Gandhiji’s Last Days and Bhagavad Gita

Gandhiji’s  Last Days  and Bhagavad Gita

Excerpts from “ Gandhiji’s Last days “ By Tushar Gandhi in Readers digest  dated  January 2008. He wrote on how  the greatest Indian of the 20^th century met his end.

Quote :

 Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi woke up at his usual time of 3.30am on January 30, 1948. It was bitterly cold, but the Mahatma  and  his entourage said their  morning prayers in the open verandah of New Delhi’s Birla House, where they had been staying for the last four months.

Later that morning  Gandhiji  asked for his correspondence file. Among the letters he had to attend to this morning was a note of condolence to a co-worker who had recently lost his daughter. “What comfort can I give you?” Gandhiji wrote. “Death is a true friend. It is only our ignorance that makes us grieve. Sulochana’s  spirit was yesterday , is today and shall continue tomorrow.”

Unquote :

Gandhiji’s words are true.  I reproduce the verse from Srila Prabhupada’s  “Bhagavad Gita As It Is “.

                                              Chapter 2. Contents of the Gita Summarized

TEXT 11

sri-bhagavan uvaca
asocyan anvasocas tvam
prajna-vadams ca bhasase
gatasun agatasums ca
nanusocanti panditah

SYNONYMS

sri-bhagavan uvaca--the Supreme Personality of Godhead said; asocyan--that which is not worthy of lamentation; anvasocah--you are lamenting; tvam--you; prajna-vadan--learned talks; ca--also; bhasase--speaking; gata--lost; asun--life; agata--not past; asun--life; ca--also; na--never; anusocanti--lament; panditah--the learned.

TRANSLATION

The Blessed Lord said: While speaking learned words, you are mourning for what is not worthy of grief. Those who are wise lament neither for the living nor the dead.

PURPORT

         The Lord at once took the position of the teacher and chastised the student, calling him, indirectly, a fool. The Lord said, "You are talking like a learned man, but you do not know that one who is learned--one who knows what is body and what is soul--does not lament for any stage of the body, neither in the living nor in the dead condition." As it will be explained in later chapters, it will be clear that knowledge means to know matter and spirit and the controller of both. Arjuna argued that religious principles should be given more importance than politics or sociology, but he did not know that knowledge of matter, soul and the Supreme is even more important than religious formularies. And, because he was lacking in that knowledge, he should not have posed himself as a very learned man. As he did not happen to be a very learned man, he was consequently lamenting for something which was unworthy of lamentation. The body is born and is destined to be vanquished today or tomorrow; therefore the body is not as important as the soul. One who knows this is actually learned, and for him there is no cause for lamentation, regardless of the condition of the material body.

Mahatma Gandhiji’s  65^th death anniversary  falls next month ,  on 30^th January, 2013. We pay homage on his death anniversary , which is also declared as  Martyr’s Day in India .  His views on Bhagavad Gita  in his own words given below :

Gandhi on BhagawadGita:

The Gita is the universal mother. She turns away nobody. Her door is wide open to anyone who knocks. A true votary of Gita does not know what disappointment is. He ever dwells in perennial joy and peace that passeth understanding. But that peace and joy come not to skeptic or to him who is proud of his intellect or learning. It is reserved only for the humble in spirit who brings to her worship a fullness of faith and an undivided singleness of mind. There never was a man who worshipped her in that spirit and went disappointed. I find a solace in the Bhagavad-Gita that I miss even in the Sermon on the Mount. When disappointment stares me in the face and all alone I see not one ray of light, I go back to the Bhagavad-Gita. I find a verse here and a verse there , and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming tragedies -- and my life has been full of external tragedies -- and if they have left no visible or indelible scar on me, I owe it all to the teaching of Bhagavad-Gita.

