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
It was never easy being a scribe. Imagine carrying your quill (and a penknife to sharpen it at regular intervals) along with a pot of ink to work. Dank. It was only a little better when the holders with their metal nibs were introduced. Well, it did do away with
Qalam – the symbol of wisdom, that emphasises on knowledge and education – from which flows the divine art of calligraphy “A solitary tear suspended on the cheek of time” is how the poet laureate Rabindra Nath Tagore had described the Taj Mahal. As a matter of fact, so much
Sniper – the weapon of mass creation from ASA pens. ASA calls it the Sniper. And like a sniper, it aims to blend in, picking kills from a-far without blowing its cover. That explains the black matt body. It also explains the hooded nib, obviously an effort to ensure that
