Ever seen a kid in a candy store? The glee in their eyes at the sheer variety available, the wanting as much as one can get, making sure you go over all the options, trying and tasting as many goods as possible. I have seen certain grown ups act in exactly the same manner in stationary stores (and I too am guilty of this behavior). Whether its going through various notebooks and sketchpads to get the best paper as well as the most interesting cover in one or trying out pen after pen, pencil after pencil seeing how it writes, eventually ending up with a small sheet of paper covered in rainbow scribbles.
And I've noticed a lot of people around me, whether they're architecture students or practicing, share this fascination (and even a certain possessiveness) for stationary. Even in office we've had conversations specifically pertaining to stationary. If you pick up a pencil from Sai's table (and there are a few different kinds that you'll find there), he'll immediately notice its absence. Every time I have seen Harshitha in a space where notebooks were on sale, she has always picked up atleast one. Nikhil carries around a sketchpad and basic black pens with him and I've seen him pull them out in a restaurant and start sketching.
The shopaholic in me definitely comes alive in a stationary store and its not always pretty. So, over the years I have landed up with a whole bunch of stationary ranging from colourful patterned tape to punching machines with reindeer shaped cutouts - things that I really really wanted but haven't ever used. Now when I find myself in a stationary store I consciously practice self-restraint. Today while I was shopping at commercial street, I found myself in a stationary store yet again. The concept of practicing self-restraint really did help. I walked into the store, looked around to my heart's content and walked out with only 1 thing that I wanted but didn't particularly need. Quite an achievement, don't you think?
And I've noticed a lot of people around me, whether they're architecture students or practicing, share this fascination (and even a certain possessiveness) for stationary. Even in office we've had conversations specifically pertaining to stationary. If you pick up a pencil from Sai's table (and there are a few different kinds that you'll find there), he'll immediately notice its absence. Every time I have seen Harshitha in a space where notebooks were on sale, she has always picked up atleast one. Nikhil carries around a sketchpad and basic black pens with him and I've seen him pull them out in a restaurant and start sketching.
The shopaholic in me definitely comes alive in a stationary store and its not always pretty. So, over the years I have landed up with a whole bunch of stationary ranging from colourful patterned tape to punching machines with reindeer shaped cutouts - things that I really really wanted but haven't ever used. Now when I find myself in a stationary store I consciously practice self-restraint. Today while I was shopping at commercial street, I found myself in a stationary store yet again. The concept of practicing self-restraint really did help. I walked into the store, looked around to my heart's content and walked out with only 1 thing that I wanted but didn't particularly need. Quite an achievement, don't you think?
-Mannat
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