BENGALURU: You may have heard of stamp or coin collector or met couples who collect antiques to deck their halls, but how often do you come across someone who collects knives as a hobby.
Karthy Prasanna collects knives from different parts of the world. The tool, that the cave man invented to hunt, became Prasanna’s fascination at 10.
“I started collecting knives when I was a kid. I was passionate about weapons, but my mother threw the knives away when she found them,” says the 29-year-old.
He restarted collecting knives in 2012.
He would collect knives as he travelled across the country.
As his appetite to collect knives grew, he started writing e-mails to various knife manufacturers and distributors from Germany, US and Thailand. Two years down the line he started importing knives from differnt parts of the globe.
The knife collector has over 200 knives at his home now. He has spent around `5 lakh on buying these knives and has a varied collection of knives ranging from `2,000 to `25,000.
His collection comprises, nepalese knife used by the royal Gurkhas, Kukri - a knife imported from Japan, which is a short sword which opens like a butterfly and a zero tolerance Emerson 0620CF folding knife worth `25,000 which he claims is the costliest one in his collection.
The biggest knife in his collection is a Nepalese knife used to sacrifice buffaloes, which is a little over a foot long, while the smallest is just a few inches in length.
He is eager to add ‘Peechekathi’, a sword used by Kodavas (people of coorg) to his collection.”I am unable to get Peechakathi as it is a traditional knife and is given only to a family member, I am even ready to get adopted by a Kodava family, in return for the knife,” he says.
Prasanna has specially designed a four-feet cupboard to store the knives in his house and has merely shown his collection to anybody. Apart from collecting knives, Prasanna goes trekking,and also is an elementary-level paraglider. He spends most of his earnings on buying knives.
He takes pride in a special knife from Thailand in his collection - the Karampit. The knife is used in martial arts practices in Thailand and is designed in the form of an eagle’s claw, he informs.