Kaweco for the Nine Nights of Navaratri

Kaweco and the Durga Puja of my life!

On Vijaya Dashami, the Goddess Durga will slay the buffalo demon Mahishashura, marking the eternal victory of good over evil. The day will also mark the return journey of the Goddess Uma – Durga’s incarnation as the daughter in Bengal – back to her husband, Lord Shiva’s abode in Mount Kailash.

The nine days preceding the ultimate triumph of Dharma (the order that makes life and universe possible), would witness Durga fight an epic battle and assume multiple avatars to match the shape-shifting, near invincible demon’s ploys. And she will be revered for each one of her incarnations, in Navratri (literally nine nights) festivals.

Kolkata’s Durga Puja is all set to be nominated as an UNESCO cultural heritage and is without doubt one of the most eminent socio-cultural events in these parts of the world. This is also the time, when people don new clothes in a celebration of life, of joy, of the belief that truth and goodness will always emerge victorious. Incidentally, in keeping with the spirit that is Bengal, Durga Puja is above everything divisive – caste, creed, colour, religion, et all – and it is to this spirit of universal brotherhood of man, of the inherent purity of all hearts, on inclusiveness that we pay our homage.

This year I am celebrating the nine nights a bit differently – instead of buying nine sets of clothes, I am gifting myself nine fountain pens, and for a reason. I am buying the fountain pens in the unshakeable belief that like the good that is ever destined to win the final battle, the art of handwriting and its favourite child, the fountain pen will triumph over the evil devils of ball points and styluses and electronically processed thoughts.

Oh, I am doing another thing – I am gifting myself Kaweco pens, primarily for two reasons. One I love them and two, because like Durga Puja, Kaweco is also eternal, ethereal even – rising, in an endless quest for excellence above all man-made boundaries, above everything that seeks to divide us and stop us from achieving our true potentials.

On the first night the Mother Goddess is revered as the Shilaputri, literally the daughter of the mountains and the colour that is associated with her is red, signifying action and vigour. The fountain pen that I will pay my homage to her on the day is a Kaweco Classic Sport Red. The emotionally intense red is also the colour of fire and blood.

“Oh Mother, may the fire in my veins never extinguish, may my blood boil as I bow my head before you, and may my pen be mightier than all the swords that the evil raise against your children”.

Her second incarnation is that of Brahmacharini – the personification of calm blissfulness, as she endows peace and prosperity on the world. In bare feet, with rosary beads in her hands, she takes the form of an aesthetic and the colour associated with her is blue – serene, with a strength that runs deeper than the mind can comprehend. My pen for the day? A Kaweco Sport Frosted Blue – one that will help me keep my cool and be as intense as the waters that have, over millennia, cut through the Grand Canyon, as deep as the oceans that are fathomless.

The third day of Navaratri, Tritiya, celebrates her as Chandraghanta, the Goddess who adorns her forehead with a half-moon as a mark of her marriage to Lord Shiva. She is the symbol of bravery just the way she also symbolises beauty. Her ruling colour is yellow, whose vivaciousness is destined to urge the weary to continue the fight for righteousness, just the way it denotes the beauty of an overflowing granary, the golden sunlight, the purity of everlasting friendships… The pen that I will mark this day with is a Kaweco Supra Eco Brass Fountain pen. Its rounded edges reminding me to be balanced in my actions, its sleek, yet sturdy gait reminding me to revere the Mother and be resolute and unyielding in my pursuit for beauty, to be relentless in my struggle against all things evil.

She is Kushmunda on day four – the creative power of the Universe. She is the one who bestowed vegetation on Earth and is associated with the colour green. In these days of Global Warming and Climate Change her importance cannot be over emphasised and I will celebrate the fragile ecological balance – her creation by planting the sapling of life with my Kaweco Art Sport fountain pen in Green.

Skandamata (the Mother of Kartikeya) is her countenance on day five, when she turns Grey, symbolising the transforming strength of a mother when her child is faced with danger. I have chosen the Kaweco Allrounder Fountain pen in Silver to pray to this the eternal power of the Mother, the Mother Earth, Creation and Sustenance personified.

“Gather me in your arms O Mother, protect me from the all-pervading evil that is ever eager to gobble up your children”.     

She is Katyayani (literally daughter of Sage Katyayana), she is Durga, the most violent forms of Goddess Parvati. She is flaming rage incarnate in bright Orange. To pay my tribute to this all-consuming rage that scorches Heaven and Earth, obliterating and decimating all that dares to raise its evil head before her, I have chosen the Kaweco AC Sport Orange Fountain Pen. “May the flame – the power to be upright before the dark side – burn in all of us”.

On the seventh day, the White Goddess shed her fair skin and turned black in rage, as she took the form of Kalratri and slayed the demons Sumbha and Nishumbha, who could neither be killed by God or man. It is to this pure, whiteness of the Mother that I will pray to with my Kaweco Classic Sport White Fountain Pen and the Kaweco Perko all Black FP.

“May our souls be as bereft of all colours of ill will and strife as the purity of your whitest white, may we be as Black as the Goddess Kali so that our very look may drive the fear of life in all that demonises us”.

The Goddess then takes the form of Mahagauri – personifying intelligence and peace. It is believed that one who worships her is relieved of all the sufferings of life. She is optimism, she is pink and I will pick up my Kaweco Frosted Sport Fountain Pen in Blush Pitaya to write my prayers to Mahagauri – fill the hearts of all your creatures with optimism Mother. May everlasting peace and prosperity reign on Earth.

Finally, on day nine, she is Siddhidhatri – the one who bestows supernatural power and meditative abilities on all those who take refuge in her, sacrificing their souls to her feet. She is blue in this avatar as she embodies the ability to admire and revel in nature’s beauty, her beauty. My pen-ance for the day? The Kaweco Student Fountain Pen in Vintage Blue. “May all that is good, all that is sacred, all that is blessed, flow from the tip of my pen – may the Blessings of the Mother Goddess shower on you, your family and friends, today and every day”.

Note: I know I could have matched the Kaweco pens better, but you must forgive me, for I have used only new, unused pens that were acquired especially for this write-up. I have others, ones in colours that match her avatars more closely, but they are ones I have used earlier and I dare not pay my tribute to the Mother with pens, even Kawecos I have already written with.

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