A stall that became a surprise success on its debut appearance at last year’s Book Fair is getting ample customers this year too. And this time the new magnets are club football, Satyajit Ray and Jamini Roy.
A shade of ink that Satyajit Ray is said to have asked for has been created in his memory. The ink from Sulekha was launched by son Sandip Ray at the icon’s Bishop Lefroy Road residence on January 15 in presence of a team from the ink-makers.
“Baba used to write with a fountain pen all his life. He used several brands, including Sheaffer and Pilot. He also used many inks as is evident from leafing through his kheror khata (the scrap books where he jotted down his thoughts and sketches, in preparation for his film Goopi Gyne Bagha Byne). He used to buy all his writing instruments from GC Laha. He liked blue black and royal blue inks,” Sandip told The Telegraph Salt Lake.
Sulekha was a brand of ink which Ray has not only used often for writing but also has mentioned in his works. “The most prominent has been the mass copying scene in the examination hall in Jana Aranya where the camera moves from table to table with Sulekha ink pots visible on several. Sulekha has also been named in the Feluda stories Royal Bengal Rahasya and Samaddarer Chabi. That is why we thought of paying him a tribute on his centenary,” said Kaushik Maitra, managing director of Sulekha Works Ltd.
A piece of information from the current owner of GC Laha, whose father used to interact with Ray, made the ink makers decide on a new shade. “Ray was a regular customer from the time he worked at DJ Keymer, the advertising agency. He had asked for a shade more blue than the blue black that was available. So this is what we have created,” added Suvobrata Ganguly, Maitra’s schoolmate and consultant to the company, who has conceived of the turnaround path for the company which was shut for 30 years.
Priced Rs 499 for a bottle, the ink has seen great response at the book fair, thanks largely to the package that features Ray’s autograph and his sketch. It has been done by Karishma Siddique Roy, a Behala artiste, using the blue ink created in tribute to the Oscar-winning filmmaker, composer and author.
Painter’s pack
The set of inks paying tribute to Jamini Roy also has eye-catching package. “He used seven colours in his works. Discounting the white, we created the other six. He used organic sources; we too used natural dyes,” said Ganguly.
Thus the ink named ablush is black, aparajita is blue, derived from the flower, radhachura is red, aranyak is green, akorik is brown and rangamati is red. “We pay royalty to the family for using Roy’s paintings on the cover alongside his autograph. We took care to create a colourful package so that young people would get to know about Jamini Roy’s paintings from the ink packet itself,” Ganguly added.
The makers also have great expectations of the inks created in tribute to Calcutta’s three big football clubs. They are being sold for Rs 299 in combinations of two, in a nod to the clubs’ jersey colours. While East Bengal and Mohun Bagan were easy to make, being red and yellow, and green and maroon respectively, the makers were in a quandary about Mohammedan Sporting. “Supporters insisted on white. So we added a drawing ink,” said Ganguly.
There is no chance of the three being sold in a single football package. “A Bagan fan will never pay for East Bengal colours and vice versa,” said Maitra, making it clear through a friendly banter that his football allegiance was opposite his schoolmate’s.
