My Tryst With Prasad Pens Of Tenali, A.p, India.

[SOMNATH]

It was a Saturday winter afternoon of 2016 ( a holiday), when suddenly the idea of doing some research on the rich heritage of fp making in India, especially the Southern states, occurred to me. Without wasting much time i hit the net and started a random search on google when my eyes got stuck on a series of blog posts by Mr Jaya srinivasa Rao (shrujaya of FPN) on fountain pens of Andhra Pradesh (herein after referred to as A.P) that led me to another purveyor of hand made ebonite fps - the "Prasad" pens of Tenali, A.P. Reading Srinivasa's posts was a sheer joy where he gave a very in depth analysis of the history and heritage of fp making in some of the innocuous places of A.P and Tenali being one of them. The write up was brilliantly complimented by equally brilliant photographs of his haul of Prasad pens, both in ebonite and celluloid. After going through his blogs it appears that he literally earned these pens for himself through sheer love for fps which was backed up by perseverance. His articles not only talked about history of the fps of A.P but were of a very good literary standard in their own rights as well.

 

After going through Mr Rao's article I once again stumbled upon another article- this time by Mr Nitin Pai, tittle " A case in point " which had similar hues as that of the earlier topic. In this article too, amongst the many native Indian fp makers, the name of Prasad Pens of Tenali featured too. This double blow from Srinivasa and Nitin was too much for me to withstand and had me flat on the grappling mat. So defeated by "Prasad" pens that i was, I wasted no time in doing a random google search on "prasad pens, tenali". The search result yielded several "prasads" and several "tenalis" which put me in a fix to choose from. I relied on my instinct and zeroed in on one " Prasad pen works (tenali)" and pressed the button. The result was very encouraging except for the fact that there was no mention of fountain pens in the dealer's profile but the mobile number was the only silver lining. I dialed the number in a single breadth and waited for the phone to ring at the other end. After several disconnections, I ultimately succeed in putting the call through. A voice from the other end acknowledged my call. All I wanted to know from him was whether it was Prasad pens of Tenali or not. After a brief pause the anonymous voice from the other end replied in the negative and let me know that i had dialed a wrong number. I was mentally prepared for such a reply as i had gathered from the blogs that the " prasad pens" had already closed down", unable to cope up with the onslaught of ball points/dot pens. But never the less I had hoped against the hope for a miracle to happen as I not only believed in miracles but relied on them .

 

The family of Prasad pens with the original packing box

 

A view of the 6 prasads in the descending order of size.

I felt a little empty and decided in favor of a short late afternoon nap ( which is so characteristic of the Bengali folks) when my mobile started buzzing and bingo ! it was the same number that i had dialed a couple of minutes back. I got the better of my excitement and braced for the voice from the other end. This time the anonymous gentle man from the other end started inquiring about my where about and what I wanted from them. I cleared my throats and composed myself and started in English which was cut short by the anonymous voice who insisted that I speak in "Hindi" - which I did. I came to the point right away and told him about what I had read from the blogs of Srinivasa and Nitin and wanted to know if I could get I few of the "Prasad" pens from them. The voice from the other end after a long pause which appeared to be eons for me announced rather bitterly that the Prasad pen Works that I was in hunt for had shut down their business long long ago and that presently had nothing to do with fountain pens in the least. I felt like a ship marooned near the shores, but the fountain pens in me urged me to give it a last try, which I did with desperation. I kept on harping on the same tune of my desire for "Prasad" pens and reminded him that he could surely find some from his old unsold stock which may be lying around the place. It yielded immediate result as he relented and replied that since I was so desirous of the brand, all he could do was to give it a try. He was rather courteous to inform me that if he was successful in scavenging out a few " Prasad" pens , he would call me, otherwise not. He thanked me for remembering the the name of "Prasad Pens", which he lamented had become a foot note in the history book of fountain pens and disconnected . The anonymous voice from the other end remains anonymous to me till this date because under the spell of sheer excitement, I had totally forgotten to ask for his name, which is a matter of deep regret for me. Why I say this is because, the rest of the transactions were completed over Whats App. The rest is history and the good thing about history is that it repeats itself, or how else could i I get those Prasad pens , you think !!

6 fps of which 5 are ebonites and the 6th is a cute celluloid in orange arrive one afternoon in the pen box shown in the photograph, wrapped in a white cheap cotton cloth which was hand stitched. The parcel was befitting of the pens which carried with it au ayra of the bye gone era and piece of history that ended in a tragedy of sorts. This mode of packing is another hall mark of the Indian hand crafted pen brands- Ratnam, Guider, Deccan pens, Ranga, ASA and now the Prasad. The technology of making these pens, their packaging perhaps have a lot to tell you about the reason for their near bereavement, but then they carry with them a piece of history where ever they go and are a testimony to their valiant effort to survive the ravages of modernization which is off course a subject matter of discussion on some other forum.

