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Chennai is the capital of the state of TamilNadu in south India. Chennai has its share of traditional fountain pen shops. The most prominent among these is a famous shop called Gem and Co, which has been serving the needs of pen users for more than 80 years now. They are an exclusive writing instruments and ink shop. They have a house brand and it is called Gama. A variety of models under the Gama brand exist, most of which I have documented on the FPN. https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/70913-madras-pen-shops/ Google Cache of above. https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/70903-gama-pens/ Google cache of above https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/254169-the-gama-supreme/ Google Cache of above. I take this chance to document their new model called the Kuyil. Kuyil is the Tamil term for the Indian cuckoo bird. You will see shortly why Gem named the pen so. The pen is made out of matte black black hard rubber (ebonite) and is an ED filled pen. http://i991.photobucket.com/albums/af39/hari3171/GAMA/IMG_9383.jpg Kuyil compared to the famous ebonite Advocate pen made by the Deccan pen stores in Hyderabad(another famous pen store chain in the capital city of Hyderabad in the state of Andhra Pradesh in India). http://i991.photobucket.com/albums/af39/hari3171/GAMA/IMG_9384.jpg You can read more about the Advocate here: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/54946-the-advocate/ Cached Opened, the differences are plainly visible: http://i991.photobucket.com/albums/af39/hari3171/GAMA/IMG_9385.jpg The Kuyil is a traditional ED filled pen. The pen purchased by me came fitted with an IPG nib of acceptable quality. I am personally very happy with the impeccable fit and finish of the Kuyil, the cap threads on very smoothly, The threads have flat tops thus the threads feel very smooth in hand, the well made inner cap stops the cap closed very firmly, the clip is good too. The pen writes an acceptable line. Here are the measurements of my example, I think there might be some piece to piece variation being fully hand made, I just have one example to measure. capped: 150mm open(nib tip to barrel's end):137mm section length:18mm section diameter:12mm to 14mm taper posted:172mm cap diameter:17mm barrel diameter at the widest point:16mm 3 1/2 turns to uncap the pen. The cost is quite less as compared to the prices by Deccan for a similar quality. Deccan pioneered the brushed BHR Indian pen, but Gem have done a very superb subtle job with the pen. The pens were manufactured by Gem and Co. on the concept, design and close supervision provided by my pen purveyor in Chennai called ASAPENs. I could buy the pens directly from Gem through one of my several relatives in Chennai but I have been very impressed by the service provided by ASA so far. I have bought from them in the past and will continue to buy based on past experience. NAYY. I believe now ASA, in response to inquiries, also cater to foreign buyers. Usually when I review my Indian pens, I have no answer to how someone could buy them outside of India other than perhaps buy and resell them myself. Now I am glad that someone has taken up the effort to make the stuff available easily to the global audience. Here is their website in case anyone wants to check it out: http://asapens.in/eshop/index.php?route=common/home http://asapens.in/eshop/gama-custom-made-matte-black-fountain-pen-chennai Cheers! Hari

Below is a hand-written review of my newest acquisition. This is an ebonite pen from Gem and Co., Chennai, India, called Gama Kuyil, purchased from ASA pens, Chennai, India. [a copy of this review will be posted to fpensnme.blogspot.in]. Size comparison with Ranga Handmade Duofold and Jinhao (or Bulow) X450.

The gama kuyil is an ebonite pen from Gem and co. based from Chennai, India. The deccan ambassador and the gama kuyil. A minor diversion: Among the deccan pens I prefer the Deccan Advocate Sr. and Jr. models. My wife prefers the Deccan Bullet Sr. My wife trying out the Kuyil From left to right: Deccan Advocate, Deccan Ambassador, Gama Kuyil, Gama Acrylic Demonstrator, Gama Ebonite Jr. A note on the Indian Ebonite pens I own: Since these pens are hand-made and the quality control is not supreme the same model can vary in quality across pens. If one reads the above review it is clear that I am not satisfied with my Deccan Ambassador. The reason why I have openly expressed my distaste for the brand is because I used a Deccan Ambassador of another fellow pen collector and found similar issues while using it. I know of a few people who use Deccan pens who have a similar opinion and I thought I could voice it. I purchased other pens from the company before coming to the following conclusion (Please bear in mind these conclusions are from using the pens that I have encountered from Deccan and are entirely personal): The deccan pens are in general over-priced. I have no problem with the price if the quality is good. I bought a white deccan masterpiece and sold it to my friend because I hated the aerometric converter and because the nib was OK at best (I admit it looked pretty and that was the only reason he bought it off me). I have no problems with the Advocate pens. Although I still think the pens are over-priced. I don't use my deccan pens as much as, say, my Wality or my Gama pens. Whenever I give these pens a try I just end being disappointed. I prefer the Wality Jumbo to the Deccan Advocates (don't get me wrong the ebonite is nice to touch). Again, these are my personal experiences