This week, I went to Bangalore to close a bank account. Its debit card had expired and I had no more cheque leaves. No tax-saving FDs were remaining and I had over 20,000 to clean out. I could have done the final rituals at a local branch but was afraid of delays and loss in transit.
Going in person was also not preferable because I was afraid that I might waste the money on some electronic goods. I planned to go to Mantri Mall later that day. Fortunately, Reliance Digital had closed its huge electronics showroom at the mall. There was a tiny Reliance Digital appliances store in its place. So, the 20K stuffed in my pocket remained intact when I returned to Kerala.
With the cash that I took to the city, I bought just a few items. I went to a book shop where I was able to buy two UNI-BALL eco UB-120 pens on the last visit. They did not have that model now. They however did have several Hero pens. I grabbed the two units that had the smooth and curvy top. The gold-top version gets scratched easily. The curvy top looks like it is machined (it is not) and more modern. These pens break easily and have to be handled carefully. The ink tank system is also not perfect. It is not possible to fill the tank completely. However, the pen looks splendid and writes bundastic.
The UNI-BALL eco UB-120 was popular all over the world. It was an early model roller ball pen. It looked great but its tip was poorly made and easily lost its ball. I still like it. Only one of those two pens I have now write properly.
A few years ago, I bought a LAMY pen. It cost over two thousand rupees. Camlin pens would dry out after months of non-use but the LAMY pen never. The LAMY starts writing as soon as it you put it on paper. Its life ended when I dropped it and damaged its nib. I tried to extract its nib but found it impossible. It is engineered to such a high extent that it took me a while to damage it beyond repair.
I now have two Hero pens so I am not returning to a LAMY anytime soon. I will have to write with a Hero regularly to prevent the ink from drying out. Low-tech pens get clogged if the ink dries out completely. When these two Hero pens break, I will then buy a new LAMY.