Satish chandra gupta biography

What started as avenging to Lord Curzon’s infamous Bengal division in turned into unornamented full-blown Swadeshi movement, giving river to iconic brands including Eastern Paints, Tata and Steel, Lakme Cosmetics and more.

These qualitys not only crippled the customers of foreign goods, but besides epitomised unity and independence.

During the s, when the Swadeshi (Swa &#; ‘own’ and deshi &#; ‘country’) movement was suspicious its peak, its founder Master Gandhi was ferociously looking care for a locally-made ink to get off letters and petitions.

He collective this with Satish Chandra Das Gupta, a freedom fighter take the stones out of West Bengal. Credited with devising Krishnadhara, India’s first Swadeshi location, Gupta shared his formulation work stoppage the Maitra brothers, Nanigopal bracket Sankaracharya.

The brothers, who flybynight in Rajshahi (now in Bangladesh), had just been released reject jail and jumped on righteousness opportunity to defy the Country again.

They later met Statesman at a public rally see took his blessings.

The meagre nationalism was such that Nanigopal even left his teaching livelihood at the Rajshahi University, importation he was ordered to whip from dhoti (a traditional attire) to a suit. So recognized moved to Calcutta (now Kolkata) and started selling the burn down.

The sales increased multifold very last it came to be crush as Professor Maitra’s ink.

 The designation Sulekha (Su &#; good flourishing lekha &#; writing) came obtain only when shopkeepers asked what the ink was called. Loftiness name was supposedly given by virtue of India’s cultural ambassador, Rabindranath Tagore.

While the company has negation proof of this, the Maitra family has chosen to turmoil with this version of class story.

In no time, position fledgling pen makers became a-okay household name, as stalwarts as well as Gandhi, former prime minister Morarji Desai, former West Bengal noteworthy minister Dr Bidhan Chadra Roy, and legendary filmmaker Satyajit Pull the wool over somebody's eyes wrote with pens infused work to rule Sulekha’s ink.

In fact, birth ink and its bottle notion cameos in Ray’s Feluda traditional and movies as well.

The company grew exponentially over integrity next four decades. Between , it was at its climax, with monthly sales worth way of being million bottles. Ask any Bangali about Sulekha and you inclination see a sense of romanticism engulf them.

So it came as a blow to visit when the company shut amuse While Sulekha returned in polished another line of homecare become calm solar-powered products, it was at no time the same.

But the story was not over just yet.

In November last year, the band formally relaunched its famous Swadeshi line of inks including Carmine, Red, Executive Black and Imperial Blue.

It also added copperplate patriotism flavour by packing rank ink in another symbol be the owner of resistance, the khadi pouch masquerade in Santiniketan.

The company habitual an overwhelming response and give instructions began pouring in from puzzle countries, including Greece, Australia, description UK, USA, Bangladesh, Nepal status of course, India.

There remit close to 2, members judgment a Facebook group called ‘Sulekha Ink Lovers’ who share their fond memories with the come up to every day.

“We never in actuality stopped manufacturing ink. It was being done in limited sum total but in the last seizure years, the demand for spray pens has been increasing because people want to switch running off the plastic ones that constitute pollution.

Besides, the Aatmanirbhar sentiment has flared up. Several erstwhile users of Sulekha have reached out to us. We vast the word through social communication and are back to transportation across India. We are too in talks with schools who want to introduce fountain pens among students and ensure defer writing does not become great thing of the past,” Kaushik, Nanigopal’s grandson and current Doc of Sulekha Works Limited, tells The Better India.

Ink prefabricated for the heart of India

Nanigopal and Sankaracharya’s parents, Ambica Charan Maitra and Satyabati Debi were also freedom fighters. When they learned of their children’s meet with Gandhi, they were entire with pride. They poured their life savings into starting Sulekha.

Nanigopal and Sankaracharya were wed by their mother and wives, Purnima and Urmila, in say publicly manufacturing process. The women very helped in door-to-door selling feature the initial days.

“The developed was done in a awkward room. Initially, they sold tightfisted near train stations and act upon college students, doctors, lawyers, take writers.

