Sunday, May 18, 2014

Fountain Pens of Andhra Pradesh – Asoka Fountain Pens from Tenali

It was in the latter half of 2007 that I got introduced to handmade Indian ebonite fountain pens and gradually learnt about the various handmade fountain pen brands and manufacturers in Andhra Pradesh.  All of a sudden I was afflicted with fountainpenitis and after that for the next couple of years I was in a kind of frenzy.  I learnt about fountain pens made in places like Rajahmundry, Warangal, Tenali, Vijayawada, Guntur, Machilipatnam, and around two or three in Hyderabad.  Then on I made it my mission to track down and own at least a couple of samples of each of these brands.  Hyderabad and Rajahmundry were easy, mainly because the brands were still in existence…Deccan, Ratnam, Ratnamson, & Guider.  What proved to be very difficult was the brands from places like Tenali, Guntur, Vijayawada, Warangal, etc.  I used to hound and harass my friends and colleagues for information.  Through this process of cajoling and my own stubbornness, I managed to track down and find and finally own brands like Prasad, Merlin, Swarna, Brahmam, & Sandeep.  Asoka from Tenali was eluding me and through a colleague I managed to gain a foothold in Tenali … and I got within sniffing distance of owning an Asoka fountain pen, but alas …

Here is the initial part of my post on Prasad Pens (written in November 2008) which narrates my initial foray into the world of fountain pens from Tenali …
(I thought the name was spelt ‘Ashoka,’ but realized recently that it is ‘Asoka’)

--- FLASHBACK ALERT ---  FLASHBACK ALERT ---

It was a PM by Hari in my mail box on Fountain Pen Network that sent me on this hunt. In the PM, he sent me a URL which mentioned the name of a pen brand in Andhra Pradesh called Ashoka Pens based in a town called Tenali. I enquired at the pen shops in Hyderabad and none of them had this pen and most of them hadn’t even heard of this brand. I then decided to take another route. I teach in a college in Hyderabad and a fair number of my colleagues are from other small and large towns in Andhra Pradesh who have gravitated to the capital city. After numerous enquiries, I discovered that a member of our library staff is from Tenali. When I asked her if she knew anything about Ashoka Pens, she gave me a blank look and then told me that she had left Tenali long years ago and had settled in Hyderabad and that she’d call up and ask her uncle, who lives in Tenali.

After a couple of days, she gave a phone number and told me that her uncle had managed to get in touch with the proprietor of Ashoka Pens and asked me to call the number and speak to the proprietor. I spoke to him the same day and the news was not so good. He told me that he had closed down his pen manufacturing unit almost 6 years back and had sold away all his machinery and stock. He said his pen manufacturing unit couldn’t withstand the ballpoint pen revolution and since it was a small scale industry, almost like a cottage industry, it couldn’t sustain prolonged sluggishness in business. I felt very sad and asked him if he had at least a couple of FPs for my collection and for posterity. He said that even he doesn’t have a sample of the pens manufactured by him and that his friend had taken away the lone FP he had. I continued the talk for a little while more, prodding his memory in the hope that he’d remember some forgotten cache where he had stowed away some pens. No such luck. 

---  FLASHBACK OVER ---

--- BACK TO THE PRESENT ---

But I must say that though I did not get any Asoka pens at that time, the once-owner of Asoka pens put me in touch with the owner of Prasad pens and that’s how I managed to get hold of Prasad fountain pens … it is all in there in my 3-part post on Prasad pens (November 2008) … go on…take a look…here are the links …




After this touch and go, I kind of gave up hope of owning an Asoka pen … but I didn’t stop talking or thinking about it … Hari and I would discuss this on and off and of course, whenever I used to speak with Mr Lakshmana Rao of Guider Pens, Rajahmundry, other Andhra Pradesh-based fountain pen brands and their current state would invariably feature in our conversations.  I used to tell him about the different brands that I managed to find and those that I was still searching for and Asoka was one of the brands that I told him about.  I lamented that I got as far as meeting the owner, but could not get any pens.  And when I met Mr Lakshmana Rao again last year in May, he sprang a delightful surprise … after all the discussions about the new Guider models that he had showed me…all those new acrylic Jumbos and Kids… and as I was leaving, he gave me two ebonite pens and told me that these were for my collection … I saw the pens and was kind of became speechless for some time … these two were Asoka fountain pens … pens that I had been hunting for since 2008 … Mr Lakshmana Rao told me that he had them in his random collection of pens, but since he felt that I was so passionate about fountain pens from Andhra Pradesh and valued them more and moreover, would document them, he thought these pens deserved to be in my collection … it was such a spontaneous and magnanimous gesture from Mr Lakshmana Rao that I could only offer him my heartfelt gratitude …

