Chawmed, I'm Sure

"With two India-based fountain pen blogs, Chawm Ganguly is bridging the divide between the U.S. and Indian fountain pen communities."

- By Nicky Pessaroff

Suvobrata Ganguly, known by his nickname Chawm, is a life-long resident of Kolkata, India with a global reputation in corporate communication. He is a journalist, a self-described “spin doctor,” and an instructor. His classes are intended to help students turn themselves into battle-ready communicators so that their transition from academia to industry [is] as smooth as possible.”

Through it all, Ganguly has been a passionate fountain pen collector and evangelist. These days, Ganguly is using his corporate communications expertise to spread the word about the long history and current market of Indian fountain pens, inks, and accessories. He began his journey in 2019 with Inked Happiness, a blog that bridges the communication divide between the Indian fountain pen community and the fountain pen community of the West.

Ganguly has written about such Indian pen brands as Click and Constellations88, figures such as Indian calligrapher Professor K. C. Janardhan, and Indian pen shop William Penn. He has also interviewed or written about such Western figures as Delta and Maiora's Nino Marino, the late Gary Lehrer (see p. 18), and Bryan Hulser of Kenro Industries.

In 2021, Ganguly has begun a second blog, Pen Lovers Kolkata, with the assistance of his student Jyotshna Agiwal. Recently, Ganguly sat for a long-distance interview with me to discuss his work:

Nicky Pessaroff: Tell me a little about you and your connection to pen collecting.