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The Mush Register

Easwar Kumar of Easwara Screens with wife Jyothi.

Eswar

We met as kids when her family came to Chennai in 1997 on a short break. She was impressed with my collection of old coins. We met again in 2004 when my miniature books made using screen-printing technology — a 271-page Thirukural (1.9 x 1.5 cm) and its smaller English translation (271 pages, 1.8 x 1.4 cm, a 144-page book on Mahatma Gandhi (1 sq. cm) and a smaller version of the same book (5 sq. mm) — were on display at the Salar Jung Museum in Hyderabad. I stayed at her house in Yousufguda. She said I should aim to print the smallest book in the world. She was the impelling force behind the 16-page animal book (1 sq. mm) that I printed last year. Right now, she is busy scouring the libraries for information on 12 legendary personalities, each of whom would be featured in a miniature book. When I had gone to Hyderabad, I discovered that we shared a fascination for old coins.

Jyothi

He was pleased when I told him I started my coin collection in 1997 inspired by his example. During his brief stay, he followed the daily `ritual' of untying a red pouch and pouring out antique coins that belonged to Mughal and Deccan sultans of the 16th and 17th Centuries, and meticulously inspecting them, one after the other. One day, he thought aloud, "I would do anything to own this collection." When he got back to Chennai, he proposed to me over the phone. After I accepted his proposal, he brought up the topic of `dowry'. He said the red pouch with its antique coins was all that he wanted.

(AS TOLD TO PRINCE FREDERICK)

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