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Before I embarked on my trip to Avenue Road, I had two places in mind - the highly suggested Meenakshi Pen Mart, and R. V Nadam and Co, which I had read an article about. I tried to start my trip by finding Meenakshi Pen Mart but it proved too difficult to find. Google Maps showed an incorrect location, and when I asked other shopkeepers, they were unable to direct me either. After about thirty minutes of searching, I decided to abandon, and hunt for R.V Nadam and Co. This shop was ten minutes away, and it was quite easy to find. The nearby landmark is Vijayalakshmi Theatre. It’s also easy to miss since it’s a small shop. The store owner, whose name I unfortunately did not get, was extremely helpful in showing us his collection. The store has a wide array of pens, ranging from ball points to gel pens to of course, fountain pens. They sell the Lamy Safari and the Lamy 2000 for lesser than the actual price. Their collection is remarkable, they sold a lot of beautiful Indian ebonites, as well as foreign brands. The pictures shown don’t do justice to how the actual pens looked. The owner was kind enough to let me handle the Lamy 2000. It was surreal, since I consider it my dream pen (yes, I’m a nerd). They also stocked inks, from bril, to quinks to waterman. I bought the Bril Laurel Rose, Green and Red. I will post my review of these inks when I get around to using them. Unfortunately, the reason I went there was for second hand pens, and specifically flex nibs, and they had neither, but it’s definitely a shop that every Bangalorean FP enthusiast should go to.

Hi all, I stay in Bangalore, and I might end up going to avenue road over the weekend. I'm specifically looking for colourful fountain pen ink, and maybe cheap second hand pens. I know Meenakshi Pen Mart is a favorite but can anyone confirm they sell different coloured ink as well? Smruthi

Most stationary stores or pen stores in Bangalore do not seem to stock "Indian" FPs (they seem to sell a fair amount of Jinhao, Baoer, Pilot, Hero, etc.), I decided to check a few stores in Avenue Road today. It was quite unfortunate, as the stores that I was pointed to were shut today (I hope they were only having a really long lunch break and hadn't closed the stores!). When I did press a few storekeepers (only those which were manned by the gray haired men), they pulled out a few dusty boxes of the Click Ebonites and the Click demonstrators. My aim was to pick up a few ebonites or acrylics from one of the few older Indian manufacturers, I was quite surprised by my inability to find any of the other lovely pens discussed here on FPN. I guess I didn't ask the right questions or find the right stores today. However, I did stumple on this store called Meenakshi Stores run by one Mr. Krishna Murthy, who had a few Airmails. Unable to return empty handed, I succumbed and ended up paying Rs. 840 for the following for plastic, metal and acryclic Airmails. All of them seem to have the same Fine Airmail steel nibs with finned ebonite feed. I have just dipped them and used them so far, nothing more. Will review them soon. Given, this was a first time FP shopping attempt, can the more knowledgeable folk here chip in and let me know if I paid a premium for them? Does Airmail still manufacture these pens? Or are these new pens manufactured by a new entity under the Airmail brand? Or Are these pens just new old stock?