Fountain- and ball- pens; ink: India
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History
1950s-60s
Abhilash Gaur, Nov 25, 2021: The Times of India
From: Abhilash Gaur, Nov 25, 2021: The Times of India
Minimum landed cost of imported pens
From: Abhilash Gaur, Nov 25, 2021: The Times of India
In the summer of 1961, Government of India was waiting for an expert from the United States. Not an agricultural scientist or a meteorologist but someone with knowledge of the fountain pen industry. India had completely stopped importing fountain pens in 1958, and by 1960 domestic production of pens had risen to 12 million pieces in the organised sector and 10 million in cottage industries. We made enough pens for our needs ( although nibs were 100% imported) but not always to an acceptable quality. So in 1961, Government of India turned to the US for a quality control expert.
It seems strange now that a country that frequently sends the world’s satellites into space couldn’t make good pens just half a century ago, but this is a part of India’s growing-up story. Forget pens, we even needed help to make ink in the early years after Independence. By 1957 – 10 years after Independence – the import of ink had been banned for the same reason that foreign cars weren’t allowed in India. We wanted to be self-dependent in everything and save precious foreign exchange.
In 1957, India’s installed capacity for ink was 3.5 million boxes containing a dozen 2-ounce bottles each, while the demand was for only 0.9 million boxes. Still, foreign brands outnumbered the domestic ink makers. Pilot, Waterman, Quink, Stephens’ and Swan were the five foreign ink brands made and sold in India at the time. Of these, Pilot and Quink even had equity participation while the other three were made under technical collaboration. The four important homegrown brands were Camel, Sulekha, Harihar and Nuluk.
All of the ink factories in India imported some of their raw material like methylene blue, and the foreign collaborations also brought in their respective secret sauces.
In the 1960s, ballpoint pens were not allowed for many uses. A money order had to be signed with a fountain pen. Bills, government cheques and endorsements made on government cheques also had to be signed with fountain pens Coming back to fountain pens, India used to import them from the US, UK, Australia, West Germany, France, Japan, etc, but to encourage domestic manufacturing, the government had decided that pens that cost less than Rs 25 apiece would not be imported. This spurred the growth of factories in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata and the town of Rajahmundry in Andhra Pradesh. By the mid-1950s there were 12 Indian manufacturers, of whom Rajahmundry-based Ratnam & Sons were the oldest and most famous.
But the quality of most early Indian manufacturers was iffy, so in 1956 the government approved two foreign collaborations – with Pilot and Waterman, respectively. The government hoped that the joint venture factories would make world-class pens for as little as Rs 10 apiece, but in a few years, it felt the need to improve quality across the industry and called in an American technical expert.
The manufacture of ballpoint pens started even later, although the foreign maker of ‘Biro’ pens had offered to set up a factory as early as 1953. The government had rejected that offer because the company wanted 49% stake in the joint venture and a high percentage of royalty.
The first approval to make ballpoint pen ink in India was granted in 1962 for a joint venture between Dhirajlal Mohanlal Joshi, a businessman based in Rajkot, Gujarat, and M/s Formulabs Inc of Escondido, California. Asked whether the ink couldn’t have been made in India without a foreign collaboration, the government frankly admitted it was not possible.
Today, banks recommend that you sign cheques with a ballpoint to prevent fraud, but back in the 1960s ballpoint pens were not allowed for many uses in India. You could fill out a money order with a ballpoint but the payee had to sign with a fountain pen. Bills, government cheques and endorsements made on government cheques all had to be signed with fountain pens.
The rules have been completely rewritten in the years since.
Tamil Nadu’s tradition
Asha Prakash, February 26, 2024: The Times of India
When former chief minister M Karunanidhi was arrested in 2001, with him on camera was his loyal companion, a handcrafted Wality 69T fountain pen, bought from the Chennai-based distributor, Gem and Co (Gama Pens). After the leader’s death in 2018, there was a deluge of orders for the pen, but by then, the parent company in Bombay had stopped making them. Gama Pens started manufacturing the same one under the name ‘Kalaignar pen’ and it found not just great sales, but iconic status. And it’s no coincidence that Kalaignar’s son and Tamil Nadu CM M K Stalin uses the same fountain pen in official ceremonies.
