Copious research and analysis is brought to bear, along with a recap how policies evolved after Independence. The “license permit” regime which closed the Indian economy to international trade in order to support local industries, is critiqued at length in this book. This is a critique of policy which, say the authors, snipped the Indian nib. If you opened Inked in India hoping for a nostalgic celebration of the country’s fountain pen and ink industry, or reviews of past and present pens, you’ll be surprised. The photos are a callback to the past, evocatively poignant. This artisanal quality, perhaps, makes their pens distinctive as well as attractive to hobbyists abroad. Even now, many Indian fountain pen makers turn their pens by hand on lathe. Inked in India also carries good photographs of vintage fountain pens by Indian makers. READ MORE: Essay – On having a passion for fountain pens Anecdotes like this enliven the narrative. (All three manufacturers still exist Sheaffer and Waterman pens are eye-wateringly costly, and purchasing a flagship Parker today would need you to take a modest personal loan.) We are also told how “t is often stated that (an Indian-made) Wilson pen was used to write the Constitution… The actual Constitution was written by Prem Behari Narain Raizada (Saxena), who. And Dr BR Ambedkar’s passion for these pens is highlighted: he was “especially fond of Parker, Sheaffer, and Waterman pens”. (If you’re interested, Ratnam-brand pens are made today, and are sold online.) We are told of young Jawaharlal Nehru’s run-in with his father over the use of his father’s fountain pen. We are also told how Gandhi eventually acquired “at least one fountain pen”, which was made by Ratnam Fountain Pen Works, Rajahmundry. For instance, we are told how FN Gooptu’s pens, being swadeshi, won the admiration of MK Gandhi, who was used to reed pens. It is studded with anecdotes from history and savoury factoids. The book might sound like a roll call of manufacturers. I found a couple of present-day makers I hadn’t previously known of, and bought one of their pens. Extinct and current-day manufacturers are named and described, some in detail. No wonder Inked in India is billed as the “first-ever documentation of all known fountain pen, nib and ink manufacturers in the country”. Ashok Jain who has a collection of more than 4000 pens, at Daryaganj, New Delhi in a picture dated May 8, 2019. This sleuthing out of the forgotten past must have taken patient wading through reams of records and books by the heap. So, mentioning paper manufacturers would have made the book very fat – making it the first title to come bound in a small goods carrier vehicle. In the fountain pen’s heyday, since ballpoints hadn’t yet reared their irritating heads, every paper by each maker would be fit for use with fountain pens. Makers of fountain pen-friendly paper aren’t mentioned, which is understandable. The book moves on to a broad survey of Indian fountain pen, nib and ink manufacturers from 1886 to 1977. In 1901, his factory in Banaras developed the “first (Indian-made) prototype for fountain and stylo pens” the maker was “Nilmony Karmakar, a mechanic from Chandernagore (now Chandannagar)”. Briefly, we are introduced to Radhika Nath Saha, a medical doctor and pioneering maker of fountain pens in India, maybe the first. There’s much to praise: the pioneers of the Indian fountain pen industry are highlighted, for one. You find much value in Inked in India, and also a fair bit to quibble about. Fluidity and style: Actor Vidya Sinha jotting down notes in a picture dated 03 February 1989. Many, I suspect most, folks go from fountain pen users to collectors faster than you can say Mont Blanc. This pleasure is what hooks hobbyists and reels them in, as is the feeling of possessing something beautiful and utterly impractical. Well, they are niche products, inconvenient and costly, and so indulgently delightful to use. One comment on the thread expressed polite surprise that fountain pens are made even today. Two years ago, I posted a photo of my new, India-made fountain pen on social media.
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