Ink pen

                  The evolution of ink pen started with a quill and an ink pot. (Duh, everybody knows it!)

Later came the gel pen, stick pen, ball point pen, microtip pen etc. Remember the days, when we used to get scoldings from our school teachers for using gel pens/ball point pens instead of ink pens?(At least I did!). I remember one of my tamil teacher who insisted or perhaps constantly scolded us in her screeching voice to use fountain pens till my 10th grade so that we will have a better handwriting in the future. Well, I dunno if it 100% true, but my handwriting did get improved, including the fact that she actually gave strenuous workouts for my hand.

There are few incidents that flashes my mind, when i think 'bout fountain pens. I remember the fight with my dad, when he bought me a normal ink pen, instead of a Hero pen just because the shopkeeper suggested not to go for it(Well, i personally liked that pen, though it works well for hardly a month or so! On the other hand, you get  new pen every month. :-P). I felt that my handwriting got better every time I used that pen.

Once I was in an exam hall and during exams few of us were made to sit on the floor("Only two in a bench!" policy. And, it was the poor guy's(sitting next to me) turn to sit on the floor). Half way through the exam, my brand new ink pen showed its evil face(Apparently, all possible worst things happen only during exams and all at the same time!).  I was frustrated by trying to make it work and as we usually do, I shook the pen like a whip. It didn't work. I did the same(twice) next time with my full energy, only to find that the guy next to me had ink splashes all over his white shirt and on his face!

After a long angry stare he rushed to wash the ink spotted face & shirt. Unfortunately, water scarcity was at its peak, and he could get only droplets of water from the tap, which worsened the situation by spreading the blot. Leaving me with no other choice(with a lot of hesitation), I had to provide him my 1.25 lts of cold mineral water to remove the stain only to some extent(Well, it's just water, not a Rin Ala fabric whitener!). And, of course later that day I got a blast from my teacher for being so careless.

I also remember the day when one of my friend, while troubleshooting a fountain pen, tried using the pen nib like a straw, and ended up with a blue mouth :D. She gave a wide smile(with 32 blue teeth) without noticing the ink all over her mouth and all I did was stare & laugh at her for the whole day!

All possible messy things happen with fountain pens. You find that your ink filler has a huge cut on it(when you have only 5 minutes to leave) and you try to pour the ink directly from the bottle, which eventually gets spilled all over the floor. To prove that you are wise, you use your blue socks to wipe the ink from the floor only to find that your mom has been standing behind and staring at you for a long time!

Nevertheless, I still love ink pens and I recently bought a set of Calligraphy fountain pens. It works great! :)