Stationery – Pens, Pencils and Notebooks

Most folks have fascination towards certain items. Among the things I have a fascination towards, stationery is one.

As a kid, I remember those days as a kid carrying a school supplies list every summer to our hometown’s stationery shops. I think there was just 3 stores at that time in Neyveli, India. Balan, Swamy and Saradha book stores. These three stores sold all the text books as well as stationery in my home town. The school supplies list in my school days was to buy notebooks (ruled, unruled, math (square ones), four-line for cursive writing, two-line for Tamil writing) for each subject in school. The notebooks were to be wrapped in brown cover and labeled with name and class.

Here is a nice video on the process.

Just before school start in summer, the task before my dad and uncles was to wrap all the notebooks that was needed for that year in the brown wrapper neatly. It needed a label to be affixed to indicate which subject the notebook was for. As I got into higher grades, then myself and my sister used to do it ourself with help from dad.

Apart from notebooks, pencils, pens, erasers, sharpeners were also part of the supplies. There was not a lot of brands to chose from. There was the classic black and red striped Natraj Pencils, Camlin Flora and Apsara pencils. Having a pencil with an eraser was a bonus. Most set of pencils had an eraser or a sharpener included for FREE. So there was no buying these separately. My mom used a knife to sharpen the pencil. All my friends were fans of how my mom sharpens the pencil. My mom used to sharpen pencils for my friends as well if they asked. Simple pleasures. At school, we used to write till the pencil was nearly an inch big before taking a new pencil. My kids don’t even remember where they placed their pencil from yesterday 😦

Coming to pens, having a Pilot pen was a premium. My dad has the pen that he used in his graduation days with him now. Most fountain pens were eye dropper fountain pens. The problem with fountain pens is if they are not properly threaded, then they leak at the thread when you hold and write. My dad was crafty. Every time after he fills the ink, he will apply a layer of petroleum jelly on the thread before turning it in. That way, our pen never used to leak. I think we were asked to use Blue, Black and Red pens time to time. Using a green ink was reserved for officials.

Diary: Every year around new years time, my dad used to receive diaries as gift. Since he got more than one, the extra ones were for my sister and me to grab. I used to preserve them without writing for the entire year. New ones must have meant something back then as well. After the year and once another one come, the older one was our scrap notebook.

Now with the kids going to school, there is renewed interest in stationery. Here are the items that I use regularly

• Pencils: USA General ‘s Cedar Pointe, Musgrave Tennessee Red
• Pen: Parker
• Ink: Quink – Blue Black
• Notebook: Black and Red – Letter Size Notebook

Stationery is one, I believe, I will continue using even though digital tools are slowly replacing.

NOTE: This is not a paid affiliate post. These are items that I buy and use.

Tryst with Guitar

One nice spring morning, after a brunch at Country Waffles (one of the favorites), my wife got an idea of having our elder kid start with some music lesson. The reason such a thought occurred in the first place was because Country Waffles is right next to a Music Store which offers lessons. So after brunch, we all visited the music store to inquire about lessons offered for kids.

My elder kid had reservations in getting to the music class. He liked the store, but not the idea of music lessons. Instead of us getting out of the store, the next idea that occurred to my wife was, if I go to class, then seeing me my kid will be encouraged to go. The idea of me going was because, when I came to US, I had expressed interest to learn guitar and what better time than now.

Thus started my journey into the musical world. I got enrolled for a in-person one on one lesson for guitar. When I went for the first class, my instructor asked me what genre of music I was interested in learning. My entire musical knowledge is from listening to Tamil movie songs (musicals as it is called in USA). So I was clueless as to what to answer. I told my instructor that I was like a blank slate.

I was regular for the first three to four months and then there was lot of issues going about in work, so had to take a break from guitar classes.

I fiddle with the Guitar (purchased for the class) at-least once a week trying to play some songs based on tutorials on YouTube. My elder kid, still does not show interest in learning the instrument though. During school last year, during music class they played ‘Three Little Birds – Bob Marley’ and my elder one was boasting to the entire class, “My dad plays this song”. This song was my very first lesson with Guitar. Something that made me think that I have to do better.

Hope one day, he gets interested in playing any instrument.

Dedicated to the Rock Stars of MIT…

• 

  Nair

• 

  Sujith

• 

  Soms

Write On!

I have stopped writing for a long time now. So why suddenly come back? Recently, I bought myself a physical notepad and a fountain pen. Since then, I have started having this urge to write. Maybe it is the physical connection to a pen and paper that has got me to writing back. Or it is this period of the COVID pandemic where I see myself writing again.

So what happened in the past years? mental block? lack of interest in writing? lack of creativity? It is certainly not that I stopped using internet. I have stopped myself from Facebook, but I post in Instagram. A picture is worth a thousand words, someone had said. No it is certainly not that. There were some personal life events which forced me to stop doing a lot of things I used to do before like writing.

