Zeena Singh
Hello folks,
I believe that life has so much to give if only we cared to give a little thought to the most minuscule of joys (which we’d find so much of) only if we’d stop looking at the looming discomforts and discontents.
So here I am, to share with you the simplest joys in my life as I have experienced some time in my life and those that I take as I face each day, at a time.
Bric-a-Brac of a kind
Don’t want to term it a fixation or mania but a leaning toward; an obsession perhaps, a craze, an inclination, or a penchant. I know not precisely when I was hit by this proclivity but of this I am certain that I will never be able to shake it off nor want to, in a long, long time to come.
My first literary expression was in black and white; factual and plain scribbled on black slate, the medium, a long slim kind of natural white lime stone called ‘slate pencil’, also ‘chalk ’ in layman terms, (formed from the calcareous (CaCO3)known to be skeletons of tiny planktonic algae).
Track it, if alien to your understanding. Vintage or Rustic would possibly be the inference, even Bizarre or ‘Unheard of’ wouldn’t seem too surprising. I grant that bit of bewilderment especially to those who go down three generations and more.
Practicality went hand in hand with utility. This goes back half a century ago. A wooden ruler, a -no- frill- striped pencil, branded nataraj and apsara , a dull grey pencil eraser, an often attached ink eraser, plastic protractors and steel compasses all secured in a tin encasement of a chrome and orange Camlin ‘geometry’ box. Over time, the monotonous lacklustre began to give way to a variety of magnetised soft topped pencil boxes, made colourfully attractive with Anime images, perfumed and accessorised with delectably aroma filled erasers.
It has all come a long way. It’s no wonder then that my tongue can’t be kept from lolling out each time I even pass by , ( let alone enter),a stationers’ store laden with goodies, each item so meticulously thought of and alluringly packaged. The florescent pinks, greens, oranges and yellows beckon from the shelves of post-it’s and highlight pens as much as the strikingly bound eye-catchingly chic office accessories competing and oozing style; portfolios, planners, folders and files in stark corporate black, grey and browns grab me to the point of distraction.
Extensive arrays of Pens and Pencils, eclectical each in display. Of Luxor Gloiter, Camlin, Linc, Smart gels , Staedt and Uniball. Pencils in pliable translucent plastic embossed in fascinating print, are every one of them, irresistible.
This impressive evolution has churned in multiple returns starting with winning very early preschoolers and their young mothers, to the very smart young wanna-be- trendy entrepreneurs. I am prey, in complete surrender to its very effective marketing stratagem submitting to being capitulated enough to having drooled and lusted if not claimed possession of the Bric Bracs that bring so much pleasure even at just a browse.