An ISKCON devotee's opinion  on Mahatma Gandhiji’s view on Gita :

                  Read" Bhagavad Gita As It Is " , along with the purports, and you get a good understanding of what he ( Srila Prabhupada )  meant. Gandhi did have the right to his own interpretation, as does everyone, but he was a political leader, and Prabhupada was a spiritual master. Politics have no place in submission to God according to the Spiritual Master point of view. 

My view on both of the above :

A devotee of  ISKCON movement accepts his Guruji’s  instructions and follow his guidance in reading Bhagavad Gita As It Is. But not all common person neither knows that there is a book like that nor  knows about the Krishna Conscious movement . So each and every individual who likes to read Bhagavad  Gita  , reads any interpretation of  any scholar’s  book they get in the pursuit of learning.  Ultimately their wish is to adapt themselves to follow the teachings. No interpretations  gives a wrong direction or deviation from the writings of Acharyas.

The Bhagvad Gita is perhaps the greatest work of practical Indian philosophy. Among the various interpretations of the Bhagvad Gita, the one by Mahatma Gandhi holds a unique position. In his own words, his interpretation of the Bhagvad Gita is designed for the common man 'who has little or no literary equipment, who has neither the time nor the desire to read the Gita in the original, and yet who stands in need of it's support.'

 In his last days too,  his condolence message to a co-worker , reveals his ideology on Gita.

Opinions , translations , purport  differs from person to person but Bhagavad Gita remains

 “ As It Is “ .

My College - Ramakrishna Mission , Vivekananda College , Madras

 My College - Ramakrishna Mission , Vivekananda College , Madras

I would like to share my teen days   college life spent in Vivekananda College , Madras , run by Sri Ramakrishna Mission, Madras.

Ramakrisna Mission Vivekananda College, named after Swami Vivekananda, was inaugurated on 21 June 1946 by professor, philosopher, and politician, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. It is in Mylapore, the centre of Chennai, India on 20 acres (81,000 m²).

My entry into Vivekananda College  is something  special. In the year 1968 , soon after passing out P.U.C from New College, Royapettah in Madras, I have applied for three colleges. One is Presidency College near Marina , Govt. Arts College for Men, in Mount Road and Vivekananda College. Viveka is in the close proximity  to my residence and a very good college than  the other two government colleges, which were famous for student and busmen clashes often and petty agitations.

My father was worried and would like me to join in Vivekananda. But the admission there is not so easy for the average scorer . I got only a second class . So my dad took me to a Chemistry Head of Presidency, who was a daughter of my dad’s colleague in Richardson & Cruddas, where  he was working for long years. But when she saw me , a  small boy of 15 ½ year  young , she advised my dad to avoid admission in her college , as I look too timid and soft and bad company will spoil my academic career.

Next my uncle ( Periappa , Raghunathan , fondly called Dhoppa by all ) took me to a govt. employee for getting a seat in Govt.Arts College. Myself and my uncle met a person in Walltax Road , Jai Shanker’s Lodge , which belongs to my dad’s aunt’s son. The person  whom we approached is known to  Mr. Karunakaran, Partner of the lodge. He assured me a seat  in Govt.Arts.

The very next day I was called by my next door neighbor ,  Head of Botany Dept. in Vivekananda. He was a doctorate from an US University and  they are our family friend also. His eldest son , Murali, suddenly disappeared a few months before after his SSLC results came,  and he has scored very  low marks and failed in all subjects. Professors all children were very much afraid of their dad, as he is a  strict and disciplined person. He will not talk to anyone unnecessarily and even I never had a long talk with him.  But after  lose of  his eldest son, whose whereabouts was not at all known and all the efforts failed in tracing him ( even today we do not know his whereabouts ! ) , he  has changed a lot and he wanted to help me  to get admitted in Viveka. He asked  my interest in taking the major B.Sc., subject and I told him , Physics Main. But he advised me to take Mathematics , and asked me to report the very next day to meet Prof.S.Narayanan, Head of Mathematics in that college. A formal interview only  I had as my application was signed by him in red pencil and on seeing that I got an admit card to pay fee of Rs.90 per term of three months. As for me this was a miracle to enter the Temple of Learning. My gratitude to him is for ever I remember him in my life. My dad thanked him and family.

