Hello from India!

[krishnarendran]

Hi Everyone,

 

This one's from Bangalore, India. I have loved fountain pens forever and still remember using a number of pens in school. I'm a 36 yr old male, presently managing India operations of a US based software company. I decided to come back to India and work a couple of years here after spending the better part of a decade in the SF Bay Area, Chicago and Singapore.

 

In Indian schools, fountain pens were madatory as they believed that it was the only way to ensure good handwriting although the jury's out on that school of thought (pun intended) based on what I saw.

 

I've used all kinds- Parker 51, Hero 51 clones, what I think was a Sheaffer touchdown, Indian pens like Wilson and even an eye dropper by Camlin. All this thinking FP's must be just another way to torture us students.

 

As I grew up and spent years using BPs and even RBs, I realized how much I loved the fountain pen and so after years of vacillation here I am... a newbie collector. I only use FPs now and shun anything that's not one

 

My present collection includes the obligatory PFM, MB 31 and 149, Omas 360, Monte Rosa 043F, a Duke (Bright Pearl), Pelikan 800 and the Parker 51 among others.

 

Already a part of the Pentrace and Zoss community, I'm happy to be a part of this community as well. I look forward to interacting with you folks... and if anyone from the San Francisco Bay Area's here... GO GIANTS!!!

[Ray]

Hi and welcome to FPN. I was in Mumbai last year and stumbled on the Camlin eyedropper pens for the first time. Great value!

 

Ray

[KendallJ]

My present collection includes the obligatory PFM, MB 31 and 149, Omas 360, Monte Rosa 043F, a Duke (Bright Pearl), Pelikan 800 and the Parker 51 among others.

No snorkels? Welcome!

[eli]

Hi there krishnarendran, what are the popular pens in India and can you tell us about currently India made pens?

 

What sorts of pens are well liked in India, excluding domestic makes?

 

What about India made inks?

 

Cheers,

Eli

[southpaw]

Hello and welcome aboard! Certainly got some nice pens there - any chance you'll share a photo or two with us? See you around.

[krishnarendran]

Hi Everyone!

 

Thanks for the welcome.

 

Ray, those Camlin eyedroppers are fun to use and great value but horrible in terms of long term quality... I spoilt many a shirt in school when the ink leaked out due to poor threading and feeder mechanisms.

 

Kendall, A sheaffer snorkel is in my acquisition list but after the parker vacumatic and an eversharp skyline.

 

Eli, the fountain pen market in India is virtually non existent. Most people go for the cheap gel based japanese/chinese plastic pens. An Indian company called the Airmail Pen Company makes pretty nice pens under the Wality brand name. Their pens are great value for money and pretty well made. In fact I have seen a few listings for the same in the Zoss mailing list as well as Pentrace.

 

Other than this, some lower end Parker rollers/BPs (vector) are popular as are the Sheaffer Preludes. If one lucks out, Duke pens, mostly Rollers turn up at some stores. At the high end are the obligatory Montblanc showrooms and Pen Boutiques (William Penn is an example) which feature several high end brands like Omas, Pelikan, Montblanc, Caran d' ache and Limited Edition Sheaffers.

 

I have procured every single pen except for a Waterman Carene, an MB Meisterstuck and a Pelikan M400 from overseas because availability is very limited and prices are sky high!

 

Hope to continue interacting with you folks.

 

Krish

[KendallJ]

Kendall, A sheaffer snorkel is in my acquisition list but after the parker vacumatic and an eversharp skyline.

Weeeelll.

 

I thought the same, but I now have 12 snorks and TD's and only 2 vacs. The nibs are phenomenal on the snorks. I have yet to have a really great nib on a Vac pen (Duofold, Vacumatic or Striper... all are mediocre).

 

Well anyway, whatever you choose, you'll have more pens than you did yesterday

[krishnarendran]

Kendall,

 

For me a smooth nib beats everything else... so I will take your advise and get a snork. Any suggestions on who/where can I find a good selection? Ebay is usually only plan B for me.

 

Krish

[JimStrutton]

Welcome Krish,

 

Glad to see that you have a "51"

 

Enjoy it here!

 

Jim

[Slush99]

Welcome!

[JRodriguez]

Hey Krish,

I agree about the Camlins! I do anthropological research in Bihar and the kids where I work use fountain pens until 6th class. I've seen nice Parkers in places like Cannaught Place, but they're always expensive - sounds like your experience has been the same. Mosly I buy vectors cheap to give to friends in the US who show any interest at all in fountain pens, and I like to try out pens with names I've never heard of - most of these fall apart after a week or two of use, but I have a couple that are really fantastic - one has a gold shield on it that says Huashilai, and the other says Morph France on the body. Ever run across either of those? Welcome aboard!

Jason

[Kaweco]

Hi Krishnarendran

Welcome to the club. How common is the old Sanskrit writing of India today? I`m very excited to see an example of the traditional calligraphic style.

Do you know "Luxor" pens from India? Today they produce BP`s, felttips, markers and other writing articles. I saw their stand at the "Frankfurt Paperworld". This company was founted by Heinrich Hebborn 1925 in Cologne, 1930 they went to my hometown. I was very glad to hear, that this trademark survived far away.

Greetings, have fun here,

Thomas

[krishnarendran]

Thanks for the welcome notes folks. Sorry for the late response- I was in Singapore/Malaysia for a short vacation and picked up a couple of Pilot Elites, a Sailor 1911 with a Zoom nib and a Hero Cloissonne model and lots of Namiki and Omas Inks.

 

Mr. Rodriguez, the Huashilai pens are only now starting to appear in the market- I have not run across the nicer ones- only rollerballs which seem to be the flavor of the season in India. The Morph France, I have not seen at all... maybe the next time I'm in Delhi. I see that you're from Santa Cruz- great place... I usedd to drive there all the time while living in the bay area. Someday, I hope to buy a beachfront home.

 

Thomas, the Luxor brand is alive and kicking out here... amazing huh? I knew it was an international company but had no idea about it's history... thanks for that piece of information! Sanskrit is not used in everyday life at all- it is taught in schools but never used. BTW, the Deutch grammer is exactly like sanskrit including the 3rd gender... Neuter. I learnt a bit of Sanskrit in school and also a bit of Deutch in Max Mueller Institute and had no problem with the grammer and language structure.

 

Hope to be in touch with you all.

[Mannenhitsu]

Howdy and welcome aboard the FPN express! When I use to live in Singapore, I was told by several friends who are from India that when they went to school there, it was mandatory that they had to use fountain pens and same applied until recently in SG. However, several private schools in Mumbai (Bombay), from what I hear still require that their students still use fountain pens. Nonetheless, I feel that it really improves your writing by using goof quality pen, rather than a cheap ballpoint.