At long last, here are the two Asoka fountain pens … 

These are simple ED filler fountain pens, but for me the historical value of these pens is much more significant … let’s look at the pens … 


I liked these pens at first sight … they had my favourite ball clip and flat top and end … these were enough for me to get going with …


Both Asokas posted ...



The branding on the clips ... in fact, the branding is seen almost everywhere on the pen ... here, it is on the clips ... 


Branding on the barrel with the name of the place of origin ... 


The nibs ...  it says Asoka Executive Tipped ... maybe there is Fine below Tipped ... I haven't taken out the nibs yet ... 



The feeders ... looks like the feeder maker didn't get the spelling right ... 

So, finally, I managed to get Asoka pens into my collection and it is all thanks to Mr Lakshmana Rao ... thank you, sir ... 

I do hope you liked what you saw and read ... 

Regards,

Jai

Thursday, May 15, 2014

The Gama Kambar - re-engineered by Hari to blend capacity & efficiency to become the GAMHAR Kambar

I told this to Hari recently that what he is doing is the best thing that has happened to the handmade Indian Fountain Pen in recent times.  I am not exaggerating.  The concept is so simple that once one sees it one feels like saying, ‘why didn’t I think of it!’  Hari has been doing this re-engineering for some months now and the results (along with wonderful photographs) of his efforts are all over Fountain Pen Network and has generated a lot of interest and praise …


A lot of fountain pen enthusiasts on Fountain Pen Network are charmed by the concept of handmade Indian ebonite ED filler pens and many have bought pens made by Deccan Pen Stores (Hyderabad), Gama from Gem & Co. (Chennai), Ratnam and Guider (Rajahmundry), Ranga (Chennai), etc., and have enjoyed the experience.  But many of them are not comfortable with the concept of ED filler pens because of their tendency to leak and blob out ink as the volume of ink starts coming down in the barrel.  Some of them have reservations about the custom nibs fitted on to some of the brands. 

What Hari is doing is this … he takes a Gama fountain pen (or a Deccan Advocate) … and creates a threading in the section which will then enable the section to carry a Pelikan Souveran screw-in nib … and lo and behold, we have a super-efficient fusion pen combining the best of both worlds, as Hari himself puts it … a smooth tried and tested and vouched-for nib brand on to an handmade ebonite barrel … the feeder in the screwed in nib unit regulates the flow of ink and controls leaking and the nib ensures a smooth writing experience … the huge ink capacity in these handmade ebonite pens ensures a very long writing experience too …

As soon as Hari started this experiment he sent me some photos and told me how the whole thing works … he started experimenting with various Gama models and the Deccan Advocate … I was impressed with the Gama Kambar and told him so and he informed me that he would keep one aside for me … and since I have a Pelikan M800, I have a ready-made screw-in nib unit that could be fitted on to the Kambar … I waited …

It is only recently that I got to see a live example … Hari came to Hyderabad on a two-day visit and as he was very busy, we couldn’t do our customary Deccan Pens visit and I also missed our dinner together, something we add on after our Deccan visit … but anyway, I was not to be thwarted, and Hari ensured that I got my pen … the place where I live in Hyderabad is on the way to the airport from where Hari was put up … and we agreed to meet for a brief while on the roadside … and that is where he gave me the Gama Kambar designed to take a Pelikan M800 nib …

In my excitement, I inked the pen that night itself and so couldn’t take photos of the nib-less pen … but here are the photos of the fabulous Gama Kambar with the Pelikan M800 nib …


I want to call these fusion pens made by Hari on the Gama models as GAMHAR models …


The Gama Kambar came in this nice black pouch ... 


