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I have been trying to reach Subbu via Instagram where he is fairly responsive but I have messaged him twice in the past 2-3 weeks and haven't heard back at all. Has anyone been able to contact Subbu recently? I placed an order around mid December 2020 and want to know the status since I was told that the pen would ship on Feb 7. I'm not quite in a hurry but would like to know what's happening if possible. I hope everything is fine with him.

So its been a while since I did anything on FPN. However its just been 2 days since my last purchase. Yes, I love fountain pens and with asapens.in (Subbu) in the FP community there are a lot of wonderful pens to select from. I shall probably do a more detailed post later for now I shall post a bunch of pics that I took (hastily), while explaining a bit about each of the pens under focus. I sincerely apologize for any shabby pictures. ASA Heritage: [Purchased from http://asapens.in] A few weeks ago my wife placed an order with asapens.in for a large pen. Subbu suggested us to try out his new design. I think this pen will be listed soon on his website. He sent a few pictures over and we decided to go for it with a Jowo-B nib. Below are a few pics of the heritage. As compared to GAMA Hawk. Check out the chunky section of Heritage as compared to the (relatively) puny section of Hawk. I hold the pen just below the threads and I just love the balance I get. However, for the sake of reviewing I tried holding the section close to the nib and found that the pen is a little top heavy, but for that one really has to hold it close to the nib (way down the section). If you're like me and hold the pen higher up, then you'll love the way this pen sits on your hand. This pen is slightly larger than GAMA-Himalaya(? Hope I got the name right). Interestingly, the sections of both these pens weigh the same. However, the barrel of Heritage is more heavier than that of Himalaya. Advantage? It does sit on the webbing between my index and thumb more securely. Disadvantage? It does become a little top heavy if you hold the pen closer (really close) to the nib. Observe that the Jowo-B nib is a few mm longer than the IPG on Hawk. It could be compared to the Lyle Ross Pompei http://www.pensbylyleross.com/pompey-4-cosmic-silver.html, for me just by looks the ASA Heritage wins. Note that they both come with Jowo#6. More perspective. More similarity. My top three ebonite pens (Top to Bottom): GAMA Masterpiece (Purchased from Gem and Co. Chennai), GAMA/ASA Himalaya (Purchased from http://asapens.in) and ASA Heritage (Purchased from http://asapens.in). Uncapped: Check out the ambitious 40mm. You could stab some one with it. This pen is atleast as mighty as a small dagger. Top to Bottom: ASA Galactic, Heritage and I-Can. Personally, I don't like the names but... what is in a name right? Uncapped: I love the concave section of I-can. Personally it is a little skinny for me. But my wife uses this pen and simply adores it. This is her daily user. The I-can and galactic are her daily carry pens (for now). Right now the i-can is inked up. Last week the Galactic was inked up with purple ink. The section of Galactic. Personally, I think the nib is set too deep. I just cannot write with this pen. I fatigue easily. But my wife says exactly the opposite. All said, the bock is just a wonderfully wet writer. I feel the bock is more wetter than the corresponding Jowo. I love 'em both though. The pen is stained purple. But I think it is kind of a cool look. Asa Galactic: [Purchased from http://asapens.in] The Franklin Christoph of India? We certainly believe so. I hope ASA flourishes internationally. This pen looks lovely. (In my wife's opinion) this pen is wonderfully smooth (thanks to the wet bock broad nib), it is well balanced. She feels that the nib is a little skinny for the pen but nevertheless it performs upto her expectations. As compared to the GAMA demonstrator. The Gama is slightly larger than the Galactic. However the section tapers a bit more. ASA I-Can [Purchased from http://asapens.in] Let me get this out of the way. I hate the name, abhor it. The name is not even half as cool as the pen. This pen is an absolute beauty. True, the design is classic from a bygone era (may be). But, we all love it. I don't understand why more pens do not have this section design. This is truly a writer's pen. Enough said, buy it and you won't regret it one bit. Check out the concave section, Deccan Advocate comes to mind does it not: ASA Heritage... just one more picture: ASA Heritage in the fore and I-can at the back: I love the side view of the Jowo nib/feed unit: Top to bottom: ASA I-can, ASA Heritage, GAMA Himalaya and Deccan Advocate. Personally I hate most of the Deccan pens. But the Advocate, is pure bliss to use. If you look closely at the picture you know it is beat. This is the only Deccan pen I won't hesitate to replace if anything were to happen to this one. I know a lot of people love Deccan pens, it just never worked for me (other than the Advocate ofcourse). Peace out. More pics of the same. My Deccan Advocate and GAMA Himalaya are beat, perpetually inked: A few writing samples, these are my wifes handwring: Personally I prefer the Jowo 1.1 when I just scribbling stuff (rough calculations). For me, it feels more stable. Mr. Subbu from http://asapens.in is doing us all a great service by producing these wonderful pens. Me and my wife are supporters and wish him all the best. Sometimes I wish Mr Prataph of Gem&Co. were as enterprising too. Kudos to these wonderful people who keep the art of making fountain pens in India alive. Hmmm... What will be our next purchase.

I have heard from ASApens.in that they are representing JoWo nibs in India. I believe they have received their first lot of nibs and are in the process of listing them on their website. In the meanwhile, I have been told by them that they are accepting enquiries back channel. This is good news for both Indian pen manufacturers and Indian pen buyers in my view, who had no option but face import previously. Best Hari