Day out at the Numaish

My fellow blogger Vinod says in his latest post: "Only a true Hyderabadi can understand the fuss behind the tamasha that is the Numaish. And only a true Hyderabadi and no one else can come out smiling after spending hours gawking inside the Numaish." That is so absolutely true and I have been a regular visitor to this annual Hyderabadi 'exhibition' ever since I had some money in my pocket and ever since Shruti came into my life...and the early numaish visits were in the nature of being a committed follower and gawker...and of late I have been making small purchases of my own...(great maan!!)...of course, there are no books or pens or music shops there, so for me there is very little choice, unless one wants to buy clothes...and I have bought a hand-sewing machine, which looks like a stapler...a muffler from a Kashmiri stall...very ingenious metal candle stands...and one my favourite stalls is the 'pachak and churan' stall...where you get a variety of tangy preserves which presumably aid in digestion...gooseberry, mango, ginger, tamarind... sometimes as pieces dipped and dried in sugar and spice and sometimes powdered and pelleted...very nice to chew on and do a 'tack' with your tongue and screw your face at the tangy taste...very nice... and of course, Shruti buys a lot of household stuff and something for herself every year...

This time, my parents are here and Shruti was planning to visit with my mother...my mother has visited the numaish previously and has become a great fan...but somehow things didn't work out for Shruti and so, it fell upon me to take my mother and father and to the numaish...

Even if you don't want to buy anything, just going there is bound to bring a smile to your face...that familiar path leading to the gate with snacks stalls on both sides selling fried snacks (god knows fried in what oil)...small hawkers selling unusual toys...and the counter where tickets are sold...and then you enter the gates...and because I am a 'leftist' by orientation, I always turn left...and there would always be a line of endless stalls selling Kashmiri clothes...but this time, they were replaced with Bengali sarees stalls...and then after the Bengali stalls came the Kashmiri stalls...so they were there after all...

What did we buy at the numaish?...I was looking for the 'pachak and churan' stalls... and mother was generally gazing lovingly at the Kashmiri sarees...I bought mother a Kashmiri saree, and bought one for Shruti and one more for mother...ha ha ha...then mother wanted to buy some kitchen items...a large sieve and an oil container...and then I spied a 'p & c' stall...somehow, I didn't like the look of the items kept there and moved away disappointed...and decided the explore the nearby pickles stall...ummmmmm...good only...nice smelling north Indian pickles...I bought three varieties of pickles...stuffed red chillies, green chillies, and big slice raw mango...these are the kind of pickles that Shruti would bring back from Gaya and Patna and thought she'd like them...and after we came home, she just gobbled up one big raw mango slice heavily spiced...I did something right after all...ha ha ha...

We were moving around the central stalls and I saw a stall selling something which I have been hunting around in Hyderabad for months...it was a numismatics and philately stall...wow...I have been looking for an album to store and display my modest coins collection and here they had around 5 kinds of albums (of all things, this was a Hyderabad-based stall and their 'permanent' shop is right there in the vicinity of Secunderabad railway station...what a dud I am!!!) ... this is wonderful...honestly, I never felt so elated in a long long time...I don't know why...after all, it is only a plastic thingy...but these things happen...they were also selling coins, notes, and stamps...but I wanted only the coins album and after inspecting the various models, I bought one which would hold around 300 coins...seeing and buying this instantly gave me a boost...and then we went around hoping to buy a suitable toy for my little one...after visiting a number of toy stalls and debating the pros and cons of various toys, bought a rather tame 'oil tanker' for her...a big one...she is happy, of course...and that is what counts...

The Deccan Masterpiece in White

Some three months back when I had dropped in at the Secunderabad branch of Deccan Pen Stores to generally be among pens, Zubair, who is in charge of that branch, told me that a new pen was being designed and that it would be white in colour and that he has asked one to be kept aside for me. I started dreaming about this pen from that day on…what would be its shape? Would the material be ebonite? and white ebonite would indeed be a rare thing…or would they use celluloid? Flat top? Round top? Ball clip? Flat clip? What nib? All this and more…

I didn’t hear from Zubair after that for a long time and I was getting impatient…so, I called him…he said they were getting made and I’d surely get one…some more days went by…I called again…similar response…and after some more days I called again and then he said...only a couple of these pens were made and they were already reserved for somebody else earlier…and so… the white pen dreams began to fade away…slowly…he was apologetic though…almost feeling helpless…

