Name: Sachindra Mohan Gupta (picture left by Bishwarup Dutta)

Claim to fame: Owner of Papyrus, one of the oldest handmade paper manufacturers in Calcutta. “Paper can be made from any fibrous product. But the paper made from wood or bamboo pulp tend to be weak. Hand-made paper is different. It is mostly made from hosiery scrap,” says Gupta.

Sheaves of paper of varying thickness, texture and colour occupy the shelves behind his chair. His desk is cluttered with interesting paper bric a brac. In a corner is a matchbox-size box made of bright blue paper. “That’s a coin purse. People can gift coins in it during Diwali,” he says. He pulls out another sheet of paper, which feels and looks like plywood. It is made with water hyacinth leaves. Beautifully textured hand-made paper, some in bright colours with a batik finish, filter paper, blotting paper, drawing paper, writing paper, thick paper with gold leaf embossed — the variety available is mind-boggling.

First brush: Gupta trained in Handmade Paper Research Institute in Pune in ’61 and followed it up with a correspondence course from City and Guilds Institute, London. A chemistry honours graduate from Narasinha Dutt College, he cleared the UPSC exams and was posted as a sub-jailer in Presidency jail.

“I hated the atmosphere. When I came to know of the training opportunity in Pune I jumped.” His love story with hand-made paper started. “The institute had a massive collection of books on paper-making technology. I kept reading,” he says. A brief stint as a manager in the hand-made paper factory for Abhoy Asram in Birati taught him that there was demand for hand-made paper. He formed Papyrus soon after in 1965.

Tough choice: “It wasn’t easy. I went from factory to factory where I taught them to develop a certain kind of paper. I collected those and went to paper traders to stock those products,” he smiles. He paid for everything from his own pocket. But hard work paid off. A special drawing paper could only be imported from UK. It used to cost Rs 1,500 per ream (500 sheets). “I helped produce it here and then convinced a trader to stock it at Rs 5,000 per ream. It worked. Good quality shows.”

“These days there are just people who have learnt the craft of paper-making and not the technology. Unless you learn about how the entire process works, you cannot develop new varieties,” he rues.