Battala – printing, publication, pornography … and penmanship. The “Gora Sahibs” were concentrated in their White Town around Fort William – down Chowringhee, all the way to Park Street. The natives were huddled in the squalor, as the river flowed, both up and down, in what was variously, contemptuously called
I grew up with Sulekha ink blotches on the shirt pockets of my school uniform. It was a kind of “badge of honour,” like the ink-stained fingers and callouses on the fiddle finger, that on a deep subconscious level reassured us that we were giving our studies all that was
The 5th Inked Happiness Lifetime Achievement Award was conferred upon Dr. Sovan Roy in a glittering ceremony at the Calcutta Rowing Club on July 29th, 2023. The trophy was handed over to Dr. Roy by Prof. Manoshi Roychowdhury, co-chairperson of the Techno India Group. Kaushik Maitra, Managing Director of Sulekha
India-made pens. They fascinate me, for they are my reigning passion, the one end that justifies all means. I have spent so many decades of my life in their search – seeking them out, collecting them, getting the old dilapidated ones restored, compiling their stories, learning about their legacies, and
Mizanur Rahman bhai is a well-known name in the fountain pen and ink user groups in Bangladesh. He runs a very successful shop in Dhaka and can easily be considered among the handful of opinion-makers in the country. As a fountain pen and ink importer, his knowledge about the quality,
I am Muhammad Ilyas Khan. I belong to Southern part of Khyber Pakhtoon Khwa province (Distt. Lakki Marwat). I am a retired bureaucrat and am now settled in Pak Capital – Islamabad. I speak, read and write in more than seven languages including English, Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Punjabi, Dari and
Pen Mahotsav – the first fountain pen show in the east is all set to set the high watermark, create the occasion penophiles were waiting for. Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Pune – after every pen show, we fountain pen lovers from the east vowed to hold the “mother of all pen shows”
Kolkata has often been called the Cultural Capital of the Nation – killing fields for the Tagores and the Rays (and innumerable others) that have, and continue to dominate our perceptions. While the creative history of the city is mostly well-documented, what is less known is the story of the
Pen Boutique, Leena Shrestha Menon and a story from the World Wide Web’s favourite pen, paper and ink store! Inked Happiness: What’s new at our favourite store – Pen Boutique? Leena Shrestha Menon, Pen Boutique: Now that the pandemic is winding down and restrictions are lifting, our store hours are
Sulekha Selam – a numbered edition ink was unveiled to pay homage to the Martyrs on 21st February, “Bhasha Dibosh” (Language Day). Only 21 bottles of the blood red ink have been made to commemorate the supreme sacrifice for the recognition of the Bengali language, which has since been recognised
Sanjeev Narula, R P Traders and the elusive “Kalkatta” Fountain Pens! The local trains, that ferry daily passengers to and from their workplaces in Kolkata have always fascinated me, among many things for the vendors – who carry trinkets of every conceivable variety, ware, that they peddle with some of
Nib Manufacturing in India – the past Knowing of my interest in fountain pens, several acquaintances have drawn my attention to a recent story done by BBC, on how India’s artisanal fountain pens are making a mark. It is a natural Indian proclivity to recognize something only when the West