Out of the pouch ... the clean lines show a lot of character and restraint ... very beautifully made pen in brushed black ebonite ... solid pen with seemingly inexhaustible ink capacity ... 


Look at the clip ... it is still better live ... 


Gama on the barrel ... 





The polished cap top and barrel end ... 


Aah ... here is the nib ... 


A view of the formidable Pelikan Souveran feeder ... 


Alas ... kuch paane ke liye kuch khona padtha hai ... my nibless Pelikan M800 ... 

Thursday, May 8, 2014

Chitra Viraraghavan’s ‘The Americans’ – Book Launch at Landmark, Hyderabad (Part 2)

There was a nice moist-eye moment during the conversation when Chitra Viraraghavan’s own hero flashed into the limelight to soothe the parched throat of his damsel in cough-stress … caught in the crossfire between cough and concern, the bottle cap suffered some damage!!

The conversation was lively and energetic and after that the discussion was ‘thrown open to the public’ … the first question itself, I felt, was a googly and Chitra Viraraghavan was, if I am not mistaken, slightly bamboozled by it … ‘what is the message that you want to convey through your novel and its final denouement (one couldn’t miss hearing this word; what with an insistent ‘ment’ denting the air…three times…)?’  Chitra Viraraghavan managed to retain her composure and said that what she wants to say is in the novel and one should read the novel to see what she has to say … very tactfully answered … the questioner was not to be denied, he asked again, the same question … I told Vinod what answer Kamala Haasan had given to a similar question … ‘what message do you want to deliver through your film?’  Kamala Haasan answered, ‘I am not a postman to deliver messages.’  Vinod doubled up with laughter...

There weren’t too many questions and then Chitra Viraraghavan and Sridala Swami were asked to unwrap the novel and the book was launched officially in Hyderabad …

I must say this … the cover is stunning … The Americans and Chitra Viraraghavan in suspended 3D animation atop the city of garbled skyscrapers  and a genie like figure hovering above them all … approaching the city … in animated suspension …

We got ready to leave…Vinod bought a copy and got it signed by Chitra Viraraghavan... he said he wanted to meet his other novelist friend Harimohan Paruvu before we left .… (Vinod should join the company soon … then I can say, 'Vinod, my novelist friend' … ) then Vinod and I left …

(If Chitra Viraraghavan is reading this, then I want to tell her that I didn’t buy The Americans that day as I was seriously out of pocket … what with irregular inflow and arid accounts and all that … I will buy it as soon as it starts raining, hopefully soon, and get it signed by her, whenever she is in Hyderabad …)


(I had wanted to write about the novel launch, but the next day when I was browsing the net trying to see where The Americans was available online, I hit upon Harimohan Paruvu’s blog and he had already written about the book launch (http://harimohanparuvu.blogspot.in/2014/05/book-launch-of-americans-by-chitra.html) and he had written it so well that I left a comment saying that I had planned to write about the event, but since he had written such an evocative account of the launch that nothing more needs to be said … Harimohan was very gracious and replied that I too should write and that he looked forward to reading my account of the launch…so, Harimohan, here it is…)

Chitra Viraraghavan’s ‘The Americans’ – An account of the book launch at Landmark, Hyderabad (Part 1)

When Shruti and I met Vinod at CCD for chai and chat, Vinod asked us if we would be free on 02 May 2014, to attend a book launch.  He informed us that the author is known to him and that he’d forward the invitation.  I received the invite a couple of days later and I saw that the book to be launched was in fact a novel called The Americans written by Chitra Viraraghavan...


Vinod had a couple of times earlier informed me about book launches and invited me to attend.  Many of Vinod’s friends are writers and movie directors and they are all very creative and quite a few of them have written books and Vinod unfailingly invites me to their book launches.  But for some reason or other I couldn’t attend these book launches, but this time I decided I shall attend, come what may… and it was just May...