And then…out of the blue…I get a call from Zubair informing me that he had managed to get one specimen for me…his uncle had made a couple more…the pen started taking shape in my imagination once again…I couldn’t go there the same day, but my excitement kept mounting…I went two days later and he handed me over this pen…I went ‘wow’… I hadn’t anticipated this shape and size…it was the Deccan Masterpiece in white…with the cap jewel and barrel cap in black…it didn’t look like ebonite or celluloid…I asked Zubair about the material…he said that this material came as part of a packaging from Germany some years back and was lying around…some kind of plastic…or nylon based plastic…and his uncle saw this and decided to attempt a pen out of this material…

I opened the cap and saw the nib…good…and opened the barrel and saw the aerometric filler…I was not thrilled…I am partial to ED fillers and piston fillers…I asked Zubair about this and he said the initial attempt was to make an ED filler, but there were leakage problems and so the aerometric filler was fitted…I got it inked then and there and it writes beautifully…I tried taking photos against different backgrounds and it was against the blue silk background that the pen stood out…I have also included a couple of photos against a maroon silk background…

As usual, the Deccan Pens people don’t have a name for it…since it the Masterpiece in white, I wanted to give it an appropriate name…so many names came to mind…The Deccan Masterpiece Pristina…The Deccan Fleur de Lis…the simple Deccan White…The Deccan Masterpiece BnW…the Indian ‘Dakshin Shweth’… and so on…maybe all you readers can chip in with your names too…

Here are the pictures…

Deccan Retro Series Fountain Pen - A new FP model from Deccan Pens, Hyderabad

This time I am showcasing a new model by Deccan Pens, Hyderabad…called the Deccan Retro series by them… Made of ebonite, it is light brown in colour with prominent black streaks, a natural design that ebonite lends itself to. It was very difficult to capture the pen in its right colour while photographing as the light brown would turn into dark brown in the photos and the first photo is one of the three photos that show the pen in its correct colour. The rest of the photos that follow that show the pen as dark brown…the photos are sharper though and the pen looks beautiful in dark brown too…

The pen is an ED filler and pen connoisseurs would recognize many influences on the design of this pen…the flat conical cap and the ball clip reminds us of Bexley’s ‘America is Beautiful’ model (as noticed by my friend Hari), Montegrappa Extra 1930 model, and some Eversharp models as well…the distinctive feature of this pen is the curve at the cap lip, not a straight horizontal cut…Deccan Pens have fitted this pen with a Swan Oxford fine tipped nib… the line is slightly finer that I normally would have liked, but the ink flows well and writing is a pleasure… I filled it with Chelpark turquoise ink and didn’t like it at all, mostly because the ink itself was light…I emptied the barrel and refilled it with Camlin Royal Blue and it writes like a dream now… and as always with Deccan Pens (IMHO&E), no starting problems… and for the statistically minded, the pen is approx 5 ½ inches capped, 6 ¼ inches posted, and 5 inches uncapped…

As I had mentioned in one of my earlier posts on Deccan Pens, when you see a new Deccan model, pick it up immediately, because it might just not be there the next time as all new models are made as limited editions initially…and they are all handmade, so the pen-maker himself has to make these pens…there is no assembly line process here…and this pen was no exception…but one of the second generation brothers alerted me when this model was being made and I told him to keep aside two for me…one for my use and another for my friend Hari…

Thanks for watching...

The Deccan Masterpiece...

Hi friends…
The pen under discussion was a chance find at the Deccan Pen Stores, Secunderabad … it is called the Deccan Masterpiece... and here I think the Deccan people have tried to style this Masterpiece on the lines of ‘The Masterpiece’ that all pen lovers know about… you have the twin gold coloured bands on the cap, the clip is golden in colour with a ball at the end and on top of everything (literally!) is a round white circle, reminding you of something similar of a different shape …
The nib is the king in this pen…honestly…I hadn’t seen such a ‘big’ nib before… when I was shown the Masterpiece for the first time, I refused to buy it saying that the nib looked like a knife point… and even when I reserved one for Hari and when we went to buy that one, I was once again not enthused enough…the nib again! And just as it happens with pen addicts…I decided to buy it only to complete the Deccan brushed ebonite collection… and when I asked for the Masterpiece… I liked the design, of course… I opened the cap and there it was…the ‘bruiser’ nib… and so, I bought the Masterpiece … I got it filled with black ink… and it lays down a slightly more than fine not-so-wet line… and as with Deccan Advocates, the Masterpiece also has no starting problems… and I picked up the Masterpiece after 10 days today and it started writing from the first stroke onwards… This is the best thing that I like about Advocates and now the Masterpiece…

