Philatelists, numismatics, pannapictagraphists — there is a term for every form of collector, be it stamps, coins or comic books. But what can we label Rajendra Kumar Rathi, whose collection of keychains lines an entire wall of his house? The owner of over 5,000 keychains began building his treasure trove in 1975 when a school excursion took him from his hometown of Bikaner to Gujarat. “We needed a bottle opener on the trip, and we came across a general store in Rajkot. The shopkeeper recommended that I buy one, which can also be used as a keychain. So, I bought one that looked like a Goldspot bottle. I also purchased 10-12 more keychains. But back then, I had no idea that it would lead to such a collection,” recounts Rajendra.
As years went on, more school and college excursions came by, 10 keychains became 50, then 100, at which point he decided to keep adding on to it. So many years, and work trips as a manager, later, he has managed to scavenge an impressive plethora of keychains in gold, silver, leather, wood, glass, and more that have left visitors to his house awestruck. This easy access and display of his proud bunch are only possible thanks to the support of his wife and children. “Earlier, I would store the keychains in a box. On my children’s recommendation, I bought some showcases with hooks on them to display the keychains. My wife, too, helped out with the categorisation and arrangement of the pieces. M family often gifts me keychains to add to the collection,” he gratefully admits.
Being ‘Aatmanirbhar’
After 30-odd years of buying keychains from various familiar stores around the country, Rajendra began dabbling in making them himself. “I learned about repairing keychains to maintain a few of them, and quickly realised that with a bit of hard work, I could be making some of my own. It has been 15 years. I take some pictures and items I like, a rakhi, for instance, and combine it to a metal, wooden or plastic piece,” he explains.
But what is it about such a simple product that caught someone’s fancy to this extent? Variety, for one, begins Rajendra. “Keychains are the one item where you have such a large variety available. If you collect something like brushes, you would hardly find 20-25 types, but I have over 100 pieces of silver keychains alone. Apart from this, it is also the availability and price. The silver keychains I spoke of were bought for as less as Rs 10 in those days and now, people tell me it would be around Rs 450 per piece,” he shares.
Another one in the bag
While his main priority lies with keychains, there is a slightly smaller (but no less impressive) collection of 3,000-plus Ganesha images of which he boasts. The interest began a few years ago when the trend of Diwali greeting cards flourished. “I noticed that we received so many cards with the face of Ganesha. He is the only God who is represented in so many different forms. So, I began collecting these,” he says. Now, people send images across to him; even friends of friends who hear of his collection. One person even sent him an entire book of Ganesha images!
Maybe someday, there will be a word for a lover of keychains, but for now, we’ll have to stick with ‘a passionate enthusiast’.