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It was deep search in Internet and few learnt Fountain Pen Enthusiast - which introduced me to Madras Ebonite Pens. These pens are not something extraordinary or eye candy, doesn't even come with great nibs but what makes them special is - the pens were made by a Father son duo from Perambur. Mr Balasundaram and his son used to make these Madras ebonite pens. Around 2010 the workshop was closed after demise of both the father and the son. I sourced these pens from Taj Pens, R K Mutt Road, Mylapore, Chennai. Store was set up in 1947 by his father Sheikh Abdul Kader for servicing pens. Muhammad Moosa, son of Mr Kader took over in 1967, soon after graduating from P S Higher Secondary School and gradually expanded his business into selling pens. Later he diversified into repair of watches and torches at the small outlet. Source - Madrasinherited in Instagram Mr Moosa at his shop. Source - https://www.instagram.com/p/CWmueMvFuzs/?igsh=MTkzeWJjeGZ1czl5Zw== After Mr Moosa passed away around 3 years back, his son Muhammad Idris looks after the buisness now. Mr Idris mentioned that now their store mostly repairs and sells watches. It is said that Cheyur Krishna Rao Nageswaran, popularly known as Nagesh,. mostly remembered for his comic roles in Tamil films, was a customer of Taj Pens. Another celebrity visitor of the shop was Devanesan Chokkalingam, more popularly known as Deva- well known music director. I managed to get total 4 ebonite pens, 2 in black, torpedo shaped , 2 in mottled brown. One of them has TAJ PENS heat stamped on the barrel. Where 3 of them can be called slim, other one is comparatively bigger, regular size pen it can be called. All of them come with Chinese nibs, one with Baoer, rest 3 are with Jinhao nibs. These are traditional Eye dropper pens with regular ebonite feed. Mr Idris showed me these pens without nib, feed and clip, they were set later after i choose them. Bigger pen comes with a ring type clip which mentions Oliver. Built of this pen looks very similar with Misak and Hema pen in my collection. This one has a groove at inner section, similar to Ratnam pen I have. I don't remember seeing this in any other pens which I have. Most probably this was due to accomodate extra ink incase they are about to burp. Source -1. Mr Kandan's post in FPN 2. Madrasinherited in IG 3. The Hindu 4. Newindianexpress 5. Muhammad Idris

Gem and Co June 2025 I got an opportunity to visit Gem and Co at Parry’s corner, Chennai after a gap of several years. The shop has been renovated and raised in Elevation. But the decor has been kept the same. The entrance. Inside the shop. Right Side display Left side display. Gama Kalaignar. Gama Kalaignar Neo. Wality 71J It was nice to meet Pratap ji and discuss pens after a long gap. Had a great time during the short visit. From Pratap ji’s personal collection. Some acrylic desk pens. And finally my grail Gama pen. Bought a few pens which I will show in a separate post. cheers Hari.