A notebook case of success

I may have several delusions about myself but the fact that I was, and am, academically mediocre was never in doubt. And I always blamed myself for not putting in the required efforts when it mattered. That’s how I thought. Till now. Only now some advertisements made the secret out that it is actually the brand of notebook that makes all the difference: differentiate between sharp and ordinary-minded children.

To think that all along I remained an ordinary student not because of any fault of mine but because it was our parents who compromised on the success of that generation – now known as baby boomers – by not paying enough attention on which particular notebooks we were using.

If branded notebooks were not available, whose fault was that? Certainly not ours, the students.

But to be fair, none from those generations; parents, teachers as well as students knew anything about the notebooks. In those days we had only copy (pronounced as `caapy’ and not as its present-day anglicized version) and kitab; at least in the northern parts of the country. The only criterion for good copies was that their pages should not make ink to smudge given that from Class 5 onwards only fountain pens (ink pens for the modernists, and no thanks, ball pens were absolutely no-no) were to be used with teachers paying close attention to one’s handwriting.

In fact, some schools used to be so finicky about the handwriting in that formative period that only especially chiseled `reed pen’ and `nib and holders’ were allowed that too with specific nibs/cut for writing English or Hindi.

The desks used to have small in-built ink-pots freshly refilled every day. And that’s why emphasis on pages conducive to ink.  Sadly, while so much attention was being paid on making the whole generation to write beautifully, they were clueless about one basic fact, i.e., it’s the brand of that copy that defined the future of not only the child but of the nation itself. Think about it, just this much attention on seemingly such a small detail cost us our timely vikas.

As they say, better late than never. Thankfully now we know how critical brands are in shaping the future of our children – and country by extension – it should make the journey towards Viksit Bharat much more assured and smoother. Except for a small hitch: in these times of multiple-choice questions-based exams and ChatGPT, writing skills themselves are under threat.