Montblanc's $24,600 pen honors Gandhi

LONDON, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- Critics of a $24,600 Montblanc pen marking Mahatma Gandhi's 140 birthday Saturday say he would have been disgusted by its opulence.

"If he had seen this, he would have thrown it away. I cannot imagine why anybody has done this," said Amit Modi, secretary of the Sabarmati Ashram, where Gandhi was a resident.

Just 241 of the pens were made to commemorate the number of miles Gandhi walked in his famous 1930 march protesting salt taxes levied by the British, the Guardian reported Saturday.

The pen features an engraving of Gandhi, a rhodium nib and a saffron-colored opal. It comes with a 26-foot golden thread that can be wrapped around the pen as a reminder of the spindle Gandhi used.

The pen, aimed at the expanding Indian market for luxury goods, is not at odds with the ascetic beliefs of Gandhi, Montblanc spokesman Oliver Goessler said.

"It's not an opulent pen," Goessler said. "It's a writing instrument that's very pure."