Chennai Pen Show to showcase handmade pens, inks and fine accessories

The seed for Kolkata-based Sulekha Ink was sown by Gandhiji. “He asked the owner Satish Das Gupta in the 1930s if he can make Indian inks,” says Aditya Bhansali of Chennai-based Endless, a company that manufactures and exports fountain pens. “It was Rabindranath Tagore who picked the name Sulekha. They were India’s largest ink makers till the 1970s, and made a revival in the 2000s,” he adds. Sulekha is among the many brands that will be participating in the Chennai Pen Show, that will bring together over 50 exhibitors, apart from global and domestic brands.

Handmade pens on display
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THULASI KAKKAT

This is the third edition of the event, with 2025 seeing over 16,000 visitors, according to Aditya. “This made it the world’s largest, beating the Washington DC Pen Show,” he adds. The spark for the show came from international pen shows that Endless participated in. “We visited the Tokyo Pen Show in 2023 and saw how it brought together people with a love for stationery as one community,” he says, adding that he wanted to incorporate the best of what they saw abroad in a similar show back home.

The Chennai Pen Show will bring together handmade pen makers from across the world, and there will be some industrial brands as well. Names include Ranga Pens, Sheaffer, ST Dupont, Pelikan, Diplomat, among others, and apart from fountain pens, there will be inks, stationery, and vintage writing instruments for sale.

Aditya explains that there will be an exclusive space for premium selections and attendees can interact with pen makers. “Seventy-year-old Pandurangan from Thiruvallur, who has been making pens for over 60 years, is among our main exhibitors,” says Aditya, adding that several Indian brands with over 75 years of history are set to participate.

A pen that will be on display at the Chennai show
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Special arrangement

Another highlight are vintage pens that are over 125 years old and in working condition. These pens come with a lot of history, and Aditya says that names of previous owners of some of these pens have been documented. There will be pen makers who are there just to meet fellow pen lovers and share stories.

From last year’s Chennai Pen Show
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Special arrangement

“We have invited nibmeisters who will tune nibs according to the each user’s need,” says Aditya, adding that this will be of use to people who own special and expensive pens: “They might want to tune nibs in specific ways that they want to experience the pen,” he says.

The Chennai Pen Show is on from March 6 to 8, 2pm to 7pm, at Fika, Adyar. Prices range from ₹200 to ₹20,00,000. For details, visit chennaipenshow.com