The state, in fact, has a history of handcrafting pens. “Tiruvallur, a district adjoining Chennai, had a thriving cottage industry of pen making during the 1960s. There were at least 15 brands, all of which shut down later,” says M P Kandan, who runs Ranga Pens, the oldest handmade pen brand in Chennai. “But my father, M S Pandurangan, continued to make and improve on his handmade pens, using the Japanese technique.” Ranga Pens are now exported to 100 countries, and priced from 5,000 to 30,000. The value, says Kandan, lies in the materials used. A reason for the decline of the fountain pen was the possibility of ink smudges at any point of time, but the nibs used in these handmade pens do not smudge. “If you are flying at a high altitude in an aeroplane and the air pressure goes up, ink from a fountain pen usually starts leaking. But these nibs imported from Germany never smudge.” About 95% of the pens -the cap and the barrel -are made by hand, in ebonite and acrylic. “The converter, where the ink is stored, is also imported from Germany.” It takes Kandan and his father about four hours to make a pen. They make 10 pens a day using a process, which they say is a trade secret.
Once a staple stationery item, the dignified fountain pen got replaced by ballpoint pens somewhere during the 1990s; as the latter left no ink smudges on notebooks and clothes. While many expected the fountain pen to die a natural death like rotary dial phones and film cameras, it saw an unexpected resurrection in the 2010s, ‘probably a result of the internet revolution’, in the words of L Subramanian, founder of ASA Pens, Chennai. Collecting fountain pens was just a hobby during his childhood for the former telecom employee but at one point, he realised that the pens still had a market.
“A decade back, if you wanted a handmade pen, you had to go searching for them in brick-and-mortar shops. I was part of several online forums where youngsters were discussing fountain pens but had no one answering their queries. I found a gap and started selling them online, by associating with Gama Pens,” says Subramanian. The response was tremendous, and as time went by, people started asking for customisation on a large scale and he launched his brand, ASA Pens, tying up with a handmade pen maker. “It wasn’t just about Chennai, internationally, people had a renewed interest in fountain pens,” he says. Their customers range from children who are starting out with writing cursive, to politicians. “There is a segment who have inherited high quality fountain pens from their grandparents as family heirlooms. There are also collectors for whom the appearance and the history of a pen are important.”
But over and above the aesthetics, the fountain pen provides a better writing experience, which is why doctors and lawyers who write a lot daily, use them, say the pen makers. “The hand fatigue is less when you write extensively,” says Subramanian.
Something new is always coming up in the world of fountain pens, the latest being pens made of lava, says Bimal P Desai from Purasawalkam, a collector. “Different kinds of inks are also getting popular now, like sheening ink, which leaves a gold sheen on the letters. The way a fountain pen glides over paper is so smooth that once you get used to it, you don’t go back to ball point pens.” From an environmental perspective as well, fountain pens make sense, as one can use one for at least two to three years with just ink refills; there is zero plastic involved.
“An ebonite pen could last a century if you take care of it well,” says K R B Dhaaranee, an advocate from Adyar. One’s relationship with one’s pen, she says, is a monogamous one, and you don’t lend it to others. “The nib gets attuned to your strokes and handwriting, and someone else’s strokes might ruin your nib.” An avid collector, she still treasures the first fountain pen gifted to her as a child by her father. “You can’t pick a fountain pen randomly. Your hand has to choose for you.”
LEAVING A MARK Chennai’s first ‘Pen Show’ will be held from March 8 to 10 at Fika, Adyar, hosted by Sheaffer and Endless. Besides the best collections of handmade pens from Ranga, Gama and ASA, more than 100 brands from Mumbai, Kolkata, and abroad including high end and vintage pens will be on sale. There will also be an exhibition section of vintage pens including 100-year-old Mont Blanc pens, besides calligraphy workshops.
DEATH OF A SALESMAN | The Gama Pen shop in Chennai came to the spotlight when one of its salesmen was murdered by his exgirlfriend’s husband in the (in) famous Alavandar case of the 1950s. Alavandar, who was a womaniser, continued to harass his ex, Devaki Menon, as a result of which the couple decided to murder him. The Gama Pen shop found several references in the case sheet owing to its connection to the victim.
PENN STORY | In 1912, Walter A Sheaffer established his own pen company in Fort Madison, Iowa with his life savings. In 2022, the iconic 110-year-old Sheaffer Pen Company was acquired by William Penn, a Bengaluru-based company. This acquisition drew parallels to Tata Motors’ purchase of Jaguar Land Rover, marking a moment of pride for many Indians.
