School systems back in the day recommended a transition of writing implements, from pencils to fountain pens. “Ink pens” was the name in the Indian school system and this sounds odd in hindsight. Ink as opposed to what, given that all pens use ink in some form. My childhood experience with fountain pens was horrible. No one taught me how to use them, how to properly hold them, how to apply the appropriate pressure and how to care for them. In typical Indian school system, it was a command sent down from on high, “Though shalt use a fountain pen henceforth”. And lo, it was so.

I used pens made by a Chinese brand “Hero”, legally Shanghai Hero Pen Company. According to Wikipedia, the pens are regarded as among the best in China and were popular in India during the 90s. The pens had a hooded nib and exposed only the very tip of the nib. I often used too much pressure and made the tines fray up to the point where ink either stopped flowing or sometimes gushed out. I learned through my misbehaving friends that ink would gush out if you angled the nib towards a victim and flicked the pen like a whip. This was a good example of how kids will weaponize the most innocuous items to be assholes. I too was an asshole. Anyhow, I often ended up with palms covered in ink, often wiped hours of writing by spilling water on paper and regularly ruined my white shirts with blue or black stains that would not wash away. The ink I used was made by Camlin and was horrible with the pen I used. I had no idea that pens came in different nib sizes, including fountain pens. I happened to use a fine-tipped pen and the ink clogged the feed and nib. I eventually flipped the nib and wrote with an inverted nib. This was a bad idea with cheap paper because the paper fibres clog the nib. I had no idea what the fibrous accumulations were, and I was loathe to touch the nib because I did not want ink on my fingers as well as palms. Mostly a bad experience.

Eventually, I discovered the convenience of ballpoint pens and switched to those for almost twenty years. I did not take pens too seriously and viewed most pens as the same. I scoffed at pens costing several thousand rupees or tens of dollars. Completely by accident, I purchased a pilot G-Tec from a  stationery shop in Halifax, NS. I enjoyed this pen but it is a gel pen and the ink eventually runs out. I did not have a refill nor did I know how to find one so I eventually stopped using it before the refill ran out.

Then I visited Japan.

In the run up to the Japan trip, I scoured YouTube and reddit for must-buy things in Japan and one of these is Japanese stationary, including pens. The YouTube rabbit hole led me to fountain pens, to the American online store Jet Pens and eventually to the Toronto shop Wonder Pens. I was not able to complete my research quest before arriving in Japan and I don’t typically spend large amounts of money on things I may not use. I perused the options available in Japanese stationery stores and bought a few gel pens including refills. No fountain pens though, it seemed too daunting.

Back in Canada, I completed my online reading and visited Wonder Pens in Toronto. The kind folks there recommended I purchase a $35 Pilot Metropolitan and a bottle of Lamy blue ink. That kicked it off for me. The YouTube rabbit hole taught me how to hold a pen, how much pressure to apply and how to get the most out of the pen. I was hooked. I loved the feeling and i loved the fact that I could write more with less hand strain. I did not like the shade of the Lamy blue ink, it was too dark for my liking. I did the logical thing and bought a different bottle, this time from Ferris Wheel Press, a Canadian ink and pen manufacturer. This was from a shop in Brampton called Blesket. While in the shop, I saw these cheap Pilot Preppy fountain pens and bought one on a whim, the 03 nib. I loved this and visited a local art store in Guelph to find a 02 nib. I also bought a pen with red plastic and then decided that red ink was the next purchase. I now had four fountain pens and two bottles of ink!

With more written notes, I needed highlighters so I bought a six-pack from a shop in Cambridge called Phidon Pens. The ecosystem in Canada surprised me and I was delighted to see these shops thriving. Sure, the ink wasn’t cheap and the pens are 4x-5x the cost of the cheapest ballpoint pens but you can’t really put a price on joy, can you? My first Zebra highlighter ran out and I then discovered that Platinum make fountain pen-based highlighters. Ah, now I need highlighter ink so that was the next and most recent purchase, as you can see in the image below. The highlighter search showed me the Parallels pen by Pilot and I happened to find a few at Wyndham Art in Guelph. Of course, I bought the pen.

This entire experience taught me a whole lot about fountain pens but also about writing. You don’t need expensive fountain pens to enjoy them. Most of my fountain pens cost under six Canadian dollars, not exactly pricey. Same with the inks I purchase – they are cheap and come in colours I love! There is a certain joy in discovering new ink colours and seeing how the ink spreads on low quality paper. There is so much to learn – calligraphy, paper quality, pressure, nib styles, ink shades, ink colours, specialty inks and so on.

I encourage you to walk (or drive) to your local stationery store and buy a fountain pen. It is a joy!