KOCHI: Pens fascinate him even if they are used ones. So he began to collect them irrespective of their variety and brands.
V T Jolly, 46, a native of Ernakulam, has a collection of 10,000 of them and has succeeded in getting his name approved for the Limca Book of Records.
“When I applied for the Limca Records, I had only 5,700 pens of 2,000 varieties,” Jolly said. He might be familiar to at least some among you. In September 2009, when ‘expresso’ did a story on Jolly’s craze for pens, he was glad that more people would come to know about his hobby and hopefully would contribute to his collection. He didn’t have any dreams beyond that. But each day the number of his pens grew.
Now, he has applied for getting his name listed in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Jolly started collecting used pens five years ago.
Now he has pens from different countries in his collection.
He is very enthusiastic when he shows his collection of fancy pens in different shapes, colours and size from the US, Paris, Germany, Japan and China, the smallest being the length of a little finger. When asked about his favourite pen, he proudly displays the pen bought for him from Israel by Pastor Damien of Pathadippalam, Ernakulam.
Pens with Biblical messages, small calendars, perfume bottles and cigarette lighters are some among the fancy pens in Jolly’s collection.
A painter by profession, Jolly cannot afford to buy costly pens.
But when people came to know about his fad for pens they began to gift him pens, not to mention his neighbours and friends.
Now, he has 3,100 varieties of 10,000 pens neatly treasured in cardboard boxes. He has categorised them as ball pens, parkers, fancy pens and so on. He has also classified them based on t h e i r colours.
During the last Onam celebrations, Jolly made a carpet with his pens, instead of the traditional flower carpet.
“This time, during Onam, I wish to exhibit my pen collection.
But it would cost a lot. I can’t afford it right now,” Jolly said.
Jolly is looking forward to collecting more pens of different hues. Jolly can be contacted at 09544853003.
kochi@expressbuzz.com