It is a
childhood thing I think…all such desires go back to one’s childhood…ask
Freud…or is it Jung? I vaguely remember
using a big orangeish fountain pen when I was in school in
Thiruvananthapuram…it couldn’t have been the Parker Big Red…maybe a copy…so,
when I re-started my fountain pen journey, the Big Red came back to haunt me
again…and all along I thought the Montblanc 149 was my grail pen…ha ha ha…silly
fellow!!...
And so, this
unconscious or subconscious desire for this big reddish orange pen has surfaced
now and then…and has manifested itself in me getting all starry-eyed over pens
of this colour and shape…till I joined FPN and got acquainted with Hari, I
didn’t know anything about the ‘grand’ original ‘granddaddy of them all,’ the
Big Red…and when I tried to see if I could buy one, I saw that the price was
forbidding, for me at least… it is an expensive pen, more so because the only
ones available are vintage ones… the purchase is on hold as of now…
But the
obsession with the pen never abated and wherever possible, wallet permitting, I
have bought similar coloured and shaped pens whenever and wherever I saw them…
Here are the Big
Red inspired ones that I have collected…let me see If I can put them in some
kind of order…
This is the Brahman Orange Celluloid FP, which I fondly call the Big Orange...an ED filler, I saw it at Deccan Pen Stores, Abids, and fell in love with it the moment I saw it and absolutely wanted to have it...the cost was very high , but I was given some discount and at my request, I could pay in instalments...this has remained my absolute favourite, and very close to Big Red...
This is the Wilson Big Red...these are all my names to these pens...anyway, this was given to me by Zubair at Deccan Pen Stores, Secunderabad...I was always asking him about now-out-of-production Wilson pens and he had dredged this and another Wilson FP out of their stock and showed them to me...wow...one more Big Red pen...this is also an ED filler...Zubair, thanks...
And all this while I had been pestering Hari for information about prices and sales about the Big Red and I was not able to muster enough money for the Big Red...seeing my plight, Hari managed to procure a Parker Duofold Big Red Junior for me...and this is the closest I have come to owning the real thing...the smaller version...thanks Hari...
This is another Wilson...the mottled orange celluloid...it is not fat and big, but the flat ends and the orangeish colour and the ball clip made me flip for this pen...I got this pen in Gaya, Bihar and was surprised to see this and bought it along with some more Wilsons that I got there...
The last of the Orangeish Red pens that I have...this is the Oswal Red...this is so similar to the Wilson Orange that I think there are made by the same manufacturer for different companies...my kid brother bought it at Meenakshi Pen Stores in Bangalore and gifted this to me...thanks bro...
So, so far these have given me company in place of the Big Red...and I know that some day, I will get the Big Red...
