Hyderabad adventure

[lascosas]

And these are the new model torpedoes and a size comparison with the jumbo:

 

[lascosas]

And finally the new clipless & jumbo clipless with a jumbo size comparison (forgot to snap the nibs)

[lascosas]

Mr. Laxmipathi is the oldest of four children.  When his father died in the early 1960s, he was 10.  He went to work, and has been doing so ever since.  He learned the trade at Misak, where he worked for a long time.  When he went out on his own he made pens for both ASA and Gama, and I think still does.  Between 2003 & 7 he made Noodler's ebonite pens, but had to stop when they wanted him to produce 5,000 pens a month. 

 

I am sorry I didn't have more time to spend with father & son.  It would have been nice for them to set the nibs, and they were rather disappointed that I did not have time to go out to lunch with them.  At the end of the stay I was asked how I felt about the experience, and I smiled, giving them a thumbs up.  I told them I would remember it always, which is true.

 

For much of the three hours we had no electricity.  Is this typical, I asked, and I received a long response about how the previous government contracted with a private electrical company, didn't pay them, then the government changed and...  Yeah, lots of no electricity.

 

When I left my grumpy driver was out in front, still grumpy.  But when I said there had been no electricity for much of the visit, and I heard about the old government-no pay-new government he went into a heated monologue that started in English but went somewhere else and then back to English.  After he got that off his chest he was much less grumpy.

[lascosas]

I just had time to grab lunch with my not very happy spouse when it was time to meet the owner & nephew of Woodex Pens.  I believe their workshop is near my hotel, but they agreed to meet at my hotel.  The nephew's grasp of English is not great, and both Whats App texts and in person communication were a challenge. 

 

I made a mistake of saying  in a text a couple of months ago that I wanted to buy essentially 1 of every model they had (53 pens) but could not pay for them until I arrived.  I am not particularly surprised that while he answered my messages, we made no progress on an order.  Maybe a week before I arrived I asked to see what he had available already made, and I selected pens from that, and agreed to meet at the hotel.  The transaction was unfortunately short, with little communication.  The nephew is much more comfortable with written than spoken English.  It was a pleasant business transaction with lots of smiles...and fountain pens.  Mr. Prabhakar Chari is a famous pen maker, and it was an honor to meet him.  He held the bag of pens as I said a few words to the nephew, then with a smile he with both hands hands me the pens he made.  And all I could do was smile and tell his nephew what an honor it was to meet the master, and receive his pens.

 

The first post in this folder shows the pens I agreed to buy. 

[lascosas]

And uncapped

 

[Prof Drew]

Wow. @lascosas, I'm so jealous. I'm happy that you had such a great experience and could get so many fine looking pens.  Thank you for showing the lovely photos and sharing the warm stories of meeting their creators.

 

Thanks to @ksinghk's encouragement here I had sent an order to PLP for one Scenic, which should be here any day now.  It is so nice to be able to see the father-son behind the pens. Your story will make it even more of a treasure. 

 

Your spouse seems like a good sport on sharing your time and luggage space. Travel safe and thank you again for sharing with the FPN community.

[lascosas]

Next up is Saturday's visits to the J.T. Pens & the primary Deccan Pens store.  It may take a few days for that.

[Mercian]

4 hours ago, lascosas said:

Can someone help me out here.  How do I make these right side up.  The photos when downloaded on my computer are right side up, but when I add them here, they end up upside down, and if I turn them around on my computer and save them and then add them, same problem!

I have often had the same problem with photos that I have taken on a phone or tablet.

 

I think that one’s phone or tablet must attach a code to the metadata(?) of the photo to assign it some kind of orientation. The phone assigns this data without any input from the user. The software on message boards then uses that code to determine the display of the photo.
In my experience, the phone/tablet will often assign an orientation that I do not want the photo to have.

 

I have found that doing the following prevents this problem from occurring:

 

1- take a photo on your phone (or tablet);

2- open the phone’s photo-viewing app;

3- rotate the photo to an incorrect orientation, save it on the phone in that incorrect orientation, and then close the photo;

4- open the photo again;

5- rotate it to the orientation that you do actually desire, then save it again - doing this overwrites the photo’s orientation code/information that the phone attaches to the photo, and forces it to be the one that you actually desire;

6- after you have done all of the above on your phone, you can then save the photo to your computer, and then upload it here.

 

I hope that this is useful 

[K Singh]

This was a great update 👍 More than the pens it's often the stories behind them that makes us fall in love with a particular pen. Looks like these pens will be cherished by you for a long time to come. Enjoy. 

[Harish N V]

IAM totally enjoying your updates. I am really glad for you that you had the fortune of meeting these pen turners. Hyderabadi pens have a special place in my heart. 

 

Woodex, plp and Deccan are great. The Deccan masterpiece is an absolute favourite of mine. So too the woodex 39

[hari317]

I have read through your adventure with great interest and in a way relived my own Hyderabad adventures of which I had several. 
 

Laxmipathi (PLP) and Prabhakar(Woodex) chari are siblings however enstranged. Probably they neglected to mention it. 😊

[lascosas]

Hari-

That is unfortunate.  So the photos of the 2, one after the other, maybe not what they desired?  A shame, but such are families.  Again, English was in short supply, particulary with Woodex.  I did not mention to either what else I was doing in Hyderabad.  As time passes, what I am most struct by is the fading world of ebonite fountain pens, or really hand made pens of any type, in that city.  And later I will post about the fading company that supplies all ebonite rods in India.  Or at least the story as I heard it. 

 

I keep saying this, but it was an honor to meet these two brothers.

[hari317]

2 hours ago, lascosas said:

And later I will post about the fading company that supplies all ebonite rods in India.  Or at least the story as I heard it. 

