Future gradually gets ‘nib’bled away....

Obsolescence is a hazard which traditional occupations and professions have continued to face all over the world. Hence, it is the turn now of pen nib manufacturers in Sattur town of southern Tamil Nadu who have seen their products being overtaken by the sleeker, gel ink pens and ballpoint pens over the past two decades.

A graphic report in Tamil newspaper Dinamani puts things in perspective. This town which had virtually enjoyed a lion’s share of the pen nib market since the ‘60s had more than 250 enterprises indulging in its manufacture, a source of employment for over 2500 people from the neighbouring 20 villages. Across south India, it enjoyed a pivotal position as it imported the steel required for nib manufacture from countries like USA and Russia at subsidised rates.

From the ‘90s, things began taking a change for the worse as the new generation found its call in ballpoint pens, which were cheaper, with more varieties suiting one’s budget and being easily disposable. This virtually sounded the death knell for the industry, which buckled under its impact almost immediately, as the number of units dropped to just three from the earlier 200-odd.

As one of the nib manufacturers, G Ramaswamy, who has been in the business since 1962 says: ‘Not only did the business take a nosedive; the government too stopped subsidising the raw material (steel) required. We are now selling nibs at a wholesale rate of 25-30 paise to the upcountry market and our margins are not more than 5 paise per deal. On a daily basis, if 10 people work a maximum of 7000 nibs only can be produced. This is not enough to pay wages and other overheads. So, many labourers have migrated to other jobs of late’ he adds.

There are optimists still who say that a conventional pen with a steel nib is a better alternative to the ones in the market. All it requires is that the government should understand our difficulties and help us by resuming the subsidies to enable us take another shy at the changing market, they add. Till then, their fates will clearly be re-written by other forms of pen manufacturers for sure!

By K Naresh Kumar