Report: The India Pen Show 2023

Fountain pen enthusiasts, collectors, and sellers of pens, inks, stationery and accessories participated in the event

An estimated 3,000 buyers of premium writing instruments visited the India Pen Show 2023 held from 17-19 February at the Nehru Centre, Mumbai. With over 40 stalls of pen exhibitors, 20 calligraphy stalls, three stalls for accessories (pen cases etc) and five “fun stalls”, the venue was bustling. “It’s a festival-like feeling,” said co-organiser of the event Nisha Vishal Singhi, who is also a pen manufacturer.

Diya Vadodaria Hillman of Mumbai holds up a fountain pen by Acriv, her company, which specialises in nibs made by folding a piece of titanium, a rare technique. Hillman says she uses titanium because it is tough enough to go “to hell and back”. (Suhit Bombaywala)

Nisha Singhi holds up a fountain pen that is possibly the smallest in the world. Made of acrylic by her company Vazir Fountain Pens, this one takes a small dribble of ink, which, Singhi says, is “good enough for fifty signatures or a page.” (Suhit Bombaywala)

The range on display included pens that cost ₹350 (a piston-filler fountain pen by V’sign) and ones made of ebonite (hard rubber), metal or acrylic priced between Rs1,000 and ₹4,000. Pens made from unusual materials such as titanium and carbon fibre made by Lotus were also in this range.

The show brought together fountain pen enthusiasts, collectors and manufacturers. (Suhit Bombaywala)

There were a few ornamental writing implements too. Some were made of brass and others, such as the hefty 170 gram pens from Magna Carta, featured ornate decorative work from Hindu myths.

Hardik Kanakhara holds up a premium pen engraved with motifs holy to Hinduism at the stall of his family’s company, Magna Carta Pens. The pen is made of brass and weighs about 170 grams. Like other manufacturers, Magna Carta uses other materials like acrylic, ebonite (hard rubber), titanium, and gold. They have plans to use stone too. (Suhit Bombaywala)

Pilot and Montegrappa had pens with gold nibs. Perhaps the costliest pen on display was the Rs12 lakh Tutankhamun by Montegrappa which came in a box decorated with Egyptian-style paintings that housed a case styled like a sarcophagus. This contained the pen that resembled a wrapped mummy fitted with a cap in the likeness of the gold mask of king Tutankhamun. It remained unsold.

Lying in state with its trappings, the limited edition “Tutankhamun” by Montegrappa. At left, the cap of the pen; middle, the pen recalls a swaddled mummy; at right, the case shaped like a sarcophagus. (Suhit Bombaywala)

A few sellers of stationary and some innovative ink makers from the US, Australia and Europe were also part of the show.

While some stalls offered pens from foreign manufacturers like Lamy and Montblanc, most sold the products of Indian pen companies such as Click, V’sign, Vazir, Acriv, Lotus, Magna Carta, and Epitome.

Vikas Surana, a pen collector, who lives in Hyderabad visited the show to add this vintage fountain pen, among others, to his collection of around 3,000. Surana likes pens with flexible nibs, which bring flair to ordinary writing and help in calligraphy. Surana’s favourite possession is over a century old and is still in working condition. “I don’t use it much,” he says. (Suhit Bombaywala)

The show brought together pen-thusiasts, collectors from across the country, and pen sellers. Notable figures from the fountain pen community, including Mumbai’s Yeshwant Pitkar and Kolkata’s “fountain pen evangelist” Suvobrata “Chawm” Ganguly also attended.

All in all, it was definitely an event to write home about.

Suhit Bombaywala’s factual and imaginative writing appears in India and abroad. He tweets @suhitkelkar

The views expressed are personal