An extremely busy man. He has been a famous journalist for many years and you all know his name: Supana Pathak. While he was at it, busy shooting, we pounced upon him so that even when he is with his guards down, we could check out the fountain pens that he carries.
So, Suparna da, if you just show our viewers the pens that you are carrying today… tell us a little about the pens.
Suparna Pathak:
The pens that I am carrying now… This is a Pilot Capless, which was gifted to me by Chawm. This is a pen that I always carry with me. As it is very convenient. Incidentally, let me point out that I am not a pen collector. I like using pens and I use only those pens that fit well into my hand.
It is also true that I am often swayed into buying pens out of sheer greed.
Like, this pen - the Kanwrite Emperor. This was one of my first few Indian pens. I bought this online, but this is not up my street as it has a metal grip which I find uncomfortable and is not conducive to long bouts of writing. But I do use it still and the pen is inked up with Sulekha.
This is a Parker 51 a very old pen which has a push filling system in the back. This writes extremely well and even after many hours of writing performs admirably. All these pens are currently inked.
Ah, this is a Waterman, a very dear pen of mine. In fact, my son’s marriage registration was solemnized with this pen. This pen is also one that I always carry.
This pen was gifted to me by someone who teaches abroad. He sent me this pen during Covid, it is a Sonnet.
This isa Montblanc Boheme. The interesting feature of this pen, what I like so much about this pen, is that the weight of the pen perfectly matches my hand. This is a retractable nib pen. This pen is Montblanc’s engineering feat - from wherever I may place the cap when the nib extrudes out, the nib and the clip with click into place, in perfect alignment. I am not too enamored with Montblanc pens as they do not really fit into my hands, but this Boheme is just perfect for my grip. I can write hours at an end with this pen. The biggest problem with this pen is that it is cartridge fed.
Apart from these … I very much like this pen too. This is a Lamy 2K. Itis a piston filler . It takes in a huge amount of ink. It was designed in the 1960 and may well be the only pen designed then that is still in production.
I buy pens when I am sad. It is not that I always buy pens abroad. I was very sad sometime back and bought this pen in Kolkata. This is a Ferrari, from Shaeffer it is now available in the Indian market.
I had never used Indian pens and have started using them only of late after Chawm showed me that India-made pens are available and that they are in no way inferior…
I use a Click pen. In fact, among all my pens, perhaps it is that Click that writes the best in my hand. The grip is so smooth that it is my favorite.
As for buying pens abroad, it is very interesting. And I used to buy fountain pens with a vengeance. And yes, I do have many Mont Blancs. The airports then had many fountain pen shops which were not really known by ordinary people.
Chawm:
Suparnada before you leave - many youngsters are again picking up the fountain pens. As a parent, a writer, a journalist, and an academic what will be your advice to them…
Suparna Pathak:
It is a matter of personal choice. What I can say is that a Fountain Pen is like Love. When I hold a fountain pen and write with it, then a strange relationship develops - since you alluded to children, I cannot use the exact term to explain what I am trying to say - it is a strange kind of pleasure. The words reach a different dimension when I write with a fountain pen. I am not exaggerating, it is true. I do get this feeling. Since the dot pen skids on the paper - it is so devoid of a character. You know, you can take a refill and throw it away. But the nib of a fountain pen, that carries the endings of my thoughts - that tip carries my rights, my wrongs, my successes, my failures. If I have written a love letter with the pen, then that fountain pen is a witness to my love. So, fountain pens have a soul connection with us which is extremely humane, fulfilling, and very uniquely my own.
No two fountain pens are the same. But it is very difficult to differentiate between two ballpoint pens. The experience of writing with each fountain pen is different. All these fountain pens of mine have their own characters because the nibs write differently. Both may be fine nibs, but while one fine nib may write in a particular way and return to me saying that it has completed its job, another fine nib may write the same thing and return to tell me that what you had tasked me with has been completed. Their approach, tones, and tenors are different. It is just like a song - not everyone has the same melodious voice, as not everyone is capable of the same lyricality. Fountain pens are also like that. No two pens are the same.
Write. Feel the pleasure.