Now, something for the statistically minded…the pen is made of Ebonite; Brushed surface with polished barrel end and cap top; polished also at cap lip and barrel lip; the section looks like it is ebonite; and the nib and feed are fitted perfectly – no movements at all; the pen is slightly shorter...the pen has a screw cap – 7 turns to unscrew; two gold coloured bands on cap; golden coloured clip with a ball at the end, and the clip gives a satisfying click when clipped to and unclipped from my shirt pocket… Nib is Size 40 steel…length capped slightly more than 6 inches; uncapped 5 ¾ inches; posted 7 ½ inches…

Doesn't the pen look grand? like a true masterpiece...no?

Jayasrinivasa Rao

The Brushed ebonite fountain pen brigade from Deccan Pens, Hyderabad

There is this one thing with Deccan Pens… if you see a new FP model, buy it…you may not see it for a long time if you choose to postpone the purchase…it happened to me with the Deccan Diplomat…I haven’t yet been able to lay my hands on one… Hari told me during one of our pen-cussions that their pen maker is a very innovative person and sometimes makes unique one-of-a-kind pens…and if the pen comes to one of their showrooms and if you happen to see it, grab it! This is what I did with 2 of the 4 pens featured here…

There are 4 brushed ebonite models made by Deccan Pens that I have seen so far…they don’t have specific names and all are called ‘onyx’ and as I had said in an earlier post, they distinguish them by size…I have given them size-wise names…the first photo that you see has all the pens in their capped positions…the smallest one, forming the horizontal stroke of T, I have called ‘Mini’… the largest one, forming the vertical stroke of T, is the ‘Maxi’… to the left of Maxi, with the steel clip and steel cap band, is the ‘Major’… and the one to Maxi’s right, the one with the gold plated clip, is the ‘Mega’…

As you can see in the photos, no two pens are similar… if the nibs of two (Mini and Maxi) are similar (Ambitious), then their clips are different, one has a steel clip and the other has a gold plated clip…Maxi and Major have polished ends, but one of them has a cap band and the other is cap bandless…and if you look at the sections, each one is different…I don’t know what names these different kinds of sections have..

I had purchased the Mega a long time back…and among the four, this is different from the rest in many respects…this is the only one which has a snap cap…the rest are all screw caps…and this is the only one which is cartridge filler, the rest are all ED fillers…the nib, the feed, the section…all are different from the other pens featured here…and it has a smoother brushed feel and look…the other 3 have a rough feel and look… and if you notice, the clip is ‘inspired’ from Pelikan FPs… and I used it for 3 months continuously and it is a fabulous writer… no complaints…

MAJOR – capped 6 in; uncapped 5 ¼ in; posted 7 in; cartridge filler; snap cap; open two tone nib; Pelikan style clip; plastic section (I think) with gold plating at the section lip; smooth brushed feel and look

I am currently using the Mega…it has got that Lamy Safari feel while writing, though the width is narrower…and the nib also reminds you of the Safari…I feel a slight difficulty in screwing/unscrewing the cap now…this is the only pen in this batch that has a cap band, which is at the cap lip…its top and bottom ends are polished…and if you look at the photo, you can see that the clip is curved, unlike the others which are flat against the cap…and this is the only one among the 4 to have the distinctive calligraphic ‘D’ (the Deccan Pen Logo) on the cap…

MEGA – capped 5 ¼ in; uncapped 4 ¾ in; posted 6 ¼ in; ED filler; screw cap; Lamy Safari style one tone nib with no brand name; curved steel clip; Ebonite section tapering towards the nib and ending with a ridge slightly below the nib; rough brushed feel and look; 7 turns to unscrew…

I have yet to start using the Mini and the Maxi…will do so soon…

MINI – capped 4 ¼ in; uncapped 3 ¾ in; posted 5 ¼ in; ED filler; screw cap; Ambitious nib with an upturned ‘V’ nib hole; gold plated clip flat against the cap; gap between cap top and cap visible; Ebonite section tapering in and flaring out near the nib; rough brushed feel and look; 7 turns to unscrew…

MAXI – this is the longest of the batch… capped 6 ¼ in; uncapped 5 ½ in; posted 7 ¼ in; ED filler; screw cap; Ambitious nib with upturned ‘V’ nib hole; top and bottom ends polished; steel clip flat against the cap; Ebonite section tapering towards the nib stopping with a ridge; rough brushed look and feel; 7 turns to unscrew…

Jayasrinivasa Rao

Deccan Pens...A New Model...