I will look forward to your story. Even though I know the family personally. 👍

 

Ebonite in India has weathered nearly 40 years of indifference from late 70s to late 2000, this is the era of resurgence of ebonite with more awareness among the youth and more new pen companies starting. 

[tommym]

4 hours ago, lascosas said:

And later I will post about the fading company that supplies all ebonite rods in India.  Or at least the story as I heard it. 

 

Please do, as I have heard things regarding this, too. 

 

Thanks,

 

Tommy

 

[Prof Drew]

Just wanted to say thank you @lascosas and @hari317 for sharing the interesting exchange.

 

It reminds me of the origins of Eboya in Japan, which I think Tokyo Inklings explained was originally only an ebonite seller, but decided to add pen-making during the 2008 economic crisis. It was at a time when few could still make ebonite pens on a lathe there.

[lascosas]

Here is what I was told about the Indian ebonite rod industry, please take with a grain of salt, I can not confirm this, it is just what I was told.

 

Currently there is only one company that makes ebonite rods, Loyal Ebonites. The founder of Ranga Pens is the younger brother of the founder of Loyal Ebonites. Before Covid Loyal sold the rods for 400 rupees per kilo. Then the son took over operations. Without warning the price went straight to 2,600 rupees. More troublesome, the son apparently has little interest in quality control. The father oversaw the factory, ensuring quality. Apparently the son is hands-off, and problems have arisen.

 

When I was taking photos at PLP I saw a large bag filled with partial rods. What is that? Bad rods, and we have many bags like that. When pen makers complain to the son, he tells them to get their rods somewhere else if they don't like his rods. I have also included a photo of a rod shot through with holes. The rods look fine on the outside. It is only when the pen maker starts making the pen that the flaws appear. And what would solve this problem I asked? A second ebonite rod manufacturer.

 

PLP won't sell a solid light colored ebonite pen without getting the buyer to affirmatively agree that there may be marks on the ebonite.

[K Singh]

27 minutes ago, lascosas said:

Here is what I was told about the Indian ebonite rod industry, please take with a grain of salt, I can not confirm this, it is just what I was told.

 

Currently there is only one company that makes ebonite rods, Loyal Ebonites. The founder of Ranga Pens is the younger brother of the founder of Loyal Ebonites. Before Covid Loyal sold the rods for 400 rupees per kilo. Then the son took over operations. Without warning the price went straight to 2,600 rupees. More troublesome, the son apparently has little interest in quality control. The father oversaw the factory, ensuring quality. Apparently the son is hands-off, and problems have arisen.

 

When I was taking photos at PLP I saw a large bag filled with partial rods. What is that? Bad rods, and we have many bags like that. When pen makers complain to the son, he tells them to get their rods somewhere else if they don't like his rods. I have also included a photo of a rod shot through with holes. The rods look fine on the outside. It is only when the pen maker starts making the pen that the flaws appear. And what would solve this problem I asked? A second ebonite rod manufacturer.

 

PLP won't sell a solid light colored ebonite pen without getting the buyer to affirmatively agree that there may be marks on the ebonite.

This was very useful 👍 One other maker told me the same in mid-2021 that the quality of the rods is no longer as good as before. He too shared some pics (which I can't share as it was all private chat). PLP still prices their pens quite reasonably, and I happily recommend them to many others as well.

[Harish N V]

That's a 

On 2/13/2024 at 5:07 PM, lascosas said:

Here is what I was told about the Indian ebonite rod industry, please take with a grain of salt, I can not confirm this, it is just what I was told.

 

Currently there is only one company that makes ebonite rods, Loyal Ebonites. The founder of Ranga Pens is the younger brother of the founder of Loyal Ebonites. Before Covid Loyal sold the rods for 400 rupees per kilo. Then the son took over operations. Without warning the price went straight to 2,600 rupees. More troublesome, the son apparently has little interest in quality control. The father oversaw the factory, ensuring quality. Apparently the son is hands-off, and problems have arisen.

 

When I was taking photos at PLP I saw a large bag filled with partial rods. What is that? Bad rods, and we have many bags like that. When pen makers complain to the son, he tells them to get their rods somewhere else if they don't like his rods. I have also included a photo of a rod shot through with holes. The rods look fine on the outside. It is only when the pen maker starts making the pen that the flaws appear. And what would solve this problem I asked? A second ebonite rod manufacturer.

 

PLP won't sell a solid light colored ebonite pen without getting the buyer to affirmatively agree that there may be marks on the ebonite.

That's sad to know. I hope that quality rods are more readily available for one and all.

[tommym]

I guess Ranga Pens backup plan in motion is focusing more and more on the acrylics. I wonder who makes the acrylic rods? Still, that doesn't address the masters with no apprentices, which seems to be a recurring theme in this thread.    

 

Refocusing on the pens in this thread, I must say that the PLP Cigar Jumbo is the absolute bomb! That pen has India written all over it! I may be in the minority but appreciate Ebonites with random black specs. It just looks and feels old school. This may not matter to many, but Ranga Pens no longer makes dedicated eye-dropper pens. It was nice to have the option, and I see that PLP still offers this option.

 

Tommy

[lascosas]

CAVEAT

I am not an expert on anything I have written about my adventure.  I hope people, over time, will add more nuance to what I have been told.  On Ranga, their premium ebonites have expanded over time, and I have found them all to be beautiful.  I don't buy Indian acrylic pens, only because ebonite is an option, and on the issue of apprentices, I would hate to take my limited sample in Hyderabad, and make it an industry summary.  I guess I am saying that some of what I learned in Hyderabad was a downer when it comes to the future of ebonite pens in India.  I deeply hope that is untrue.