This is the debut novel of Chitra Viraraghavan and she would be ‘in a conversation’ with Sridala Swami, poet and writer… and then the book would be launched … in Hyderabad … I reached Landmark half an hour early and since it is a bookshop there were very few people (!), so, there was lots of space to move around and browse … there were discount boards everywhere … and whatever book I picked up, I kept wondering, ‘wonder how much this would cost on Amazon or Flipkart or Infibeam’ … I saw some people around the launch area (I am starting to sound like an ISRO engineer at Sriharikota…!!!) and guessed that one of the ladies who looked happy, tired, and tense all at the same time must be the author, Chitra Viraraghavan … and then when some distinguished looking elderly people came over and congratulated her, my guess became a ‘yes’… I could hear her saying that she had been giving interviews to people and publications, and that she is tired and her throat is acting up … she clearly was tired and said she wanted to relax a bit … maybe some mildly fluttering butterflies too … she said to an elderly lady that she’d take a walk around the shop and unwind … then she changed her mind and said she’d actually go out and stroll around a bit … I didn’t know what she did eventually …

By that time it was nearing 6.30, and the seats started filling up … lots of friends, well-wishers, some family members too, I think … a clean shaven gentleman with hair falling over his forehead that threatened to cover his glasses too, was hovering around the author looking concerned … Vinod came in around that time and we caught up with books and pens … and it was Vinod who told me who this man was …  he had reason to be a bit concerned, I felt, when I learnt that that he is Krishna Shastri Devulapalli, the author’s husband and author of novels Jump Cut and Ice Boys in Bell Bottoms … Krishna Shastri then came and sat beside Vinod and I noticed the wonderful pair of leather ankle boots he was wearing … Red Tape? Lee Cooper? or maybe some foreign brand …


The conversation started a little while after 6.40 … it began with the author and her interlocutor (?) sharing some early childhood memories … familiarizing the audience with their familiarity with each other … Sridala Swami, I thought was very good with her comments and queries … there was a comment which I thought took the matter to the heart of the novel, when Sridala Swami talked about the multi generic narrative style of The Americans, and compared it with David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas … I particularly like this multi generic narrative style and liked novels that played around with the narrative structure like Italo Calvino’s If on a Winter’s Night a Traveller, George Lamming’s In the Castle of My Skin, Julio Cortazar’s Hopscotch, and others (Jai, you are showing off!!!) … and felt that this would surely go in The Americans favour … though Chitra Viraraghavan confessed that she hadn’t read Cloud Atlas, she said she was aware of the novel’s multi-generic nature and in case of her novel, different genres of writing came in as a natural feature and these represent the characters’ views of the world and life … to illustrate this point, Chitra Viraraghavan then read out from her book a scene, which she called the ‘item song’ part of her novel, where Shahrukh Khan appears in the dream/ imagination of a girl and serenades and dances with her … there was also a Hindi song interspersed … but the desire to sing was overpowered by the need to maintain correct Hindi pronunciation and Chitra Viraraghavan declined to sing and just read the Hindi song …  properly in Hindi pronunciation … our loss … 

Monday, May 5, 2014

Minor siblings of the Deccan Advocate...

I should have written about these two Deccan models long back … I think it was nearly four years ago, or maybe five years ago, that I found these two models at Deccan…I had gone there on one of those routine visits and found these...the reason I did not showcase these was maybe because there was another pen which had caught my fancy and I had written about that…maybe the Deccan Retro Series…I am not sure…

So…what made me pick up these models was this feeling that they looked like smaller and slimmer versions of the Advocate…these were smaller than the Advocate Jr… and I had felt that if these models took off then those FP enthusiasts who found the Advocate too big, but liked the looks, might go for one of these… I still do not know whether this was the first and only batch of these models or whether there were some earlier…but, I haven’t seen these models since…

They have the similar shape as the Advocate…the slimmest ones have the cap jewel almost halved…the cap band is still there…the original ball clip seen in the black Advocate and Advocate Junior in the group photo at the end, has given way to the tear-drop clip…I bought three, the bigger one in brown and the two smaller ones in green and black…the green one has a black cap jewel… all three pens have the Ambitious nibs and the feeders have that vertical groove on the middle, just like the earlier big Advocates…  


In the last photo, the group photo, one can see the Advocate, the Advocate Jr., the Advocate Minor Sr. and the Advocate Minor Jr.…