The main purpose of reading Manorama Weekly continuously is Thomas Jacob sir’s stories, poems and some interviews. So today Sir Thomas brought me to a topic that brings back many memories to anyone, the pencil!
A pencil is a perfect companion for anyone in the beginnings of writing. But Sir Thomas’s story-telling brought the pencil to the knowledge of great writing. Mahakavi Kumaranashan’s verse poem ‘Karuna’ was even written in pencil! Nobel laureate John Steinbuck wrote in pencil. Frank Morais, a famous journalist, writes only with a pencil. Takazi, MT, pencil was the favorite writing even of our Gandhiji.
Pencil is something that everyone uses for drawing and writing. One end is cut as needed and used for writing and drawing. This is the composition of early pencils. Only the tip of the pencil is available in stores today. The practice of buying them and fixing them on suitable handles has also come into existence. The pencil is available in a variety of black and many colors.
A quick look at the history of pencils gives us some very clear information. Pencils took their shape following a large deposit of graphite was discovered in the Cumberland Hills of England in 1564. The shepherds discovered a deposit of grayish, black graphite. They called it ‘lead’, which colored the hand when touched. Nobody knew that it was graphite, a form of carbon. Shepherds used this to mark the outside of their sheep.
Although the actual inventor of the pencil is still a matter of dispute, it is generally accepted that the German Konrad Gesner invented the pencil in 1565. Along with the first forms of paper came the invention of various instruments for writing on it. The lead pencil was the most used.
‘Pencil Photo Sketch’, a professional photo editor that can turn your photos into a pencil sketch, is available today. Many writers, including myself, are among those who have not forgotten Pecilil to this day, along with desktops, laptops, and tablets.
‘Thorns of color bloom, rainbows burn in the sketch you drew in the heart with a lovingly sharpened pencil’.