Another Gift of a Fountain Pen

I wonder why but since about six or more months my luck seemed to be getting better and better- I am traveling more often, finding good books frequently and also being presented with fountain pens more often than expected. Last week once again, someone gifted me a beautiful fountain pen which took me to cloud nine straightaway the moment I laid my eyes on it. This was the second fountain pen I got as a gift in less than a month. There are still about eight months left for the year to end…

It wasn’t a friend who gifted the pen but an acquaintance who drops in on me at my office often. He knows about my craze for fountain pens so last week he gave me quite a surprise taking out the beautiful fountain pen from its plastic box. It was a bit ornate for my taste but it was too beautiful to refuse. Actually I wanted to refuse it since he has official work with me at the office and I could be accused of taking a bribe. He told me it was a personal gift so I took it but told him it was the last gift I would accept from him. Anyway, it wouldn’t have cost more than a few hundred rupees so it was alright.

But it was really beautiful to look at and wonderful to hold in the hand. It was heavy, just the way I want my pens to be. With a heavy enough fountain pen the handwriting comes out well, at least mine does. It had a plunger type of filling mechanism which takes in little ink which I don’t prefer. I prefer pens with barrel fill mechanism because I write a lot everyday and don’t like to fill ink too often. But then, one shouldn’t look at a gift horse (or even a pen) in the mouth.

Pics of the pens are by my friend Uma Shankar Sastry who is a photographer, painter as well as an excellent writer. Thanks, Uma Shankar