Two pens, both of same vintage , from same place, yet one writes like a hot knife cuts butter whereas the other keeps scratching like a blunt knife trying to cut steel
“Ratnam pens” at Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh, is perhaps the oldest surviving pen manufacturer. Beckoning to the call of Mahatma Gandhi, who expressed his sorrow that there was not a single Indian pen manufacturer, the senior Mr Ratnam started manufacturing pens in India and his sons have taken his legacy ahead.
A few years back I had the chance to visit his shop cum workshop cum residence and was able to order two classic “Torpedoes” one green in colour the other brown in colour. They were delivered a few months later and the green colour pen became a quick favourite with my wife since it was writing beautifully whereas the brown colour pen was relegated to a corner and was given up on like the prodigal child.
Fast forward to the “ Ink and Pen” , a unique shop selling a wide range of fountain pens and inks, but much more than just a shop, more like a melting pot of fellow enthusiasts who gather around over tea and ink, discussing pens, nibs, feeds, inks and so on.
I met many of them for the first time on Friday and felt instantly welcome. As a beginner, it was for me very enlightening to listen to the various conversations. The discussion was around grail pens, including almost impossible to get old Montblanc and modern Gravitas.
There I was sitting with the ₹3000 Ratnam Torpedo in my pocket hesitating to ask for help. Gathering courage, I described my problem when Rohit a fellow pen enthusiast immediately looked at it and without a word started working on it, they call it “tuning the nib”. Within 10 minutes, he was done and I could see that he was fully focused on the task at hand and was enjoying every moment of it. Let his day job of a cyber security expert not fool you, here is a guy who enjoys working with his hands, skill that most of us have lost.
In no time the pen was ready, and even in amateur hands like mine it was like playing Mozart on a finely tuned piano. To my mind what stands out is not only the skill that he has developed, but the passion with which he handles the nibs, I understand such gifted and skilled individuals are called “Nib Meisters” but to my mind he is nothing short of “The Pen Whisper”
Thanks a lot Rohit you rock and I cannot wait to see my wife's reaction once she starts writing with this twin pen, like the prodigal son has come home. More power to Rajesh Pillai Sir for creating a space like the “Ink and Pen”
Srinivas Kantheti, Pune, 29/03/2026
Srini has a day job as an entrepreneur in the two wheeler industry financing and renting bikes while he moon lights as an amateur writer, photographer and pen collector.