Carrying forward the craft of pen repair
Source:The Hindu
Mohit M.Rao meets B. Shama Bhat, a specialist in repairing pens since 1971
Like a doctor is immediately recognised by his white coat and
stethoscope, B. Shama Bhat, probably the city’s only pen repair specialist can
be immediately recognised by ink-daubed fingers and caps of pens sticking out of
his pocket.
Even in the age of use-and-throw pens, 59-year-old Mr. Bhat still
tends to pens, almost surgeon-like in his approach, replacing the bent nibs of
fountain pens or diluting solidified ink to ensure smoothness of writing.
In over 45 years of experience dealing with only the omnipresent
writing instrument Mr. Bhat who runs the Vijaya Pen Mart in Hampankatta has
accrued a strange wizardry over customers and the pens they want.
Take for instance, a customer who walked into a store and asked,
only with the gesture of his fingers, for a pen whose name he had forgotten.
Just merely by the way the fingers presented itself while holding an invisible
pen, Mr. Bhat guessed the brand wanted by the customer.
Vijaya Pen Mart was started by Mr. Bhat’s father-in-law
Venkataramanaya in 1958, and he joined the business in 1971. This was the time
of the fountain pen, when nibs, and ink pots were as common a sight in
classrooms as notebooks.
“It was mandatory for students to use fountain pens as it helped
students develop a neater handwriting. Now, they use only gel and ball pens, and
for neater handwriting, they go to handwriting institutes,” he said.
At the heydays of fountain pens – when manufacturers like Pilot,
Swan, Blackbird, Flame, Ashoka were household names – Mr. Bhat saw between 500
to 1,000 pens arriving at the store daily for repairs. Now, the number has
dwindled to around eight. “While a few students do turn up, most clients who
come for repairing pens are court judges, document writers, school headmasters
and officials in Deputy Commissioner’s office and taluk office, “ he said.
Apart from reduction in pen repairs, Mr. Bhat even laments that
his job has transformed from a salesman’s job to just a delivery man. “Customers
used to walk in and ask many questions before buying a pen. It used to be a
challenge to sell a pen. Now, however, brands are what people want. They see an
advertisement on television or in newspapers and they only want that pen,” he
said.
Does it sometimes get dull for Mr. Bhat after having dealt with
pens for four decades? He scoffs and immediately retorts: “From the time a boy
enters Class 4 to when he retires, he needs a pen. I’ve had customers for over
30 years and it is exciting to see them every time they enter the store. And,
everyday, I’m learning something new – new brands, new customer preferences. I
still feel like a student learning about things,” he said.
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