Where is all the Joy?

I must admit, I was hooked to Prison Break for a while. Though it ended badly, a few bits will always stick with me. One of the baddies of the series, Theodore Bagwell surely has his share of fans for both right and wrong reasons. There is one particular scene where he is trying to score a woman by telling her how no one enjoys a meal anymore. That how it's now a luxury to sit down with a bottle of wine, have a good conversation or some quiet time.

Those initial few lines that I mentioned made a lot of sense the other day at a stationery store where I spotted lot of cheap ball pens and roller pens displayed prominently while the fountain pens were conveniently tucked away into some shelves. Since I had to hang around the store for a while, I initiated a conversation with the owner. Once done with the pleasantries, I eagerly popped up the question of why fountain pens were treated like third cousins. From what I remembered, teachers mandated them since ball pens and roller balls would ruin our writing style and all those hours spent on cursive writing books would be futile. Without much care, he told me that no one wanted them since taking care in terms of filling ink, cleaning them or even being conscious enough that they might run of out ink were pain points. Ball pens were cheaper, disposable, more convenient, required no time to dry and so on. Not to mention, some kids very conveniently took iPads to class which avoids writing altogether!

When we question this a bit more, it is clear that a pen and paper are more about your personality. It is definitely a lot more satisfying to read a well written letter, where the person has taken ‘time’ and ‘care’. Many of us can spruce up a word document courtesy Google, while very few can impress through a well written, scribble free letter. Somehow it needs a little more effort, patience and dedication. Not to mention, a computer lets you edit mistakes with ease (like it has while drafting this post), but is lacking soul (hopefully, unlike this post).

It was one of those moments that got me thinking how in this fast paced, connected world with constant notifications, very few of us even have the time to maintain something as simple as a fountain pen. In a world which seems highly replaceable, how many of us are really bother to repair and mend things? To me, the ball point at that point (no pun intended) portrayed some of the things wrong with ‘modern’ societies. While we are making great strides in ‘development’, successfully exploiting resources, becoming victims of marketers, joy in smaller things is becoming a rarity. When was the last time we sat in a restaurant for a fuss free meal? We seem to have problems with something or the other, be it the food, the shape of the cutlery, the price, bad lighting for selfies or lack of groomed waiters. McDonald’s, KFC and other joints have made us look for convenience to an extent that we rarely savour those moments that T-Bag reminded me in Prison Break.

To me, these two moments – of taking time to maintain a fountain pen and savouring little joys put into perspective a lot of things that are wrong with this world. Call me old school, but real joy always lies in the smallest of things. Ask the elite if you want too as well.  

If you are wondering why I draw so many parallels, it’s mostly because I constantly try to connect the dots. I believe it makes for great stories. And yes, I did buy a fountain pen that day.