Every generation has those odd, inexplicable items that gain cult status in school. In my Mumbai school in the ’90s, it was Caran D’Ache colour pencils (raise your hands if you, like me, coveted that red steel box) and Lisa Frank stationery (even now, decades later, I remember that my friend Ria always had the best collection). Colleagues in other cities extol the superiority of Milton thermoses, along with clicker pencils and electric sharpeners, from their salad days. And this generation’s I-want-it-coz-everyone-in-class-has-it? A set of POSCA marker pens.
Sometime last year, I was having coffee with a friend after picking our daughters up from school. Two coffees, two pain au chocolats, and a bookstore browse later, the girls wanted to make a brief stop at an art supplies store before we all headed home.
Except it wasn’t so brief. About 20 minutes later, they were still both huddled in the corner, debating their choices from a wall of brightly coloured pens.
‘What am I missing here?” I asked my friend, impatiently gesturing at their prolonged, intense discussion. That was the first time I heard about POSCAs.
Farah explained that her older daughter had introduced the family to what was now a household staple. “The kids buy them as birthday gifts for each other, they write their letters to Santa with them, and I love them as well. There’s something incredibly soothing about the paint texture,” she said. “In school, the kids are territorial, they share and swap them, but there’s POSCA etiquette in play—you can never use too much and you can never take another’s marker home.”
So it’s a marker? But it also paints? And much to the annoyance of parents, it is permanent even on fabric. And for some reason, it’s priced way higher than a good old felt pen? And it merits such deep discussion among the under-10 set?
My trusty friend Google tells me I am not alone in my line of questioning. “POSCA is a creative tool that can be used on all surfaces, providing permanent or temporary results depending on the surface...it’s a marker that allows you to effortlessly use actual paint on almost any surface, without the mess and hassle of traditional painting!” Okay, I think, I can get behind a no-mess solution when it comes to any activity related to my kids.
In the car on the way home, my daughter elaborated on the cult status these markers enjoy. “Everyone in school has them, Mama. They are the coolest pens ever! I can paint, write notes, even finish my school project—it’s so much fun!” (Note to the reader: at this point, her POSCA arsenal was zero, so this was her very fervent pitch)
Alena, my friend’s nine-year-old, who is a budding artist, echoed the sentiment: “It’s like a paintbrush in a pen. It’s so easy and you have to have it for art class.”
Rakhi Shah, a Mumbai-based art teacher, has a slightly more balanced take: “These markers are great for smaller canvases or to colour different mediums, but on paper, I find them a bit scratchy.” She cautions, “They’re a fad, and super expensive, so I wouldn’t recommend buying them in bulk because they don’t last long. But yes, the kids seem to really enjoy using them.”
Update: In December, my husband was visiting Tokyo, the mecca of stationery. He came back with this much-coveted marker in special, limited-edition colours. It’s safe to say that on Christmas morning, Santa delivered.
