Rare artefacts’ expo binds people in common thread

Nagpur: Raman Science Centre (RSC) was literally humming with activity as collectors of artefacts that have great cultural, social and heritage value exchanged views on their common hobby and showed keen interest in each others’ prized possessions on Friday.
It was a rare sight as a collector, as young as a 3.5 years old, was rubbing shoulders with the elder ones out of curiosity to know more about the artefacts which are not easily seen, on the opening day of the three-day exhibition ‘Collections make Connections’, organized by RSC to mark International Museum Day. The exhibition will conclude on Sunday.
Dilip Dahake has put on display autographed photographs of nearly 2,500 celebrities. Prominent among them are of legendary singer Asha Bhosle, superstar Amitabh Bachchan, batting legend Sachin Tendulkar and dashing West Indies batsman Chris Gayle.
Anita Sudhakar Sardey has 330 types of Indian soils and shell.
Sudhakar Sonar has a rich collection of stamps and postcards. One of the rare among these is the first postcard of the East India Company that was released in 1879.
Little master Ojas Tandulkar has in his kitty a collection of impressive miniatures of 50 vintage and sports cars.
About 20-25 members of Chhand Vaibhav group, who come from different professions, have exhibited their collections. Belonging to different age groups, including Ojas, does not matter as they are bound by the common hobby of collecting items on a wide range of subjects.
Every collector has a tale to tell about how they got into collecting rare artefacts. Jayant Tandulkar, a government employee, makes wooden miniatures of the bygone era. He said he grew up in a rural area and his items depict the ones he used when he was small. Even the tech-savvy generation is attracted towards these miniatures, he added.
Dr Gupta has an impressive melange of antiquities most of which he acquired from Shanichara Market, often referred to as chor or kabadi bazar.
Also on display are an interesting matchbox collection, gramophone records, intricate soap carving articles and Indian Air Force base stamps.
Earlier, the exhibition was inaugurated by Preeti Trivedi, head of the department of culture and archaeology of Nagpur University and Vijayshankar Sharma, project coordinator of Raman Science Centre, by lighting a traditional lamp. Abhimanyu Belave, education officer of RSC, felicitated the guests.
In her address, Trivedi said, “Artefact collectors are protectors of anthropological evolution of man. These collectors have helped understand our culture, history and heritage. Hence, collections make connections.”
Sharma said, “The knack for collecting objects is special as most people tend to give away old objects which serve no active purpose to junk dealers. For institutions, it’s relatively easier to preserve and store artefacts given the available facilities, but at a personal level, it requires a lot of patience, time and effort to maintain artefacts.”
(Reporting by Sanjali Chandak)