A day in college life , I prefer to share here. Every week starts with Monday and our college working hours starts with Monday Morning Religion class.  Tamil Professor and Head of the Dept. starts with a Tamil prayer followed by Sanskrit slogam, then a small lecture on moral and ethics and so on. This is a ritual practiced for years and make all the students nearer to God and discipline. This was the culture of the Sri Ramakrishna Mission in those days to ensure that all the students coming out of the institution should have a bright future with moral thoughts and deeds.

Then we move to our respective class rooms. Seniors will spend the religion class in their class rooms and listen the proceedings through the speakers fixed in the class room wall. Punctuality was given utmost importance equal to discipline. So all the class hours goes well with the prompt attendance of teachers and students.

Tamil Prof. Mr.S.Y.Srinivasan  keeps the boys stunned with his narration of Sivaga Chinthamani.

English Prof.Sreenivasan makes us literally cry in the scene of Cleopatra’s death from Shakespear’s  tragedy drama.

Mathematics professors , Mr. P.R.Vittal, Mr.Azhagar , Mr.Raghunatha rao , M.rP.V.Ranganathan, Mr. K.V.Parthasarathy , Mr.Gokulnath Babu ( an young Professor ) joined in the same year of my admission ) , Mr.Karthikeyan ( another young Professor ) and HOD Mr.S.Narayanan keeps us fixed in the seat  without any distraction by their skill of taking classes. Some characteristic actions were remembered. Prof.K.V.Parthasarathy ( KVP ) used to write sums with solutions on the black board and often says “ idhu Kattayam Varum Paritchaikku – shortened by us as KVP ).

For lunch session I used to come home and go back to college. Near by my college there is a Corporation Reading Room closer to the Dhobi khana . I was a regular visitor to that library in the evening, while return back home. Our College also opened a new library block and designed with mezzanine floor racks.

Birthday celebrations of Sri Ramakrishna , Swami Vivekananda , Srimati Sarada Deviji and senior saints of the Sri Ramakrishna  Mission order  , always be celebrated in a grand manner and sweets will be distributed in all the class rooms.

In annual day , prizes will be distributed for the winners in Religion Class test also along with other event prizes. Annual sports used to be conducted in college ground and my relative , Jayabalan anna always get a prize for sprint running in old boys association. We enjoy watching him in the running race.

In Mylapore there is still an old temple in the Ramakrishna math and later an Universal Temple came up in the adjacent plot.

We were taught not only subjects in academic but also culture, duty , dignity and discipline , faith in God, basic etiquette , good manners , respect to elders , helping the needy , sharing knowledge , passion towards learning , punctuality , speaking truth always and how to handle all the good things and hard times in life to be faced after college. My daughter and son, when they were kids , I used to take them to Universal temple for Vishnu Sahasranaman chanting.

I was blessed by the three holy persons , Sri Ramakrishna , Swamy Vivekananda and Srimati Sarada Devi to visit their holy places in Kolkata – Dhakshineswar kali Temple and Belur Math , during my visits to Schwing Stetter’s branch offices on official trips.

Any person who studied in Sri Ramakrishna Mission , will have an identity of his own among others.

I  am so happy that I was a product of Sri Ramakrishna Mission. My college days in Vivekananda and association with the Madras Students Gandhi Forum organized by (Late) Mr.V.R.Radhakrishnan, a freedom fighter , shaped me well to lead a simple life throughout my life till date and wish to be so in the years to come.

