Cultural legacy reaffirms itself at the 9th International Pen Festival

The 9th International Pen Festival, held on January 10 and 11 at Siddhi Banquet on DP Road, became a sanctuary for those who still believe the mightiest weapon isn’t the sword but the pen.

The number of stalls exhibiting pens this year was 40 — 10 more than the previous year. India’s regional pride shone through with brands like Mohi from Aurangabad, Beena from Mumbai and Click from Indore, to name a few. From Japan’s Sailor and Germany’s Pelikan to France’s ST Dupont and England’s Lapis Bard, the festival had orchestrated an eclectic collection of premium and limited-edition fountain pens. The festival also featured over one hundred shades of premium inks. A dedicated booth featured a “pen doctor” offering free repairs. Equally mesmerising was an exhibition curated by Dr Manohar Desai of Symbiosis College. It was a window into antiquity that showcased how ancient rishis and maharajas once committed their wisdom to palm leaves and rocks, reminding visitors the civilisational history. In a quiet corner sat Gopal Wakode from Buldhana, a humble signature-master with a bold belief, that every Maharashtrian should be capable of signing their own name in Marathi. His booth offered visitors exquisite signatures in Marathi.

Among the festival’s global brands was Japan’s Sailor brand, which arranged the components of fountain pens in a buffet, allowing visitors to witness the process of pen-making in real time. Meanwhile, Anant Pathak’s Mohi brand promised pens crafted from ebonite, a substance so enduring that it outlasts a century. Nisha Singhi’s Vazir brand presented another narrative of contemporary craftsmanship. Founded in 2020 and co-headed at the festival by Singhi and her eighteen-year-old daughter Vinisha, has already earned government commissions, including creating 1000 handmade flagships for the International Chess Olympiad, gifted to luminaries like Vishwanathan Anand.

The real revelation, however, came from Urushi Studio India. Vivek Kulkarni, a retired production engineer turned self-taught master of Japanese Urushi artwork, had stumbled upon this ancient craft a decade ago. Each pen is handcrafted by Kulkarni and a single collaborating artist to preserve the intricacies. Urushi, extracted from the sap of trees native to Japan, is layered repeatedly with gold, silver, etc. Every pen, priced between Rs 40,000 and Rs 8 lakh, takes around five months to complete. At this year’s festival, Kulkarni unveiled Bhavani, a pen named after Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s legendary sword, its silhouette replicating the Japanese Nakaya design. “I wish to train people in this artwork with the intent of preserving this heritage and beauty,” Kulkarni shared, revealing his future plans.

The most telling moment came from Yusuf Mansoor, a 60-year-old pen historian from Patna, who has been collecting the writing instruments since the last 40 years. “In the era of gadgets, a fountain pen has evolved into being an instrument of establishing connectivity within you. It is a therapeutic instrument,” he mused. His philosophy resonated through the festival.

However, not everyone left entirely satisfied. Sudhir Tupkar, a 54-year-old software consultant, wished for the return of diverse kinds of paper stalls from previous years. Engineer Ajit Nadgir, a diary writer himself, suggested talks and seminars where founders and makers could unveil origin stories behind their brands, and a booth dedicated to calligraphy tips for children. They hinted at the unexplored potential of the festival.

While inaugurating the festival, Krishnakumar Goyal, chairman of Kohinoor Group, said, “Someday, these pens in this hallway might even write history.”