Fountain pen ink maker Sulekha has launched a collector's set to commemorate 150 years of India's national song, Vande Mataram. The set includes vintage items and a booklet detailing the song's history. Priced at ₹20,000, it was introduced at the International Kolkata Book Fair.
Sulekha Works Limited, a revived Indian ink brand, has issued a special collector's set marking the 150th anniversary of Vande Mataram, the national song composed by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay. The limited-edition package, housed in a khadi cloth box, contains an ebonite pen holder, a wooden pen rest, a vintage F.N. Gooptu nib over 100 years old, two bottles of custom Sulekha ink, a brass logo from the Khadi Pratisthan in Sodepur, and an illustrated booklet with historical facts.
The booklet notes that the original tune was composed by Jadunath Bhattacharyya of Bhatpara, blending Raag Mallar and Taal Qawwali, a Sufi music tradition. It states: “The music was scored by Jadunath Bhattacharyya of Bhatpara. The original tune was based on Raag Mallar and Taal Qawwali. Innumerable artists have rendered the song according to their own melodic interpretations since then.”
Vande Mataram gained prominence when Rabindranath Tagore sang it publicly at the 1896 Indian National Congress session in Calcutta, popularizing its first two stanzas as a Swadeshi anthem. It became a rallying cry during the 1905 Partition of Bengal protests and played a key role in the independence movement, eventually designated as the National Song.
Launched at this year's International Kolkata Book Fair, the set's ₹20,000 price reflects the rarity of its components, according to Kaushik Maitra, managing director of Sulekha. He explained: “The pack contains some vintage items which are no longer available and collecting them was very difficult. Each of the Gooptu nibs, for example, is over 100 years old. It’s a limited edition pack, and we believe that the price will not be a factor for real connoisseurs.”
Sulekha's origins trace to 1934, when brothers Sankaracharya and Nanigopal Maitra founded it in Rajshahi (now Bangladesh) on Mahatma Gandhi's advice to produce swadeshi ink. Relocating to Calcutta in 1939, it peaked at over one crore 60 ml bottles annually before closing in the 1980s due to trade union issues. Relaunched in November 2020, the brand has seen strong interest, especially among younger users of fountain pens. Maitra added: “The response has been overwhelming... We have been working on this tribute pack for more than a year. Being a Swadeshi entity, we felt it is our duty to participate in the celebration of our National Song. It is a humble tribute from Sulekha.”