I am planning to write more going forward and more regularly. Write On!

Coexistence

We say now we live in a global economy. We are global citizens. We are in the connected world. At the same time, we are still split up on lines of religion, race or language. We see news everyday in almost most part of the world where atleast someone is victim of a hate crime. So what are we turning ourselves into.

We participate in these ourselves by taking sides, with what we think is right. Are we right!

Most of these issues are easily identifiable to everyone because they touch upon identity. In this age of digital media and expressions, everyone participating is struggling to establish an identity, and these issues provide us a way to establish or be identified as part of an identity.

But what is forgotten is, co-existence. Everyone belonging to whatever race, religion, creed, speaking whatever language, working in whatever field has the right to co-exist in this beautiful world. This co-existence and diversity is what makes the world interesting.

Lets co-exist.

Waiting

Yesterday, I went with my wife for a medical appointment. The appointment was at 10.30. We were in the office at 10.20. But the 10 minutes of wait seemed to be forever. I have noticed this happening time and again.

When you really want time to move slow, like when you are preparing for your exams, having someone for lunch and the food is not yet ready, packing at the last minute for a vacation, running to catch a train/bus/flight, time runs really fast.

When you want time to pass away like when waiting in line, stuck in traffic, completed the exam and waiting for the time to complete to hand over the answer sheets, time moves like a snail.

Crazy time 🙂

Nostalgic Dress

Yesterday, when I opened up the closet to find a dress to wear to office, I picked the dress that I bought about 8 years ago. This brought back memories from the year, which is what I plan to share here.

It was the end of the third year of my college life. I and all my class mates where in the hostel that summer, in preparation of the campus placements. For the campus interviews, we were required to wear business formals. I and my friends decided to get a pair of new formals to wear for the interview. This was the occasion that I bought this dress. It was a fun outing shopping, not minding the sweltering heat of Chennai’s summer. If I remember the shop right, it was Textile India.

The first company that came to conduct campus interviews was Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTS). I wore the formals I bought to the interview, and I got placed. It was my first job. After that I never got a chance to wear the dress in college. The next time I wore it was on the first day of my job at CTS. That’s why this dress bears a special connection to my career, in its own unique way.

Strangers

Anyone driving on a road, alone or in the night when everyone else is sleeping might have experienced this at one time or other. You are driving and then you see another vehicle crossing you or following you or you following it. Even though you don’t know who is driving in the other vehicle, you somehow keep following or leading them, just to enjoy the company of the other one on the road. When the exit comes for you or the other vehicle, you part ways.

You really didn’t get to see or greet the other driver. He/she was a complete stranger. But you took them for company. There are such persons in life, whom you have never met, but they do play their part in your life. Why do we share this connection with anyone!

Strange are the ways of life!

Change

It is interesting how things change overtime in life. Sometimes for good, sometimes for bad, but it does change; true to the saying, ‘Change is the only constant’. For the past few months, I have been really busy, trying to fit into my current phase in life, ‘Being a Father’. The more that I see my kid and me, I am in deep awe of my father. I must have done the exact same things as a kid, and my dad would have experienced the same feelings that I experience now. Maybe, he might simply shrug his shoulders now, when I tell it to him.

I am inspired by nature’s way in the growth of a child. No one teaches a kid to suck for milk, or I never taught my kid to put hands on the eyes when sleepy, or crawl, or walk, or smile, or laugh, or get angry, or cry. Lots of things that the kid learns, but from whom?

When did I start noticing all these! Probably that is the way life works. To see, to learn and to get inspired from kids as much as they get inspired from us.

Dad

I am a father now. A wonderful and overwhelming feeling.

Wonderful, to see him, feel him, hold his hands, share his smile, think about what would be running in his tiny mind, to watch him sleep, move, hiccup, yawn. Wow, all children are beautiful, but mine is the most handsome (in my eyes :))

Overwhelming, changing diapers, cleaning, bathing, cooking, working, staying up all night for him to sleep, exhausting.

Few things that struck me upon becoming a dad.

• My admiration for the strength of all moms, especially my wife increased multiple fold.
• Respect for the patience of parents, including mine. Mom and Dad, you are the best.
• Responsibility increased

Now its time to become a good dad to my son. Welcome to the world,  Son!

Decisions

Living in a country where the culture is totally different from the place that one is originally from provides with a lot of opportunities to have to make tough decisions.

Since I come from India (East) and I currently live in USA (West), the cultural divide is even more pronounced. When the emphasis is on relations and adjusting in India, the emphasis here in USA is on individuality and standing up for one’s right. Though both have their own advantages/disadvantages, trying to decide on what to choose is really tough.

I recently made a personal life decision. Even though I am mostly diplomatic, this decision was made out of pure personal choice and inclined towards Individualism. Will inclining towards the West pay off. Lets me wait and watch.