 

.The 6 prasad pens in longitudinal view. The left most is a Ranga 4cs for comparison sake.

Now onto the pens: Out of the six Prasads, 5 are in ebonite and the 6th is a celluloid, which incidentally is the smallest of the lot. The colours of the ebonites are in Green, black and brown, mostly mottled and the biggest of the lot has ripples. The celluloid is in orange. The name "Prasad pens, Tenali" is printed in white on the barrels of 3 of the ebonites . Further, all the pens have the name "PRASAD" embossed on the under side of the ebonite feeds.

Brand name printed on the barrels.

 

Notice the Parker inspired arrow clips and the black button jewels, with the Brand name embossed on it.

The 3 ebonites have golden clip which are broad as compared to the rest 3 which have the Parker inspired "Arrow" clips, with "PRASAD" embossed on them. So, the "prasads" bear the name of the brand on the barrels ( on 3), on the clips (on 3) and on the under side of the ebonite feed (on all 6). This makes them special and exclusive. All the pens have black tapering upwards cap jewels (except the one with a flat polished top and bottom)

 

The name "Prasad" engraved on the back of the feed.

The largest of the 6 "Prasad" have the following size:

Capped length = 13.4 cms

Posted length = 15.3 cms.

The capped length of orange celluloid which is the smallest of the lot = 12 cms

Posted length = 13.8 cms.

 

 

 

 

The barrels with the caps along side.

 

Golden Monotone fine tipped nib of the "Prasads"

I think it is rather meaningless to give a detailed stereo typed review of these pens by means of statistics and arithmetic, since these Prasad pens are a thing of the past and as their existence has passed into the realms of history and for a piece of History cannot be explained by numeric values. The other reason being that after Mr Jaya Srinivasa's magnificent write up on the "Prasad pens", in all its splendor, nothing more remains to be said of these pens. The articles by Mr Rao is a sheer piece of joy and inspiration for all the fountain pen lovers and to those forgotten martyrs of the history of fountain pens in India.

However, for the sake of the erudite members of the FPN, I have tried to attach as many photographs of the pen as possible which would speak for itself.

With best regards.

[Seele]

som_g,

 

Thanks for the fascinating account of your adventure, and the rewards for your quest. Prasad is one of the unicorns that I covet but unable to acquire, finding brand new boxed examples of them is a major achievement indeed; kudos to you!

[SOMNATH]

som_g,

 

Thanks for the fascinating account of your adventure, and the rewards for your quest. Prasad is one of the unicorns that I covet but unable to acquire, finding brand new boxed examples of them is a major achievement indeed; kudos to you!

Thanks Seele. I is nice to note that you liked my post & that you too have a fascination for the Prasad Pens but it has been eluding you like a mirage . Here is the contact no. of Prasad pens (91) 9490332664. Who knows you might unravel the myth of the Unicorn

best regards

[Seele]

Thanks Seele. I is nice to note that you liked my post & that you too have a fascination for the Prasad Pens but it has been eluding you like a mirage . Here is the contact no. of Prasad pens (91) 9490332664. Who knows you might unravel the myth of the Unicorn

best regards

 

som_g,

 

Thanks for the info; I am nowhere near Tenali, or India for that matter, and much less able to speak the Hindi language! Who knows, one might just pop up on eBay unexpectedly; I got my ultra-rare, 1936 Wm K Rockman Model 50 like that...

[fountainpagan]

Som_g what a fascinating adventure, and so well narrated.

 

I own 2 Prasads, highly valuable to me, not only because they are Prasads, but because they where offered to me by two people I cherish.

 

Very nice haul you got there. Congratulations for your tenacity!

[SOMNATH]

Som_g what a fascinating adventure, and so well narrated.

 

I own 2 Prasads, highly valuable to me, not only because they are Pasads, but because they where offered to me by two people I cherish.

 

Very nice haul you got there. Congratulations for your tenacity!

Thank you for the compliments. I am glad that you liked the post.

regards

[shrujaya]

Hei Som ... khoob bhalo ... he he ... I am glad that you didn't give up and have reaped the rewards ... I am also pleased that my post on Prasad Pens provided you some inspiration ... enjoy ...

 

Regards,

 

Jai

[SOMNATH]

Hei Som ... khoob bhalo ... he he ... I am glad that you didn't give up and have reaped the rewards ... I am also pleased that my post on Prasad Pens provided you some inspiration ... enjoy ...

 

Regards,

 

Jai

Sir -thanks a lot for going through the lengthy post . In fact , the Indian handmade ebonites had always fascinated and your blogs on them have just stoked the fire. BTW , you got that bengali pronunciation perfect...

regards

[da vinci]

Som_g, what an excellent post, very informative and great photos. I enjoyed reading it immensely

[SOMNATH]

Som_g, what an excellent post, very informative and great photos. I enjoyed reading it immensely

da vinci, Thank you very much. It gives me immense pleasure to note that you enjoyed my post.