ALAPPUZHA: Arvind Kumar Pai travels the length and breadth of the country to keep alive the ‘fire’ of the hobbyist in him. Matchboxes are his speciality, and the school teacher from Cherthala has made it around 20 states in 20 years and collected over one lakh labels.
The 37-year-old phillumenist – as a person who collects match-related items is called – walked the nearly 20km route from Rameswaram to Dhanushkodi to gather labels, an effort that yielded nearly 340. He also has a good collection of stamps, coins, one-rupee notes and others items.
“I turned a hobbyist during my school days,” recounts Arvind. “My father Muraleedhara Babu was a chain smoker who used to bring home colourful matchboxes. I preserved many of them. But my quest for matchbox labels received a boost when my father started working for a multinational company in Chennai. I have travelled to 20 states as part of my quest. Most of my labels were collected from Tamil Nadu. I have made nearly 60 trips to various districts of the state, because of its flourishing matchbox industry. I also collected matchboxes from Malaysia during a tour of the country. I have procured labels from African countries and Switzerland through my friends,” he adds.
To make his collection unique, Arvind has successfully put together one-rupee notes with serial numbers that match the date of birth of representatives of the current state assembly. At over a lakh, his collection of one-rupee notes is believed to be one of the largest. Arvind has also gathered more than 2.5 lakh stamps.
“During travels, I use public transport or trains to manage my expenses. I walk the streets, which helps me land very unique and interesting labels. Most of my labels were picked up from roadsides,” says Arvind, an English teacher at the Government UP School.
The images depicted on the labels range from household items, flags, animals, birds, freedom fighters, sports, movie stars and many others. Everything that moves in India finds a place on matchboxes, he says. “Indian culture, art and lifestyle are represented on matchbox labels,” adds Arvind, whose wife, Jyothy Lekshmy, supports his endeavours. The couple have a daughter, Siddhi.