We are just back from the 1st Chennai Pen Show which was organised by Aditya Bhansali and his team of super-efficient achievers. Well, the platitudes are deliberate – for here was a show that like a pack of trump cards, excelled on all counts. For the habitual nitpickers among us,
The Southern states are by far, way ahead in terms of fountain pen use. Pen turners too are easier to come by in these parts. Yet, none of the southern cities – Chennai, Bangalore, and Hyderabad included – have pen shows that they can call their own. New Delhi does
Like most fountain pen lovers in India, my first hand turned, India made ebonite pen was a Nauka from ASA pens in Chennai. I had stumbled on to their website and placed an order, which was in due course of time, fulfilled. One order had followed many others and it
Indian Fountain pens are my dope. The never cease to give me a high. Especially if they are of a certain vintage, hand turned, eye-dropper fillers, made of ebonite and sport pure, “desi” nibs. The ones that give me mind-altering experiences are naturally the type that immediately transport me to
Silver filigree work on a fountain pen. Interesting subject, made more so by a near complete lack of knowledge about the same. When did the practise begin? Who were the artisans who perfected the art? Where can one get one, if one so desired? The background din, is near deafening.
Aditya Bhansali is the best thing that has happened to the Indian fountain pen, ink, paper and accessories community in a really long time. And I have reasons to make the tall claim – however outrageous it may seem on the face of it. I will not mince my words
Gama Pens need no introduction, nor does the 95 year young Gem & Co. Prof K C Janardhan talks to the man at the helm, Pratap Kumar in an exclusive for Inked Happiness. Pratap Kumar, master pen turner and the third generation at the helm of Gama Pens in conversation
Pricing, pricing and pricing – the holy trinity of buying foreign fountain pens Pricing of imported fountain pens is a thorny issue at its best, a contentious one leading to massive heartburns at its worst. Buying from the swank, authorized retail outlets with liveried assistants, gives one the scare
ASA Pens, Chennai, where passions are turned into pens! The name Subramaniam has many meanings, one denoting someone who is dear to the Brahmins, another loosely translated meaning “a worthy jewel”. The Subramaniam we lovers of fountain pens know, the “other half” of the husband-wife duo behind ASA pens of
A Fountain pen – a personification of all the finer nuances of life, dedicated to a wrestler, who represents everything that the pen is not? At first sight, the naming seems to be a misnomer, a terribly wrong one at that. Not unless one is talking about the cult Gama
