[Goanet] Fountain Pens
Dear Savio, Thanks for your response. I would like to make some comments. Savio Figueiredo wrote: Sometime back I was in shop buying cheap ballpens ( Das ka 10 for Rs.10) for my Cyber Cafe for the use of customers ( as pens are often not returned back); a lady stopped me and after confirming that I am open to suggestions asked me to think about the environment as these plastics pens are just thrown away after the ink is over. I agreed with her. Yes ink pens are environment friendly . Cecil Pinto: I must say I never looked at the matter in that light before. Ok, agreed throw-away pens are obviously bad for the environment. But ballpens with changeable refills? I don't think that the miniscule amount of plastic contained in a refill is that bad. Also some refills are all metal. I mean an average kid goes through 4-5 felt pens sets in a year. All those felt pens are thrown out after they dry up. Now that is serious plastic damage. -- SF: On the other side there was a HOD of the Biology Dept at St Xaviers Mapusa; Rev Fr. Palithanam who banned us from using fountain pens in his lab because students would spray ink on the floor/walls to get their pens working. CP: The Rev. Father had a point. In school we were encouraged to use ballpens because we used to spray ink on each other and sometimes on the backs of unaware teachers! Last day of school was an absolute riot. And of course mixing a little cashew juice in your ink made sure the stains were memorable! -- SF: Other prespectives are 1. I agree hand writing improves with ink pens CP: A commonly held belief. I wonder if it holds up to statistical scrutiny. Experiments I have conducted, though not statistically significant, show that people with good handwriting will write well with either type of pen. In school (and even now) my handwriting was bad even though the first formative years were strictly with a fountain pen only. And I know of young people today who have only passingly held a fountain pen but can write very well with a ball pen. - SF: 2. Ink writing smudges on some paper and in case paper gets wet. 3. Students cannot hide pieces of paper for copying in ink pens as against ball pens. CP: With laser printing technology, and photocopy reduction capacity, this is no longer a problem. -- SF: 4. Manufacturers are trying to combine the effects of both inks in gel pens; CP: Not really. I would categorise gel and rollerball as ball pens too as the ink cannot be refilled/replaced by the user and requires a manufactured refill. Cheers! Cecil
[Goanet] Fountain pens were compulsory for Board exams?
I answered my SSC exam in 1982 through St. Thomas School in Aldona. At that time I remember that one was allowed to use a ballpen to answer, and most students did. But until a few years before that it was (thought to be) compulsory to use fountain pens to answer Board exams. Now I don't know if this was a rule made by the Board or just a scare perpetuated by teachers in individual schools. For example my wife Beatrice answered her SSC in 1986 and says it was compulsory then to use fountain pens. Obviously Our Lady of Divar school teachers misled their students into believing this. Anyone out there knows the exact year when ballpens were allowed in Goa for Board exams, or were they always allowed? Any other perspectives on the fountain v/s ballpen debate most welcome. Cheers! Cecil =
Re: [Goanet] Fountain pens were compulsory for Board exams?
I think teachers in Goa then (largely) held a belief that using a 'fountain' pen, or a nib pen, improved one's handwriting. I still prefer to use an ink pen. Have been through Selzas and other brands, and the currently popular one (among the very few that use them anyway) is Reynolds. You can get these at Rs 30 or so at Bhale's or Tarcar's near JD Fernandes. Our teachers' generation held a lot of urban legends in their times, just as we do now (Dr Santosh might call them supersititions). They felt that talking Konkani in school came in the way of one's learning English (and see the attitude now!) They felt that boys with their shirts tucked into their pants looked neater in appearance (St Britto's under Fr Catao was specially strict on this). They also believed that one shouldn't drink water in between meals. God help you if you were four years old, the meal was ultra-spicy, and your tongue was simply not used to it ... perhaps because you had returned from some other diet-region of the planet. FN nib (nb) n. 1. a. The sharpened point of a quill pen. b. A tapered point of a pen, designed to be inserted into a penholder or fountain pen. 2. A sharp point or tip. 3. A bird's beak or bill. 2008/6/2 Cecil Pinto [EMAIL PROTECTED]: I answered my SSC exam in 1982 through St. Thomas School in Aldona. At that time I remember that one was allowed to use a ballpen to answer, and most students did. But until a few years before that it was (thought to be) compulsory to use fountain pens to answer Board exams. Now I don't know if this was a rule made by the Board or just a scare perpetuated by teachers in individual schools. For example my wife Beatrice answered her SSC in 1986 and says it was compulsory then to use fountain pens. Obviously Our Lady of Divar school teachers misled their students into believing this. Anyone out there knows the exact year when ballpens were allowed in Goa for Board exams, or were they always allowed? Any other perspectives on the fountain v/s ballpen debate most welcome. Cheers! Cecil -- Frederick FN Noronha * Independent Journalist http://fn.goa-india.org * Phone +91-832-2409490 Cell +91-9970157402 (sometimes out of range) http://www.youtube.com/user/fredericknoronha