Notable alumni of my college :

 Cho Ramaswamy ,MP and Journalist

Jai Shanker ,  Late Tamil actor

P.Unni Krishnan , Award winning playback singer

Harish Raghavendra , Singer in Tamil & Telugu films

Mani Ratnam , Film Director

S.Gurumurthy , Columnist  & Charted  Accountant

M.A.M.Ramaswamy, Industrialist

T.M.Krishna , Karnatic Singer

Krishnamachary Srikanth , CrickterLakshmipathy Balaji , CricketerCrazy Mohan  , Dramatist & Script WriterMaadhu Balaji , Theater Personality

And many others famous personalities.

The Strongest Link

The Strongest Link

When I was in scouting movement , we used to go for annual camping to nearby suburb , a place called Tonakela  , in Avadi.  It was and is a camping center for scouts , NCC ( National Cadet Corps ) and others.  There we have undergone many training  like climbing, constructing a rope bridge , a watch tower with the staff ( Bamboo stick ) and rope, cooking , swimming and all outdoor activities.

Coming to climbing in a rope , there will be two  steel pipe tripod posts at both ends joined by a long  pipe. There will be few ropes tied in the horizontal pipe and the each rope with knots at equal intervals hung vertically. We are supposed to climb with the help of the rope and reach the top of the pipe and reach the end like a monkey and get down.

Rope exercises  taught  in our scout training :

Climbing with your feet                               Climbing without your feet                               Climbing with two ropes                               Climbing upside down                               One and two-arm hangs                               Laybacks                               Pull-ups                               Pull-downs                               Rows

Shrugs Tricep press-downs Hammer curls Pull-dow into tricep     extension Supination curls Front or side raises Right and left twists Hanging leg raises Pulling and dragging

 

 It is obvious that all the ropes may not be of equal strength . So depends on the strength , we have  to choose the  right rope  to reach the top. So we have to select the  strongest link  to start climbing. But sure we can reach our goal only with the strongest link.

Like that in our day to day life , personally or professionally , we need to go up in the rope to reach the goal , only with the right way. Short cuts will lead to short cut our life. So selection of the  right path is as important as the goal we wish to reach. There are many materialistic goals for everyone of us. Without that we cannot lead a normal life. But on the other hand spiritualistic goals is more important to reach the goal of attaining the lotus feet of Lord Krishna in Goloka  Vrindavan.  When to reach is not in our hand. But how to reach is in our hand. This is not philosophy. My common understanding by reading , listening, viewing and  trying to practice  Krishna Consciousness.

It is said that we have to learn and practice Krishna Consciousness under the guidence of a bonafide Guru .

 Chapter 4.Transcendental Knowledge Text 10- Bhagavat Gita
adau sraddha tatah sadhu-sango 'tha bhajana-kriya
tato 'nartha-nivrttih syat tato nistha rucis tatah
athasaktis tato bhavas tatah premabhyudancati
sadhakanam ayam premnah pradurbhave bhavet kramah

"In the beginning one must have a preliminary desire for self-realization. This will bring one to the stage of trying to associate with persons who are spiritually elevated. In the next stage one becomes initiated by an elevated spiritual master, and under his instruction the neophyte devotee begins the process of devotional service. By execution of devotional service under the guidance of the spiritual master, one becomes free from all material attachment, attains steadiness in self-realization, and acquires a taste for hearing about the Absolute Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna. This taste leads one further forward to attachment for Krsna consciousness, which is matured in bhava, or the preliminary stage of transcendental love of God. Real love for God is called prema, the highest perfectional stage of life." In the prema stage there is constant engagement in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. So, by the slow process of devotional service, under the guidance of the bona fide spiritual master, one can attain the highest stage, being freed from all material attachment, from the fearfulness of one's individual spiritual personality, and from the frustrations resulting from void philosophy. Then one can ultimately attain to the abode of the Supreme Lord.

