Fountains of Joy

Being old-school, I enjoy writing with a fountain pen. I remember when I was in kindergarten and Standard One, I learned how to write with pencils. And when I was allowed to use a fountain pen in standard 2, I felt it was a step up: I as finally being treated like a grown-up. 

Over the years, I've used many brands of fountain pens but the popular ones during schooldays were Parker, Sheaffer and Pilot. When I was working in Singapore, I started buying Mont Blanc fountain pens, which was one of the few luxuries that I allowed myself. Unlike some of my friends then, I had no taste for expensive watches; fountain pens were my thing and I took great pleasure in using them, especially when writing in my journal.

I had always carried a fountain pen with me whenever I traveled and I'd always find an excuse to scribble something in my notebooks. There's something magical about watching ink emerging from the tip of a nib as you push your pen across the grainy surface of paper--watching thoughts materialize before my eyes: emptiness becoming form. There's no purer moment of creation than that--like God giving life to Adam in Michelangelo's famous painting.

The only difficult thing about fountain pens is that using one is often a messy experience. Even the best ones leak. Unless you are using cartridges, having to carry a bottle of ink with you all the time  can be troublesome. Despite these inconveniences, nothing beats the experience of writing with one. 

The fountain pen is certainly not the writing instrument of choice for today's generation--that is if anyone even writes longhand at all. Nowadays, we text, cut-and-paste or snap photos to convey our messages across. Writing with a leaky pen on paper sounds absolutely medieval. Today's disposable gel pens certain does its job admirably for those rare occasions we do need to jot down something quickly on paper. And we don't have to fear losing a precious family heirloom if we happen to misplace one. 

It could be a relic of a bygone era but to me, the fountain pen is a symbol of learning and romance. To hold one, poised over a fresh piece of paper is to have the world held at bay, by a weapon that is truly mightier than the sword.