Fountain pens and national ambitions: The forgotten story of India Ink

From the names of pen manufacturers to the minute differences in their makes -Inked in India is a marvellous journey for both the connoisseur and the uninitiated

Inked in India: Fountain Pens and a Story of Make and Unmake

Authors: Bibek Debroy & Sovan Roy

Publisher: Rupa Publications India

Pages: 200 

Price: Rs 498

For a generation accustomed to keyboards and touch pads, the only mention of ink — and that too in a rapidly decreasing number of instances — comes in relation to the printer and the lack of it therein. For a trendier millennial, the term may well refer to body tattoos. So a book outlining the history of the pen and the ink might seem a project of historical preservation, rather than another piece in the grand jigsaw portrait