Just when I thought that we (Hari & I) had covered and reviewed all the major models made by Deccan Pens, Hyderabad, the pen people sprang a surprise… or, shall I say penprise…?

I had placed orders for around 5 Advocate Black FPs (yes…you have to place orders, especially for the complete black model) for my colleagues and brother and I had called the Secunderabad branch to find out if the pens are ready…I had also asked them to get me a couple of Pelkan models…the Advocates were ready and they told me that they have a couple of Pelkans too…I decided to pick them up on my way home in the evening…

I went there and they immediately brought me the Advocate FPs and I asked them to show the Pelkans…what they showed me was not the full ebonite Pelkans that they had earlier but a kind of variant with an aerometric filler and metal cap…I thought I’d pick them up later…and then they showed me a new ebonite model…they didn’t have a name for this model…in fact, they call all their models as ‘Deccan Onyx’ and refer to each model by their shape or size…in my post on Deccan FPs on Fountain Pen Network, I had shown photos of mottled green ebonite FPs with aerometric fillers and called them as ‘the’ Onyx…I guess I was wrong…anyway, the model that they showed me was a medium sized ED filler FP around 5 inches in length with a band at the cap lip…both ends rounded…with a black tip at the bottom…the clip is of thin elongated oval shape and the thin clip band can also be seen (seasoned FP users from around the world might find some similarities with clips of international models!)…the nib is of a brand called ‘Preema’and is tipped fine…with both sides serrated feeder…they showed me four colours…plain green, plain brown, mottled green and mottled brown…I bought all 4! The plain green and plain brown ones have light black spots on them…the plain green one looks really good…I dip tested all nibs and except for one which is slightly scratchy, the rest are all smooth…

I don't know how many more models they are going to make...already burning a hole in my pocket...but what to do...madness, no?

Jayasrinivasa Rao

The Longest Pen?

Hello friends...

This is a unique pen from the range of pens made by Deccan Pen Stores, Hyderabad. It is called the 2-in-1 Ruler Pen (I do not know whether it has any other specific brand name) and it must have served as a great utility tool at one point of time. As you can see, this ebonite rod contains two pens – one at each end. This is designed to be a desk pen. One pen was supposed to contain blue ink and the other red. And this 2-in-1 pen also doubles as a ruler to help users draw straight lines for margins, etc. It served people like lawyers, bureaucrats, etc., (at one point of time) who needed to use both colour inks to make notes, make corrections, etc. This must have been a common pen in colonial and early post independent government offices in India. The pen is about 14 inches in length – both pens capped, 10 inches with one pen capped, and either pen is 6 ½ inches uncapped. As this is a desk pen, it doesn’t have a pocket clip. If at all anyone wants to carry it along, they would have to carry it in a long enough bag or a flute case! The one displayed here has 2 fountain pens, but this model also comes with an FP at one end, to be filled with blue ink usually, and a ball pen at the other, with a red ink refill. Guider also produces a similar pen, with a FP at one end and a BP at the other, and the ends are helpfully marked in red (FP) and blue (BP).



I had seen this pen at DPS many times before and Hari had bought a mottled brown one with an FP and a BP at either ends on his last visit to Hyderabad and had shown it to me. I was not too keen as I didn’t know what I’d do with this pen. And then when I visited the Secunderbad Branch of DPS around 5 days back to buy Advocates for my brothers, I also bought a Pelkan (Hari has also posted on this) and 2 Onyx-es, and then out of the blue, the salesman there took out this pen and offered it to me. The pen looked good and I liked the mottled design on this pen, which is not streaky, but kind of loopy. I then inspected the FPs and thought ‘why not’ and bought it. I have written with both pens and I must say they write very well. The nibs are called ‘Preema.’





I feel that if both pens can be made as BPs, then this pen can also be used as a pointer. Unless one is a regular pen user with lots of paper work to do and has a large enough desk, this pen can only be an ornamental piece. But, if one is crazy enough about FPs, one can always find excuses to buy this pen…like I did. This is not an antique pen (only the style is) and can be manufactured by any good pen-maker with ebonite stock. But, this pen’s value lies in its unique usefulness and the ingenuity of the first pen manufacturer or user who thought of something like this. This particular pen does not have the usual ‘D’ logo that one normally finds in DPS pens, which kind of makes the pen look bland.

Jai