The Chennai Pen Show 2026 – Ranga Pens
The story of Ranga Pens is decades old. In fact, it all started when M S Pandurangan started turning pens in Thiruvallur, which is about 45 km from Chennai, India. The year was 1970. Ranga has been through it all – the ups and downs of the industry, quietly improving its capabilities, and has today emerged as one of the most respected names in the world of fountain pen turning. Ranga was also a prime mover in developing the overseas market for Indian hand-turned pens, a fact for which it is not often credited. But such are the ways of the world.
It is always a pleasure to stand in front of the spread laid out by Ranga at a pen show, ogling at the eye candies, and Chennai, this time around, was no exception. Mr Pandurangan was there himself, as was Mr M P Kandan, who took time to show me around their collection.
There is nothing new to write about Ranga’s creations – they are generally well-made with mostly German Bock, Jowo, or Schmidt screw-in nib units and Converters. While Ranga’s claim to fame is their ebonite fountain pens, they have also transitioned into Acrylic, and quite successfully at that. As of date, Ranga has upwards of 50 colours available in ebonite and 25 colours available in Acrylic. Enough to pull any aficionado down the rabbit hole.
Ranga pens write well, are well-balanced, well-tuned, good quality, decently priced, and overall, deserving of the kind of global fan following they have. I have been using them intermittently for more than a decade now, and have no complaints. What more can I say about a recommendation?
For the Chennai Pen Show, Ranga had many new models on offer, and I was genuinely tempted by their range of cellulose acetate pens, which were a riot. In these days of uniformity, when the nib-feed, converter and largely the clip and trims are near-generic, it is only the shape of a pen and the material it is made of, not to mention the colour, that helps one choose one over the other, brand loyalty being personal. It is here that I personally feel the cellulose acetate pens with their sheer vibrance will make a difference.
However, the pen that blew my mind away was an ebonite beauty fixed with a vintage Sheaffer inlaid nib. These nibs are a blast from the past, pleasure incarnate as writing instruments, and being housed in an ebonite body, were masterpieces that just cannot be passed by.
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