Youung Juhu resident is championing the cause of indigenous fountain pens

A Handmade Fountain Pen made of RosewoodWhile some appreciate it for the distinct earthy scent of ink for others its the sheer joy of owning an antiquated piece of accessory But for Sanay Shah a fountain pen is all that and more As a kid I always saw my grandfather and uncle writing with fountain pens The old fashioned way of living fascinated me says the 20yearold Today Shah makes fountain pens under the name The Penman Co an enterprise that sprung from the fact that several engineers in his family collect fountain pensThe Juhu resident who is currently studying mechanical engineering in Pune has been actively collaborating with local fountain pen manufacturers all over the country championing the cause of indigenous fountain pensThree years ago while doing research on Indian pen manufacturers I realised there are several small Indian fountain pen makers like me hidden in small corners all across the country who dont have access to marketing he says Shah first got in touch with the Mumbaibased brands Airmail Pen Company established in 1951 by Late Mohan L Mirchandani one of the oldest companies in the field of manufacturing writing instrument Here they have been using the same machine for the last 60 yearsSanay ShahThe pens are like eyedroppers have huge ink capacity and write extremely smooth While interacting with them I found out a lot about pen makers in Andhra Pradesh Pune and Chennai he saysShah admits nagging dealers pen collectors and manufacturers in Mumbai for leadsArmed with contact details but hampered by the lack of adequate connectivity in remote areas Shah decided to travel to Andhra Pradesh the heart of the fountain pen industry in the country all for the love of learning the craft and enhancing his knowledge about creating pens I visited Ratnam Sons based in Rajahmundry who have a fascinating history Influenced by the Swadeshi movement KV Ratnam the companys founder made a pen using eboniteHe gave one of them to Gandhiji in 1935 Gandhiji responded with a letter of appreciation which the family has proudly preserved The Ratnam family continues to make high quality handmade pens and they are still much in demand he says adding that the first time he ordered about 10 pens from them they also sent a copy of Gandhis letter along with the productThe letter read Dear Ratnam I must thank you for the fountain penhellip I have used it and it seems to be a good substitute for the foreign pens seen in the bazaarsIn fact he says Andhra Pradesh has plenty of pen makers including the Deccan Pen Store in Hyderabad I order raw material from them in bulk and then make the pen from scratch using rosewood teakwood burlwood ebonite acrylic material and resin I start on a piece of wood and turn it on a lathe machine Then after shaping a pen there are various stages of polishing The nibs are imported from Germany But these days I polish and grind the nibs on Indian fountain pens on a jewellers dremel I also soak the rosewood in walnut oil for about 3040 hours for a smooth finish he explainsThese bespoke pens take about four days to make from the time you place an order and sell for a starting price of Rs 7000 and goes up to Rs 10000 Interestingly Shahs clientele goes from 30 to 70 plusMy only source of advertising is Twitter and word of mouth I create the pens as per orders he tells us Patrons he feels dont mind spending a bomb on these pens because they last for a lifetime Theres something about a fountain pen that inspires you to take care of it The hefty price tag may have something to do with it But the fountain pens storied tradition provides an aura of timelessness and elegance he smiles