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
The year was 1978. Kapil Dev Nikhanj was making his debut against Pakistan. Virender Sehwag was seeing the first lights of the day. The Government led by Morarji Desai, the then Prime Minister, was demonetising high denomination bank notes. Indira Gandhi was on the comeback trail. Kishore Kumar’s soulful rendition
Fountain Pen Shows in India – why have eggs when you can eat the golden goose? The fountain pen sellers of the Fort area in Mumbai are livid. Why is their livelihood being threatened by the sudden deluge of Fountain Pen shows? These are all ancestral businesses, small, mostly single
Lotus participates in the Singapore Pen Show, sells out in record time. Arun Singhi of Lotus Pens has every reason to be proud. The pen turner from Mumbai, often called the “most gifted among all those who make hand made fountain pens in India”, had a déjà vu moment in
Conklin Duraflex where the twain meets Mark Twain Conklin, to me, is synonymous with three things – a writing legacy that is now more than a hundred and twenty years old; the credit of creating the first self-filling fountain pen; and off-course, the legendary author Mark Twain, who endorsed the
Fountain Pen lovers of Mumbai and Pune meet – where nibs are tuned, lives turned! Take an airline pilot, an artist, a couple of lawyers, a splattering of management consultants, a teacher and a few others whose professions are as diverse as India’s unity. Put them in one of Mumbai’s
Hari Balakrishna on Fountain pen collecting Hari Balakrishna is one of the foremost authorities on India made fountain pens. An penthusiast who has carefully nurtured his all consuming love for everything fountain over the last three decades, painstakingly creating, in the process a collection that is unmatched both in quality and
1st India Pen Show in Mumbai – Why I will attend, and you should too. We are different. We are fountain pen-abled. No, neither is this the “new normal” nor are we big enough as a class to be wooed politically, our numbers not significant enough to make electoral differences,
The Pen Show is certainly one event that cannot be described in any matter-of-fact manner – simply because of the sheer passion of the people it helps bring together. People who are fired by an all-consuming passion, people who are inked together by their love for the writing implements. Yes,