 It is true. But we have to prepare ourselves to approach a Guru  to start practicing Krishna Consciousness. For that we have to bodily and in mind ,we must  be clean. Physical cleansing is easy. But mental cleansing is not so easy. It needs lot of practice  to have  control over body and mind. Accept that we are not the body . We have to shell out the EGO . If we have EGO , we are Edging God Out .  So we have to shed EGO  out of our mind first. Calm , peace , simplicity in all will help you to understand and clear out EGO.Without  faith and knowledge in Krishna Consciousness there is no perfection in the practice.

 Chapter 4.Transcendental Knowledge  Text 9 – Bhagavat Gita

tam eva viditvati mrtyum eti nanyah pantha vidyate 'yanaya

One can attain the perfect stage of liberation from birth and death simply by knowing the Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. There is no alternative because anyone who does not understand Lord Krsna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead is surely in the mode of ignorance. Consequently he will not attain salvation, simply, so to speak, by licking the outer surface of the bottle of honey, or by interpreting the Bhagavad-gita according to mundane scholarship. Such empiric philosophers may assume very important roles in the material world, but they are not necessarily eligible for liberation. Such puffed-up mundane scholars have to wait for the causeless mercy of the devotee of the Lord. One should therefore cultivate Krsna consciousness with faith and knowledge, and in this way attain perfection.

 Just to add little interest  and establish the necessity of the " strongest Link " ,I wish to add the picture of a famous movie , most of us would have seen , years back. The title is "Cliff Hanger" acted by Sylvester Stallone, a 1993 , American adventure film.

 In the opening scene, hotshot mountain climber and rescue ranger Gabe Walker (Sylvester Stallone) and fellow ranger Jessie Deighan (Janine Turner) are dispatched to pick up their friend Hal Tucker (Michael Rooker) on a narrow peak in the Rocky Mountains called "The Tower", where he was stranded after a knee injury. While moving from one mountaintop to a helicopter via a steel cable, Hal's girlfriend Sarah's (Michelle Joyner) harness breaks and she is left dangling over a deep chasm. While the others try frantically to come up with a solution, Gabe straps himself in and goes out to save Sarah, but is unsuccessful; her gloved hand slips through Gabe's and she falls 4,000 feet to her death in the chasm. The weaker link , the steel harness with the rope failed.

Like selecting the right rope among others hanging  in the pipe in the rope  climbing sport , we have to select the strongest link   for  reaching the abode of Sri Krishna , when the time , not known to us ,comes to leave our body. Let us pray to be with Him always without a rebirth in this material world .  Daily chanting the 'Hare Krishna Maha Mantra' is the Strongest Link .

 Let us not be greedy and  strictly avoid all prohibited activities given in the scriptures for the human beings to be human. I need not stress the good qualities, as all of us know. The only thing is , if we are controlled by Maya , we give way to all pleasures and sink back in the ocean of life.

With the little knowledge  I wrote this blog to stress that KRISHNA CONSCIOUSNESS  is the STRONGEST LINK  to reach Goloka Vrindavan . I pray Lord Krishna to give strength to practice and not to stop with writing. Chant Hare Krishna and Be Happy.

Sounds of Silence

Sounds of Silence

This title was lingering in my thought for many years. Many years before  I have seen a small documentary film in Door Darshan TV channel, in black & white  ,with the same title. It so happened that the maker is a Madras  film institute student living in neighborhood,  near to my ancestral home in Mylapore.  I have seen him many times in a shop next door and he was a very quiet and smart boy. But the sad story was , he died  within  a short time after his short film was telecasted. This information, I came to know from one of his friend , who was also a friend of mine.  

The documentary goes like this. A student preparing for exams living in a single room in the first floor trying to silently study. But the sound of loud music  comes out of the cone speaker from a nearby  place , whether from a temple festival site or some family function with all cheers enjoying the cinema songs or so. I forget the instance. But the concern for him is , he wants silence but he is surrounded by sounds. He closes the window and try to concentrate reading but the sound has no barrier and his ears could not be  sealed  with any material. The few minutes movie narrates his suffering by the sounds of silence and he could not succeed in his studies till the film closes. I think the film closes when he closes his books , abandoning reading , and go to sleep after late midnight , the external  sound faded away and gave him a peaceful sleep.  The impact of his craving for silence from the sound around still remembered by me. I believe the maker boy of the documentary must be in silence ,chanting in Heaven , with  all good souls at the Lotus Feet of Sri Krishna in peace.

