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
The 1st Edition of the India Pen Show (TIPS) in 2019 was a watershed event. It was to date, the biggest show of its kind in India; was reasonably well organized at the Nehru Centre in Worli; had solid participation from fountain pens, inks, and accessory makers from all parts
Well, let me begin this one with a confession – I am not an expert. I do not have any academic qualification to make such claims, nor do I have the inclination of being a self-styled one, someone who acts like a know-it-all, foot firmly in the mouth. Collecting fountain
I was talking to a fountain pen lover, who is also a journalist the other day and naturally, the conversation had veered towards the conversion rate of the INR vis-à-vis the US Dollar. He was predictably concerned that the negative effect a falling Rupee will have on fountain pens, inks
There are broadly four kinds of people who buy fountain pens. I know that I am about to commit an unpardonable sin by writing what I have set out to write in this piece, for I will be generalising things to a point where it will be rankling at the
The 4th Inked Happiness Lifetime Achievement Award was conferred upon Prof Yashwant Pitkar in a befitting ceremony at the Triguna Sen Auditorium of the Jadavpur University on July 31st, 2022 by Suvobrata Ganguly the man behind the Inked Happiness. Applauding Prof Pitkar as he gracefully accepted the award were a
Click President – the answer to all pen lover’s prayers for an affordable piston filler, Made in India from scratch, is here! A piston filler, simply put, is a fountain pen with a knob at the bottom that is twisted to fill the barrel with ink. The first piston fillers
PFM. Pen for Men. Introduced in 1959, it was the extension of Sheaffer’s hugely successful Snorkel line of fountain pens. It was a big, fat, phallic creation aimed at catering to the misplaced machismo of men – a tome built by the boys, for the boys. When later versions of
Nandish Shah is a little-known name in the fountain pen community, but read my lips, he is destined for greater glories. He is destined for greater glories – not because he is as dedicated a fountain-pen lover as you and me, but because he has already unveiled India’s first commercially
Urushi. When the Portuguese sailors had first introduced Europe to the treasures of Japanese lacquer art in the 16th century, the result was one of stunned disbelief. As a matter of fact, such was the obsession of European nobility with this intricate art form of Japan, with its subtle luminance,
Inked Happiness turns four today. Like all birthdays, ours is a special one too, for it is on this day that we give away the Inked Happiness Lifetime Achievement Award for outstanding contribution to the world of writing, writing instruments and the writers who wield them. The 1st Award had
Sulekha has always tread on the road less travelled, off the beaten track as it were. Thus, when Sulekha invited a few dedicated fountain pen and ink lovers – young men and women – from around Kolkata to launch its latest line of inks aptly called “Swadhin” (free, as in
