The 42-year- old Abuthahir M.A. has collected the radios from Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and West Bengal. “Earlier I used to ask the older people about the history of these radios. Now the information is easily available from the internet.”
His most expensive acquisition is a Gerard’s Philips Radio (1956 model). “It weighs 70 kg and was for sale at a house in Namakkal in 1999. Just as I reached there, I found another man carrying it away in an auto! I was sad but my search for a similar radio continued and, nearly a year later, I found one at Thoothukudi. I bought it for Rs. 16000,” recalls Abuthahir.