It is a common situation , experienced by  everyone in different occasions  ,for different reasons , with  different sounds of silence.

I travel nearly 35 km one way daily to commute to office in company bus. It is a long time habit of mine to read books in travel . Many years I have well practiced to read in public transport without the disturbance of sounds around. The sound mostly of automobiles passing through and I could read in silence , if I get a seat to sit. But for last 5 years I am travelling in company bus and all the  young colleagues would like to listen loud music of movies  and the song selection of them is  a particular type, which we call in Tamil ‘kuthu paattu ‘.  Of course it may sound well if you listen at home with the required volume. These youngsters do not bother about others privacy. The beauty is the contributor of the selectively selected songs in a pen drive starts sleeping soon after he entered the bus. For the sake of others he meticulously select songs daily and disturb the privacy of all. This is  a type of sounds of silence , without going into the literal meaning !

There are occasions I enjoyed the sounds of silence. Some time I used to visit Krishnamurti Foundation India  located in the first floor of Vasant Vihar  in Greenways Road, Chennai , near Adyar river.

The library is so good to have a silent reading in the armed cane chairs placed near the windows. There will be few readers like me , young or old , looking for the books and periodicals of JK . The experience of sounds of silence in the library is so enchanting. The sounds of nature comes and softly touches our ear drums. The shaking of the branches of trees all around the building by wind flows from one direction to other. The cool breeze , even in summer you can enjoy. The  occasional raising and falling of the dead leaves in the ground near the building creates a soothing sound to our ears.  I really enjoyed the sounds of silence there with added sounds of cuckoo birds and other sweet sounds of parrot in the mango tree.

Another  experience to share how I enjoyed the sounds of silence. I had been to a Lion and Tiger  Safari near Shimoga  along with my office colleagues for a picnic to Jog falls.

  This safari is en-route to Jog Falls in Karnataka. All of  us were packed in a closed small van of capacity 10 to 12 and taken into the deep forest where the Lions and Tigers  freely  move around in deep woods. Our transport is a battery driven and with the least noise it moves in the narrow passages to get a glimpse or view of the ferocious   man eaters.  We are keeping pin drop silence inside the van  and keenly looking forward for any signs or symptoms of the creatures we love to look at close range. At that time a sudden roar of a tiger broke the silence. That sound of silence is shocking but enjoyable and felt lucky to see a tiger at close range , walking near our van and stare us throw the window.  We all came to one side of the van to take photographs of the beautiful beast. The flash distract the animal and makes further roar .  We could see the cubs are running towards their mother for sucking  milk . In the distance we can see even more tigers and lions living together. This is a different experience with the sounds of silence.

Silence breakers  are sounds only .  Breaking of silence in a temple is enjoyable with ecstasy. My experience with my son as well with my son-in-law in ISKCON , Mayapur for the early morning Mangal  Aarti was great. 

The morning aarti , a ritual to wake up God , with sounds of counch  is a wonderful experience. We all assemble in front of the deity stage with absolute silence and no lights. All the devotees will be waiting for the opening of the screen by the priests  at both stages wherein Radha Krishan with Gopis in one stage and The Pancha tatva deities in another. At the stroke of 4.30 am , the blowing sound of counch  shell  made by the priest and the screeching sound of the screen opening  with the bell sounds take the devotees to trance and all in one time chant the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra  loudly to start the prayer. This  sound of silence is spiritual and enjoyed by all devotees.

