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Steeped in art

Treasure trove The vast collection inspires Krishna Rao to treasure knowledge for posterity

The room at the back of the house smells clean. And smells of his child-like fascination for stamps and coins.

Hoary coins weigh with history; images of great dynasties, eventful incidents, portrayals of daily life gleam in the shafts of sunlight that trickle into the room through the window. Stamps of variegated designs and colours almost hurt the eyes. Stacks of first editions of magazines, some defunct, some living, live on the shelves, pampered and caressed often.

Stuff, a lot of it, happens here. Love of collecting coins, stamps is the obverse and reverse of A.V. Krishna Rao’s life.

“I developed this hobby for mental happiness,” says the 74-year-old man with a cheery countenance and a toothy smile. Living in Tundurru near Bhimavaram in West Godavari district, the man is happy taking good care of his stuff. Give him and his collection a little time, you begin to sense he has found lasting joy this side of heaven.

“A thing of art is joy forever,” he says riffing on John Keats. After intermediate, he opted for farming and has been collecting these artefacts since 1950. “Through these, you learn about art, history, heritage, general knowledge, about great personalities and events. It is done out of sheer curiosity.”

The treasure is in three categories: coins, stamps and first editions of magazines. Notable among the coins are the coins of Akbar of the Mughal rule, East India Company, Portuguese, Hyderabad state, Travancore, Geikwad kingdom, George the 5th, Queen Victoria, Maratha kingdom, Kushanas and Krishna Raja Wudayar. Coins from 1957 April, when India adopted the decimal system and many coins from foreign countries stack up in this. American states’ special coins also find place in the list.

Among stamps he has 1947 Jai Hind stamps, released on the occasion of Independence. The collection includes a great variety of Indian and foreign stamps, special card covers, first day covers, army covers and first flight covers.

The magazines, though many of them closed shop, provide wealth of information about the tastes of readers. Besides, he has currency notes of different nations opening window to their respective lifestyles through the images printed on them.

Being a compulsive organizer and curator, he provides short notes on many items of the collection. He has arranged a series of coins and stamps together for their compatibility in design. Another series depicts a different theme. “It also pleases the eye,” he says.

The rhythm of rural lifestyle has fostered his natural flair. In the mornings, he reads magazines and newspapers, looking for what G.P.O is releasing, what coins are sold and where, and how to get them. In the afternoons, he goes to fields, and pores over the design details of stamps and coins, making notes, referencing and cross-referencing things. It eventually spruces up the collection.

For a man sitting in dusty outback of a place, the way he sources these things is simply amazing and feels a bit esoteric: friend’s relative’s daughter’s son’s friend working in a country not yet fallen off the globe till this morning, you get the idea, right. And he says: “I don’t think about the cost. Moreover, art is an expression of divinity.”

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