Check out my last post for a bunch of reviews of short reads that were a joy to read as I played catch up on reading challenges (one among the many I signed up for this year).
For N as I continue my #UBC and #AtoZChallenges, continuing with my theme of my journey through childhood once again with my kids, I picked ‘Nataraj Pencils‘. For those who don’t know, this is a popular brand of pencils in India (even today) manufactured by Hindustan Pencils. Every trip to India involves at least one visit to a couple of stationary stores in our local markets, and it is heartening to see that those stores have withstood the test of time. The visit to the stationary store ends up with a bag containing a couple of drawing books, erasers, paints, and pencils (loads of them – regular graphite pencils, and color pencils – and almost always Nataraj!). These pencils always make their way back to the US with us on our return. The familiar red and black stripes always bring up memories of cool school days for me.
Nostalgia apart, these pencils are really great – they sharpen well, the points do not break easily or often, and they write smooth and dark. So yes, they definitely are part of my childhood which continue on through my kids’ using them regularly too! They love these pencils 🙂
And looking for more about them, I discovered a really cool review of these pencils here.
Some nostalgia captured via old print and TV ads for the pencils here
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| Image attribution: ClassicIndianAds |
Q to the reader: A favorite writing implement,,, umm, I mean a favorite pencil you wrote/write with?
My #AtoZ2017Posts and #UBCPosts:
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Nostalgia 🙂
Thanks for sharing
A Peice Of My Life
Thanks Deepa.. enjoying your APOM posts..
Nataraj commercial, I could very well recite it…have seen it on DD in growing up years! I am also a big fan of Nataraj!
Your post shored up a lot of Natraj memories!
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Anagha From Team MocktailMommies
Collage Of Life
know what you mean Anagha.. the commercials are all in some part of my memory too..
Hehe! Natraj pencils were my favourite too! I remember the ad and of course Ameen Sayani's evergreen voice. Truly nostalgic 🙂
thanks Radhika.. Ameen Sayani's voice is definitely memorable
Watching that commercial is nostalgia full throttle !
here from AtoZ http://poojasharmarao.blogspot.in/2017/04/n-neruda-pablo-inspirational-writers.html
yes.. and watching one means binge watching others:)
A call to create gets an A+ from me. Thank you for your post!
Thank you Marie!
I used to be a fan of flora pencils, white background n pink flowers with green leaves .
Your post took me back to childhood 🙂
I remember those too..
I love pencils, 2B for sketching and HB writing notes. I have colouring pencils too – so much nicer than those brightly colouerd pens that are so popular today. I must look out for these on my next trip to India
Another day in Amble Bay!
I have seen these on Amazon as well 🙂
I love the end result when we use pencils..
I never heard of these pencils, so now I know what to look for. Thanks much!
🙂
I use pencils only in my calendar, and anywhere else I can manage it. I have eversharp pencils, which are convenient, but don't have that feel of a good pencil like this. I'd even carry around a pencil sharpener if I had pencils like these!
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Eli@CoachDaddy
N is for the New Plan
I have a whole bunch of pencils of all sorts – eversharp/the ones that need sharpening (in my post) and pens – that i carry around with me all the time.. never know when i need them..
I would much rather use a pencil rather than a pen. I enjoy reading your informed blogs about your trips back to India.
thanks Martha! this has been a memory trip for me and hopefully someday for my kids too:)
How could I not read this post? I own a stationery store! 😀
Natraj pencils are not so popular here, you know. Doms has taken over a huge market share. Natraj pencils are HB, which means they are harder and lighter in color. Kids press too hard to get a dark impression, but that shows up on the page below as engravings. So most kids at my shop prefer extra dark pencils.
I used to love the pink and white camlin flora as a kid. They have changed the design now though. The colors and print quality is very poor.
Btw, I'm lagging behind. But will catch up. Do visit my N post.
Happy AtoZing!
Chicky @ http://www.mysteriouskaddu.com
Chicky, thanks so much! Love the name of your store and your blog as well..
Need to check out the Doms next trip to India..