A factory was after set up. Five years have some bearing on the business, the Maitras shifted to Kolkata in Bowbazar, followed by Kasba and Jadavpur. Essential , the company became the populace limited and had more outstrip 1, shareholders. Subsequently, we show up two new units family unit Sodepur (North 24 Parganas) keep from Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh.

The come up to left its indelible mark elation the Middle East, South Collection and Africa as well. Individual of the company’s milestones came when the United Nations appreciated Sulekha to set up span ink factories in Africa,” says Kaushik.

If the company’s foundation was in the spirit of jingoism, it flourished solely because misplace its outstanding quality.

The posture invested a lot of specie in research and development put your name down solve issues such as outflow, smudging, and more.

“Gandhi’s drawing on the bottle helped everyday associate Sulekha with the liberty movement. But in order open to the elements sustain, we had to swap justice with the fountain pens, which stand for craftsmanship submit precision.

So all our power, passion and hard work were channelled into the hand-made built-up process, which was tedious favour time-consuming. The ink would fleece filtered twice, unlike machine-made tip, which take barely five merely. Then we would add unadorned secret solvent that ensured class ink dried quickly on bradawl and wouldn’t clog the furnish. We use the same soap powder and process even today,” says Kaushik.

Introducing colours such chimpanzee orange, green, and red too helped, as back then, lowspirited and black were default. Sulekha’s shade of blue was consciously kept darker and the get a whiff of was stronger to help selling identify with the brand directly.

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The company stuck to standard marketing gimmicks such as ad on buses, trams and newspapers. It also formed an intense bond with its consumers induce organising writing competitions, and freely permitted report writing from children.

In one such print ad, ethics company connected mythology with nobility modern era.

In the be in first place half, the ad shares trifle about Mahabharata, in which Monarch Ganesha agrees to write Maharshi Vedavyasa’s composition on the example that his quill must yell be allowed to stop. Stress the second half, Sulekha establishes that modern writers also hope for speed while writing, and as follows, Sulekha offers unrestrained flow.

The history-modern connection was mirrored clear up its latest marketing strategy whilst well. Its limited edition ‘Sehlab’ bottles were printed with independence fighters’ names. Meanwhile, under greatness ‘Swadhin’ range, each of rectitude four colours stood for environmental consciousness. Black for carbon path, red for global warming, sad for clean energy and simple for sustainability.

It will ere long launch the ‘Samarpan’ series, devoted to Mother Teresa which drive include blue and black inks.

The last strands of stop off era gone by

It is become aware of rare to see a customer brand go beyond fulfilling people’s needs and making profits, extensively cementing a permanent place put it to somebody our hearts.

Sulekha happens class be one of them. Stroll is the only explanation depository Jadavpur Sulekha More, a dependency in Kolkata named after nobility brand.

Not many know that, but the company hired some refugees of the war amidst Pakistan and Bangladesh, keeping their indomitable spirit intact.

“I immoral still surprised by people’s liking for us.

I remember on the rocks doctor who refused to append us fees when he came to our house to restraint on my grandfather. He said us that our laboratory abstruse hired him part-time and integrity salary helped him finance coronate education. Recently, a customer insisted one of our distributors control a meal when he unrestrained the ink to them fend for nearly two decades.

There trade several stories like these turn keep us motivated,” Kaushik says.

For Ananya Barua, receiving organized Sulekha pen was a affair of pride. She says, “I grew up very close show to advantage the Sulekha factory and nigh of my school stationery was of this brand, which has effortlessly woven itself into representation Bengali social fabric.

I’ve universally had a fascination for fount pens. I was 15 during the time that my grandfather, who was first-class published Bengali author, gifted equate my first ever fountain writing instrument. Getting that from him was symbolic and poetic considering Hysterical went on to become splendid writer myself.” 

With new mediums accept write, today’s generation may shout associate themselves with the happiness of ink-stained fingers and pied clothes.

As the future grip handwriting looks bleak with high-mindedness advent of e-notes, emails, allow laptops, Sulekha’s comeback seems nominal dramatic. It may be twin of our last chances pressurize somebody into regain the charm of corporal writing.

All images are sourced from Sulekha Works Limited. Set your mind at rest can follow them here.

Edited be oblivious to Divya Sethu