The life sound in silence is a  special experience for the first time parents . When a father to be ,walking here and there in the corridors of a  maternity hospital near the operation theater of the delivery ward , with no sound around , hears for the first time the first cry of his child , behind the doors , where his wife delivers his first child, is  so special a sound of silence for him and his wife.

  I had the experience and would love to have the same experience by my son-in-law, daughter , son , daughter-in-law . Praying Lord Krishna to bless us to get  the loving experience of the life sounds of silence again after long years ,by all our family members.

I have many audio tracks with the sounds of Nature , Mountains and Seas . For hearing those tracks you need silence to enjoy the richness of natural sounds. We cannot escape from  sound daily in our routine , but we can keep silence to hear the sounds .

Let us be closer to the nature than to books .  Sounds of Sea , Rain, Mountain , Wind , River , Trees , Thunder , Temple/ Church  Bells , Early morning prayer from a mosque , Tring,Tring.. of milk vendor / news paper boy’s cycle bell in the early hours before sun rise attracts me much and many others not able to recollect and write. I found an album of  Simon & Garfunkel’s titled “ Sounds of Silence “ in internet and yet to listen ! Try out and comment.

Looking back the usage of “Fountain Pen “ – The art of writing .

Looking back the usage of “Fountain Pen “ – The art of writing with an ink pen.

Of course everyone knows about fountain pen.

A fountain pen is a nib pen that, unlike its predecessor the dip pen, contains an internal reservoir of water-based liquid ink. The pen draws ink from the reservoir through a feed to the nib and deposits it on paper via a combination of gravity and capillary action.

But the joy of writing with fountain pen is not there for the present day youngsters or even  the oldies like me today !



Waterman Pen



Shaeffer

Today, fountain pens are often treated as luxury goods and sometimes as status symbols.

Price: $1,470,600 ( Approx. Rs.8 Crore)

The Aurora Diamante is the most expensive writing instrument till date. Only one is for sale per year. The Aurora Diamante contains over 30 carats of De Beers diamonds on a solid platinum barrel. It has a two-tone, rhodium-treated, 18KT solid gold nib and is personalized with a coat of arms, signature or portrait. Aurora Pens says it is the only over 30 carat pen in the world.

Fountain pens may serve as an everyday writing instrument, much like the common ballpoint pen.Fountain pens can serve various artistic purposes such as expressive penmanship and calligraphy, pen and ink artwork, and professional art and design. Many users also favor a fountain pen's air of timeless elegance, personalization and sentimentality, which computers and ballpoint pens seem to lack, and often state that once they start using fountain pens, ballpoints become awkward to use due to the extra motor effort needed and lack of expressiveness.

In yester years we used to write in schools only with fountain pen. In my school days , there was a poor man’s brand – “ Writer “ which was the cheapest pen and best writing pen also. In Mylapore , my father used to take us to a famous stationery  shop near Thaneer Thurai Market , “Amar’s Traders “ . There you can get  any variety of pen from “ Writer “ to “Parker”, “Swan” and later date “Hero” of Japan. I have used “Swan” pen also. Shaeffer pens were introduced to us by Jaggu and Gopal , two good friends of our neighborhood and close to us. But the other brands were costly and cannot afford.  In later days when we were studying , Suresh , my friend of School of Architecture , used to buy all drawing instruments from Amar’s Traders inclusive of “Rotring” pens and cartridges  , who later become a Gold Medalist in B.Arch and M.T.P from School of Architecture and Planning, Madras. My daughter is also an Architect , used to draw with Rotring pens with various sizes of tips. My great grandfather was a draughtsman in Survey of India , Madras and I have a few writing instruments in my antique collection.

The hand writing practice by using ink pen changes my bad hand to good hand. My 8^th standard class teacher VK ( Sri.V.Krishnamurthy ) , nick named by boys as ‘vengaya kudimi’ , from his hair style of ‘kudimi” beaten my hand for the bad writing and improved it to the best . My everlasting thanks to him.  

