6th International Pen Festival on December 10-11 in Pune

Pune, December 6: Punekars have a chance to see over 50 brands of pens, including Indian and foreign, which will be displayed during the 6th International Pen Festival, organized at the JW Marriott Hotel on Senapati Bapat Road on December 10-11. The entry to the festival is free. “This is a very unique festival where different types of fountain pens, ball pens and roller pens, will be on display. Around 2,000 pens will be exhibited along with mechanical pencils,” says Surendra Karamchandani of Writing Wonders, who have organized the festival.

Pens of brands of Aurora, Arista, Beena, Cross, Conklin, Click, Diplomat, Lamy, Maiora, Magna Carta, Ottohut, Pelikan, Pilot, Parker, Penlux, Sheaffer, Scrikss, Speedball among others, will be on display. The festival will be inaugurated by Nikhil Ranjan, Managing Director of William Penn, which has also acquired 110-year-old iconic American firm Sheaffer, at 11 AM. Ranjan will be felicitated on the occasion for the historic acquisition.

Apart from these, several types of inks and accessories of pens, like pen cases, would also be on display. Historical instruments and collections of Indian writing material, which have been collected by Prof Manohar Desai, which include old ink pots, letter boxes, brush stands, tool boxes and manuscripts, will also be exhibited.

The Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Pen, based on the former India President and ace scientist, will also be launched during the festival. These are numbered pens, with ‘I love India’ written on the nib.

Another attraction of the exhibition is signature artist Gopal Wakode from Buldhana, who shows signature collections in four different styles. Pen collector Yusuf Mansur from Patna, who has huge pens in his iconic collection, will interact with the guests. Jitendra Jain from Mumbai, another vintage pen collector, will also interact with the visitors. One more interesting feature of the festival is that guidance for repairing fountain pens will be provided. Professor Yashwant Pitkar, who has immense knowledge about the design of pens, will also interact with the visitors.

For encouraging school students, every 25th student who visits the festival, will be gifted a ‘Chintoo Pen’. A lucky draw for the visitors will also be held and five selected visitors will be gifted with a premium pen.