Krishna Ink Peacock Blue – God’s own hues from the master in God’s own country!

The search for excellence is an unending quest – one that has no place for complacency, no respite as it were, from the steady surge forward, even if to sit back, relax and soak in the glory of one’s creations. And who can be a better example of this passion for excellence, than Dr Sreekumar Neethu of Palakkad, Kerala?

Dr Sreekumar, for the uninitiated, is God’s own Country’s Ink maker divine. A medical professional by day, he is an ink maker by night – one who has been mixing up the shades of life since he was a child, though he stared commercially producing inks only in 2010. It will not be out of place to mention here that Dr Sreekumar is a disciple of the master pen-turner AC Ramachandran (ACR) of Calicut, who needs no introduction to the fountain pen aficionados. In fact, Dr Sreekumar’s hand turned fountain pens – pinnacles of traditional Indian craftsmanship – are so sought-after that at any point in time, there is a queue to acquire them! But that I guess, is another story.

Getting back to Dr Sreekumar and his inks, Krishna Inks started out of Dr Sreekumar’s fascination with colours – their characters, their shades and their sheen. Soon the trickle of orders had turned into a deluge and Krishna inks had started its meandering journey towards the estuary to keep its tryst with an inky eternity.

RC, Super-rich, Kot-Massi, Lyrebird – Dr Sreekumar’s creative juices had quickly taken the form of a river in full spate and not that the civilisations that has sprouted on her banks were complaining. In fact, it was Krishna ink’s periodic overflowing of the banks that nurtured their creativity with rich nutrients; her liquid ambrosia quenched their thirst; while for others, Krishna ink provided opportunities in trade and commerce.

I am not saying all these things in an effort to pen another pathetic panegyric. I am writing this because I firmly believe that in the last 10 years, what Dr Sreekumar and his Krishna inks has done for Indian inks is peerless. He has, single handed, not only provided us with one unique ink after the other, consistently at that, but has also firmly established Indian inks as a serious contender globally, where Krishna inks have curved out a distinct niche for itself in the shelves that matter.

The way the entire approach to marketing Krishna Inks has evolved – from the packaging, to the bottles they are housed in and finally to the narrative that is spun around each bottle, is shall we say, befitting to the inks themselves? Not many people know, and I feel it is our duty to acknowledge it here – this back room branding exercise is spearheaded by a young gun, fountain pen and ink aficionado, Aditya Bhanshali of the Pen World. Yes, he is the one who ensures the conversion, establishing the last mile connectivity between the maker and the lover. May his tribe increase.

I have with me the Peacock Blue from the Urban Series, the latest from Krishna inks. The cardboard shell that the bottle comes in, opens up like a Lotus, alluding to another eternal symbol of Indian mysticism, the printed image of Bharata Muni adding to the aura. The glass bottle is pristine in its elegance – a conical end tapering into a circular extreme which hints at the inclusive spread of the art form. The fact that the packet, which made its long journey, braving a thousand calamities including manhandling by callous couriers without a dent, is in itself praiseworthy. Little attention to details that have also made Krishna Inks reach the pinnacle that they have.

I will not write about the ink per se, for that may be construed as biased – a sworn lover of Krishna Inks that I am. But I will definitely say this – the ink is as bright as a peacock’s plume. Bright enough to ensure that it can pass its genes in a pure Darwinian play. To put it simply, if I were to propose to the love of my life tomorrow, I would trust the Peacock Blue from Krishna Inks to write my paeans in.

I will also not write about the ink, as I feel that a creation of such divine beauty deserves to be felt by all the senses of a lover of pen and inks, his or her mind unclouded by opinions inserted by us influencers.

It is raining incessantly outside. The sky is overcast with the lighting crowning the dark mane of the Goddess. Call it coincidence or divine ordain: the weather is just the backdrop that the peacock needs to break into its ecstatic dance of creation.

I have my Whirling Dervesh , Krishna Ink’s Peacock Blue in my hand. What are you waiting for?

For more information contact: https://thepenworld.com/