink fillers and Hero pens

 I was watching a movie today! I did enjoy the movie, but this post is not about the movie or its story or the characters or the content. Its about something that played a teeny weeny role in the flow of the story. Something one of the characters lovingly held in his hands, as he wrote something on a piece of paper in a moving train!   

A beautiful gleaming object in a lovely maroon colour with a golden cap - A beautiful Hero pen!


The first time we shifted from pencil to pen in school, was in class 4 . It is not perceived  with that much significance, as many other firsts in life that get a  lot more attention, but it is indeed a first that means a big thing at that age! The feel of ink on paper ; the first time we made an impression with the ink flowing from the pen, it was a beautiful feeling indeed! I am not sure what happens in schools today but then teachers believed that handwriting improved only with ink pens a.k.a fountain pens and not ball point pens! Today I rarely find any children  using fountain pens atleast in this part of the world. It's mostly gel pens or ball point ones! 

I remember watching my kindergarten teacher with awe as she was  filling ink in her pen from the red ink bottle in the staff room. I must have been only around five but for some reason that scene is imprinted in my memory like a favorite scene from a movie. Strange are the ways these things work! Memories!


There were pens that had to be filled with an ink filler but Hero pens were special. They came with an in built filler. Another awesome fact was that they seldom leaked! ( They still exist but I am using past tense as I am talking about memories you see!)

They usually came in two colors brown or green with a golden cap and the words Hero engraved in tiny letters on the handle. I have seen some with silver caps too but they were rare!

The choice of blue or black ink is unique to ones personality in my opinion. Some of us like blue and there are those who always prefer black like my son.  I remember there was a color called Blue Black in Chelpark ink brand. I guess that was for the ones who preferred middle paths! ha ha

These days there are fountain pen ink cartridges...more like use and throw type! I got one last year but somehow was not very impressed.

Nobody writes personal letters in this era of instant messaging but writing letters was a beautiful habit that existed a few decades ago. It was a medium for people to not only narrate the events in their life but in the process it helped them channel their thoughts and beliefs into concrete shapes. The pen and the paper played counsellors and  the writing was therapeutic in its own way. We have a lot of famous books that are simply collections of letters don't we ?

Talking of pens , typing has precedence over writing in this computer age but I am a note-it-down and make-a-list person. A lot of things I prefer just writing them down rather than relying on digital devices! Its good for the brain too, I heard. Studies prove that writing down has a stronger effect in us remembering them later or for that matter organizing our ideas or thoughts! It sometimes aids in instilling conviction and determination for our goals.

As I said before, strange are the ways these things work! Memories....So grab a pen(Awesome if you have a Hero) and write something down!!Its a beautiful feeling !


12 comments:

  1. Who could have thought a humble pen could have led to such a journey down memory's road. I remember when we shifted from pencils to pens. It was a grand affair for us too. It showed we were "big" now :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes it definitely did ....and a chance for younger siblings to declare that they were now on par with the older ones

      Delete
  2. Amazing and simple writeup with beautiful memories shared.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Amazing and simple write up with lot of memories shared of those days.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Jaish, here also the kids don't seem to use ink pens. Looks like its a thing of the past already.

    Seriously -- graduating from the pencil to an inkpen and from a regular ink pen to a hero pen was so exciting!! :)

    Gone are those days of Chelpark and Bril ink and blotting paper and all. :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not to mention the ink eraser...the blue and pink one
      .....everyone owned one though we knew it tore our pages

      Delete
  5. Thanks Jayashree for triggering wonderful memories.

    We didn't have fillers those days. So my father taught me how to fill ink without spilling, and without letting the ink overflow. It helped to hold the pen at an angle.

    We also had a form of pen that didn't have the cavity to fill ink. There was just the nib that was fixed to a pencil-like rod. The nib had to be dipped in ink. I don't remember what it was called, but my father used that as well occasionally.

    I remember the black ink on the nib drying up, and we had to vigorously shake the pen for the ink to flow into the nib again. Blue and blue-black didn't have that problem. The red ink used to be a little thicker than the rest.

    The only person I have seen using a fountain pen these days is a colleague in my office. I am going to send the link of this post to him.

    Maybe some day I will get back to writing letters and that too with a fountain pen!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Jayashree, I landed on your blog piece from Blogchatter:)
    How beautiful, so resonated with me. I used to be a pen hoarder and large part of my treasure was gifted by my father from his collection :) The gleaming golden caps and royal green body in different shades..brought back so many memories.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Anjali , I am a pen hoarder even now ... yesterday got one that has multicolored ink ha ha

      Delete
  7. Brought back fond memories as a school boy with more ink on my fingers and shirt than on note book. I could relate with every word though I forget Hero brand. I treasure my Mont blanc in black that remains unused ffor years.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Brought back fond memories as a school boy of four decades back with more ink from the leaky pen on my fingers and shirt than on my note book. I could relate with every  word of your post though I forget the Hero brand. I treasure my Mont blanc in black with cartridges that need filling of ink through a syringe! Sadly it remains unused for years.

    ReplyDelete