Karishma Siddique Roy. Loreto. Jadavpur University. RJ in All India Radio. Curator of Rock Notes. Manager of Musical Bands. Marriage to a Mandolin player. Ownership of a Sustainable Clothing and Accessories Brand. Designer of own line (or should it be destiny?). I guess, life doesn’t get any more exciting than
Nandini Ramchandran on being a woman collector of fountain pens in a man’s world! As a fountain pen collector and user, who happens to be a woman, I am often asked why there are relatively fewer women pursuing the hobby in India. While I cannot presume to speak for
Ohto pens are now in India, thanks to Tushar Vaghela I met Tushar Vaghela for the first time in the Ahmedabad Pen Show – fondly christened the Global Pen Expo – in the beginning of this year. Frankly speaking, I had reached the venue not expecting much, not having
Valuation and Certification services now available in India – Diwali comes early for Fountain Pen lovers. I always buy fountain pens – especially the old, vintage stuff of Indian origin – blindly. I know it is a path full of pitfalls, with dangers lurking in the corners and would never
The story of Kosuri Venkata Ratnam meeting Gandhiji and Ratnam pens (dated 1932-35) has been documented extremely well. Ratnam pens are celebrated. When President Ram Nath Kovind visited the Pablo Neruda Museum in Santiago on 31st March 2019, the press release by Rashtrapati Bhavan stated, “He gifted a special pen to the
Fountain pen & Ink – the story of Calcutta’s intricate connection with their development, especially in the first half of the twentieth century, is a fascinating one that demands to be told, again, to the lovers of fountain pens. Nearly a hundred years on, most sources are as dry as
Nikko Ebonite – is often considered, in India at least, to be the best that there can be, as far as hand turned fountain pens go. Yoshiko Endo looks after the orders and logistics side of the business in Nikko Ebonite Manufacturing Company – which, with the motto “ebonize your
Luxmi Stylo Pen Works, Varanasi, was the first to make the “Swadeshi” pen in India. Legend has it that the first “Swadeshi” Fountain pen in India was made by Kosuri Venkata Ratnam to honour the desire expressed by none other than the Mahatma – who wanted an inexpensive pen, made
The mottled ebonite eyedropper fountain pen is as resplendent of the magnificence that Indian craftsmanship was, as perhaps the Charminar in Hyderabad and just as iconic. I refer to the Charminar and to Hyderabad for a reason – the hand turning of fountain pens was elevated to a form of
Origin One goes Carbon Zero! The Writing pad is dead. As dead as a doornail. Killed by an overdose of digital domination and an increasing apathy of our young to pick up the fountain pen (or pencil, or whatever). Emails regularly come with ominous warnings about using paper, that lead
Pen World – there is only one God in the world of niche lifestyle magazines that deal with writing instruments and Nicky Pessaroff is His prophet. For the last three decades, the Pen World has highlighted the finer nuances of writing, featuring everything pens – new and vintage at all
Dilip Doshi. The very name conjures staccato black and white images of a packed Eden Gardens, men in flannels battling it out against the visitors, with the tricolour fluttering far away in time, as if, on the giant screen of a cinema hall from a lost era. Images of a
