Day 58-2011 : Long Live The Pen!

I write this as the Indian bowlers are getting clobbered by the English batsmen.  Who would have thought that the Englismen would chase a large total like 338 so ferociously!  But then that is the nature of modern day cricket. Nothing is impossible!  I have to however, admit that I had to take a couple of breaks writing this post, as India turned around a defeat into a one pointer tie.  Team aise hi nahi jeetti, jeetana padta hai! Problem is, team jeeti nahi aaj...The match has however livened up a damp squib of a World Cup so far.

Along with the nature of modern day cricket, a lot of other things have also changed.  One of them, I realised today, was writing.  Yes, writing.  Earlier in the day, I tried writing this post (to be frank, the topic at that point of time was completely different) with a pen on a notepad.  Strangely, I found it terribly difficult to pen down my thoughts.  What I think I was not very happy about was the speed at which I was able to write, or the lack of it.  I noticed that the pace of my writing was not able to keep up with the pace of my thought processes.  Come to think of it, I realised that in the last 10 years, I haven't really written much by hand at all!  The pen has been used most only for signatures and maybe for filling out some forms.  Almost everything else has been 'written' by the keyboard.  No wonder!

Will they survive?

I am sure that others, before me, have also experienced the same.  The reason is very simple.  We no longer 'write'.  We type.  We do all our documents on a computer with a keyboard.  And nowadays on mobile phones and tablets as well.  We no longer write letters; we type out emails and send them.  They are delivered instantly.  Why use a pen?  For signatures?  Well, I think this reason will also be obsolete in a few years when everyone might be using digital signatures.  Already, a lot of official documentation is concluded with digital signatures.

So, will there be any reason to use pens 20 years from now?   Maybe....maybe not!  Will the saying 'The pen is mightier than the sword' still be relevant or will it be 'The keyboard is mightier than the sword'?  Will our children learn the written word with the help of keyboards and not pens and pencils?  Will the pen die a lonely death? 

I hope not.  Take care.