Orthopaedic surgeon Biswanath Banerji?s profession usually involves scalpels and operating knives, but during his time off he leaves the surgical equipment for pens. Boasting of a 13,000-strong collection that includes brands like Sheppher, Parker, Pelican, Black Bird, Swan, Monte Blanc and Rotax, Banerji?s affair with writing devices started in 1957 when he was in school.

His father got him a fountain pen and the gift aroused an interest that laer developed into a passion. His curiosity to know more about their mechanism, history and other trivia has prompted him to do a lot of research.

?Earlier, feathers dipped in ink were used for writing. After the invention of fountain pen in 1935 by Waterman, there was a revolution in writing. All pens, I believe, say a stopry of their past, its specific period. Each mechanism is there for a specific purpose. During World War II, pens, as a rule, were thicker so that they could store more ink as carrying inkpots to war was not possible,? he says.

The doctor?s collection has pens from more than 56 countries, including Germany, Japan, USA, Italy, China and Bangladesh. ?My most precious possession happens to be a gold pen that costs Rs 40,000 in the market. A German glass pen is also dear to me, as are the sandalwood, rosewood and marble pens that I have collected over the years,? he says.

Banerji takes time from his busy schedule and cleans his coveted collection. ?It is very difficult to maintain these pens. All of them are in working condition and that calls for a full-time maintenance schedule. I have created a small fixing-kit for emergencies. It contains pliers, forceps, wire, file and a hammer. I often become an engineer for my pens. Once I even made a new nib out of metal because the specific size I wanted was not available in the market,? he beams.

Storing these pens safely is another tedious task. Banerji is so paranoid about his precious pens getting stolen that he refuses to let them out of sight. He feels torn between the desire to show off his collection and the fear of losing it. ?I have devoted an almirah for keeping pens and their spare parts. In the past, quite a few beautiful pens have vanished when I exhibited them. Now I take every precaution,? he says.

?During my elder sister?s marriage, I had lost more than 200 pens and at that time I was in class VIII. Naturally, I was heartbroken. Losing even a single pen from the collection means a waste of all the hard work and years of patient care. Though I was saddened, I chose not to reveal my feelings to the rest of the world and continued with my collection,? says Banerji.

Another thing which has caught his fancy is soil. Banerjee, for sometime now, has been collecting soil from various parts of the country. He has so far added 200 samples to his list and plans to visit various holy shrines and important places to take this new hobby forward. He has visited the birth places of Subhash Chandra Bose, Jawaharlal Nehru, Pandit Ravi Shankar and Ram Krishna Parmahans. Banerji plans to make an idol of Mother India with his soil collection by the year 2010.

With samples of earth from places like the Amritsar, Sirdi, Kedarnath and Badrinath his new hobby, too, is set to take him places.

Abhijeet Mukherjee