A first-of-its-kind fountain pen show in the city pays tribute to poet and pen lover Kaifi Azmi on his birth centenary, and presents lesser-known facets of the history and evolution of this writing instrument
June 30, 1997. The day is as vivid in this writer's memory as yesterday. The academic session for Class four was to commence the following day, and there was something more thrilling than the joy of new books, a school bag, water bottle and lunch box.
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We had been upgraded from pencils to the fountain pen, and a good part of the summer vacation had been spent in figuring out what made for an ideal "ink pen", practising writing with it so we didn't end up with inky fingers - and marvelling at this writing device that somehow took the legibility of our handwriting up by a few notches. What you write with a pencil can be easily erased; what's written in ink is permanent. It felt like we had grown up, and the realisation came with holding a fountain pen in our fingers.
Meet Dr Yashwant Pitkar, an avid fountain pen, inkpot and inkwell collector, at the exhibition
You are likelier to find students using a gel or ball point pen today, but the fountain pen continues to have its dedicated users, some of whom have organised The India Pen Show over the weekend.
Dedicated to renowned poet and social activist Kaifi Azmi who loved his Mont Blancs, the exhibition will be inaugurated with the launch of limited edition fountain pens on his birth centenary. Daughter and veteran actor Shabana Azmi will commemorate the event. The pens - made of Italian resin in rich cocoa colour, adorned with sturdy brass accents with gold PVD coating, and a nib made of 14k solid gold that bears the Kaifi logo - will be presented to Ustad Zakir Hussain, Shyam Benegal, Pritish Nandy, Mahesh Bhatt, Javed Akhtar and Feroz Abbas Khan.
A part of his collection will be displayed at the event
"He wrote only with a Mont Blanc and had a huge collection of them. Every now and again, he would bring them all out, look at them lovingly and then put them back under lock and key," recalls Azmi. "When a friend presented me with one, Abba pinched it although he possessed three identical ones and wrote my friend a cute letter giving reasons for why the pen was safer with him than with me! The only thing he valued were his Communist Party card and a bunch of fountain pens," she adds. The poet would even send his treasure for repair at the Fountain Pen Hospital in New York.
This passion binds aficionados the world over, and a palpable proof of it are the pen shows that are organised regularly in the US, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Germany among several other countries. "It is a fountain pen lover's dream to have a show where you can see the best of pens, try them and buy them at great prices. But India had no such platform on a large scale," says Mumbai-based Vishal Singhi, one of the organisers of this weekend's exhibition.
The aerometric ink filling mechanism, where a bladder sucks up the ink, is used in pens popularly known as China pens; other mechanisms on display include crescent and plunger fillers
Singhi informs us that the show is divided into two segments. There will be an exhibition centre featuring stalls by Indian and international brands where pens from the range of Rs 50 to Rs 1 lakh will be available. The other half includes an activity-cum-engagement centre. "We are trying to bring back the art of writing. After all, if I send you a hand-written letter, its impact is far more than an email or a typed version," shares Singhi. In keeping with the idea, attendees will be encouraged to write letters at the show. "We are aiming for at least 500 letters," he adds.
Hourly guided tours will take attendees through an array of ink-filling mechanisms. The converter system is one of the most popular and widely used mechanisms
There will also be guided tours of pens on display from private collections, which have been curated such that they tell the story of the writing instrument's evolution - from the material used in their making to ink-filling mechanism. Over 150 colours of ink will be exhibited too. Singhi's own collection includes an Italian luxury pen made of the lava of Mount Etna, which is fire-proof, unbreakable and absorbs palm sweat.
Vishal Singhi
The experts roped in for the event include Bengaluru-based KC Janardhan, the only person in India to have written his own passport, his father's death certificate and his daughter's birth certificate by hand; Dr Yashwant Pitkar, a city-based collector of inkwells and pens, calligrapher Achyut Palav, and Patna's Yusuf Mansoor who has over 10,000 vintage pens in his collection. Some of them will also conduct workshops on calligraphy and cursive handwriting, while there will be nib masters at the venue to customise your pen for you, based on the way you hold it and the pressure you exert.
Shabana Azmi
Given the more convenient options available today, is using the fountain pen more of a hobby than habit? "The fountain pen is far more eco-friendly than other variants. Also, if you see, all official deals are signed with fountain pens even today," Singhi tells us. "If I have to attend an event, I love to take time out to think which pen I should carry, the ink I should fill it with. And if I stain my shirt, my fellow pen lovers would say, 'Wear it with pride.'"
ON: February 2, 12 noon to 6 pm and February 3, 10 am to 6 pm
AT: Nehru Centre, Worli.
LOG ON TO: theindiapenshow.com
CALL: 9820766530
ENTRY: Free; Rs 200 for all workshops and guided tours (includes a fountain pen to take home)
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