The best pen repair shop in Mylapore belongs to Sahul Ameed in Royapettah High Road opposite to the Palathope near the present Thiru Mylai Railway Station. The Sahul brothers were expert and they sell pens also.
The experience of a leaky pen in shirt or pant pocket , and smudge in both palms cannot be forgotten. Filling the barrel of the pen is an art without an ‘ink filler “. Many such occasion we loose quite an amount of ink . Some times when the bottle is empty at home, we used to get filled from a nearby shop for quarter anna ( the bygone coins of India ) . Those were the days of our daily life style  with ink pen !
For ergonomics, fountain pens may relieve physiological stress from writing; alternatives such as the ballpoint pen can induce more pain and damage to those with arthritis. Some also believe they could improve academic performance. In some countries, fountain pens are usual in lower school grades, believed to teach children better control over writing as many common mistakes of people not used to handwriting (like too much pressure or incorrect hold) feel unnatural or are almost impossible when using traditional pen tips.

Fountain pen ink is a water-based ink intended for use with fountain pens. The ideal fountain pen ink is free-flowing, free of sediment, and non-corrosive. Indian ink was famous for making charts. Chinese made Indian Ink sticks were there and if we mix with water and grind with hand , we get Indian ink for poster making and calligraphy art.

Filling the reservoir with ink may be achieved manually (via the use of a Pasteur pipette or syringe), or via an internal filling mechanism which creates suction (for example, through a piston mechanism) to transfer ink directly through the nib into the reservoir. Some pens employ removable reservoirs in the form of pre-filled ink cartridges. A fountain pen needs little or no pressure to write.
The Royal Blue colour ink of Brill make is common among students. Of course Camlin and Pelican were little costlier.

During the 1940s and 1950s, fountain pens retained their dominance: early ballpoint pens were expensive, were prone to leaks and had irregular inkflow, while the fountain pen continued to benefit the user.

The most remembered school days prank with the ink pen was , on April Fool’s Day ( First of April ) , we used to throw ink in a pattern on the back side of  shirt without the knowledge of the classmates or school mates.  We also had the pinch of others contribution in our shirts. When caught by teachers , there were punishments. But all in the game of enjoying April Fool’s Day.

We cut potato in two half and cut the two letters AF in bold in the centre and apply the fountain pen ink to stamp on others shirt to fool. The joy knew no bounds  in those days. 

I wish to share the past charm of my childhood days with you all readers just to kindle your thoughts back to your good old times and cherish it .

Even in the year 1971 , when I started my first employment in Richardson & Cruddas , Madras at the age of 19, I was given two ink pots and two ‘dip pens’ ( wooden holder and nibs ) for signing the office document by the Store Keeper , Mr.Gnanaprakasam Chettiar. One is for blue ink and other one for red. Off late I started using ball point pen. But I remember the art of using the dip pen also. For Caligraphy , it was very useful.



Dip pen



Dip pen nibs

"The pen is mightier than the sword" is a metonymic adage coined by English author Edward Bulwer-Lytton in 1839 for his play Richelieu; Or the Conspiracy.

I believe  there will be no disagreement to the claim of the author.  If you look into  history ,  the written words by pen changed many kingdom’s fate.  Even today , whether with ink pen or ball point pen , our signature matters in all walks of life, for continuous changes for good  and  bad  sometimes!

Let us not forget the “Fountain pen “ which helped us in the art of writing and fixing  the destiny  of someone somewhere !

Be in possession of a Fountain Pen to continue with Art Of Writing.

Now-a-days, we  do not use pen for writing much. In today's electronic and computer advancement we write in social network like Facebook and  blogs like this , without a 'fountain pen' ! Even for writing a story or fiction computer is used for easy and fast writing and corrections without wasting paper , ink , time and so on. But when you are at liesure do write your memoirs or anything with a fountain pen and enjoy writing.