Here are 5 highlights of the Chennai Pen Show that you should add to your cart

Alchemy’s Mocha Mousse Delight
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Dheeraj Nanduri, founder of stationery company Endless, and organiser of the Chennai Pen Show, says that the day after the Chennai Pen Show weekend has been unusually quiet. He was, after all, surrounded by some 20,000-odd people between March 7 and 9 at Fika, Adyar. There was a point on Saturday evening when things got intense. “Not many could stand on the first floor. Most visitors were surprised that so many people still use fountain pens. Random folks talked to each other over the counter and became sudden friends. It was all very wholesome. We want such communities to be built,” he says.

The world’s largest pen show may be over but we have scoured through the stalls and created a list of must-haves to enhance your stationery collection.

Alchemy’s Mocha Mousse Delight

Among Endless Stationery’s most prized creations is Alchemy, a range of premium ink, known for its high pigmentation and variety in shades. Earlier this year, when Pantone, the global colour authority, stated that Mocha Mousse would be the colour of the year, Dheeraj Nanduri and Aditya Bhansali, founders of this Chennai-based brand, tipped their hat and created a coffee ink that smelt just as good as it looked on paper. “I drink several cups of coffee a day and can’t do without it. That is why we decided to add a scent to it too. Even the paper smells like coffee when you write using the ink,” says Dheeraj. He adds that the ink comes in a bottle inspired by a spinning top or a pambaram. His mechanical engineering background came handy because he was inspired to add a weighted bulb to a conical flask structure. The result is a spinning ink bottle that is aesthetic enough to leave on a writing table and play around with, too.

Priced at ₹950. Visit madebyendless.com for details or visit Hindustan Trading Company.

Click pens

Harsh Gagwani, the third generation entrepreneur behind Click Pens, a legacy pen company headquartered in Indore, says that there is a reason why their pens have remained popular despite the advent of ball point pens. “We make traditional pens made of ebonite. The pens have a nice finish and lining. It’s why our return customer rate is between 95% and 98%,” he says. Aadya Arvind, a nine-year-old school student who bought her first ink pen from Click, says that she saw several pens at the show but decided to buy one from Click because her favourite colour blue was available and was most of all, affordable. This is the brand’s USP. “We also repair as we are the manufacturers too. Just send us pens that need fixing and we’ll get it done,” says Harsh.

Priced between ₹100 and ₹5,000. Available on clickpens.in and at Hindustan Trading Company, Makoba and Penhouse in Chennai.

Arclayer’s Chennai Central Pen

It has only been a year since Arclayer’s founder Yash Jain began 3D printing pens but the company is leading some design-based innovations in India today. Here, you can customise the case and even the cartridge to have ink flow in swivels and other unique patterns. The 21-year-old founder says that he created a special pen for the Chennai Pen Show modelled on Chennai Central. “The pen is made of resin and has a nib that is hand-engraved modelled on a locomotive engine. It’s very pretty,” he says. Although this is their most expensive product priced at ₹34,000 as it is a collector’s item, other pens with customisation are affordable yet hip and fly. “I came with just 30-40 pens last year. This time, we had 150 pens on display,” he says.

Priced between ₹2,200 and ₹4,000. They can be found on arclayerstudio.com and @arclayer on Instagram.

Kanwrite’s music nib

Kanwrite began in 1986 at Kanpur. Its third generation entrepreneurs Apoorv and Tarun Awasthi have decided to switch things up. At the Chennai Pen Show, the duo launched a music nib, earlier used to make music notations on paper. Since most music is now printed on sheets and people rarely make music notes on paper anymore, the product is a novelty item for collectors, says Apoorv. The pen’s nib has been made with 14 carat gold and comes with a Japanese ebonite casing. The line width of this pen ranges from 0.5mm to 3mm with flexing. This range is hence, its greatest draw. The company also has a variety of zoom and flex nibs that provide a similar range, vastly different from the standard ‘extra fine’, ‘fine’ and ‘bold’ varieties available by other sellers. They also have a sapecial titanium nib retailing at ₹1,600.

Prices range between ₹150 to ₹1,000 for the nibs. They can be found on kanpurwriters.com.

Sulekha Ink Co.’s KC Janardhan Purple Ink

Sulekha Ink Company has a history that dates back to the Swadeshi movement, an important step in India’s struggle for freedom. Ever since, they have launched several pens and inks to commemorate famous individuals. The latest ink launched by veteran journalist Jennifer Arul at the Chennai Pen Show was the KC Janardhan ink in the shade of deep violet. Janardhan who has donned many hats is best known in the pen community for beautiful lettering and calligraphy. He has also fought epilepsy and has been vocal about the need for more awareness about the nerve condition. “I was teaching 10 courses as an adjunct faculty in several Bengaluru colleges. I noticed that the handwriting impaired many of them. I decided to make a change and began advocating for better writing. It’s been quite the journey since. I’m thrilled that I’m the first living person to have an ink named after me by Sulekha,” he says.

Priced at ₹1,408, the ink is available at sulekha.co.in.