A visit to Robert Kennedy’s house in Kodambakkam is the closest most of us can get to time travel. This wormhole take you right back to the past, and freezes you where you want to stay.
The ticking, generated by hundreds of wall clocks, pendulum clocks, skeleton clocks, ship clocks, carriage clocks, and pocket watches and timepieces of every brand, fills the ears. At the stroke of six, most of them chime in unison, while a few join the chorus seconds later. As if that is not enough, Mr. Kennedy clanks an altar cross with a bell.
“The oldest clock in my possession is a 200-year-old handmade clock from England. I bought it from Mayiladuthurai,” says Mr. Kennedy, who has a collection of 280 wall clocks and over 1,300 timepieces. “You name any make and I have it,” boasts Mr. Kennedy, a native of Kanyakumari district, who seems to have inherited the passion from his grandfather, Michael Nadar.
He had brought an American-made Ansonia pendulum clock from Sri Lanka, and as a child, Kennedy’s day would begin with winding the clock under his grandfather’s guidance. “My grandfather was particular that I should inherit the clock. I never realised that the love of clocks will assume gigantic proportions,” he says.
He has converted one of his flats into a museum of clocks. He also has a good collection of lanterns, coffee grinders, metal water bags and even a 125-year-old weighing machine that works perfectly even now.
Mr. Kennedy is convinced that none could match the Germans when it came to clock-making technology. He has a skeleton clock, with a key hanging from it. The key is much heavier than the clock itself. “This shows their technological smartness,” he says, displaying three German-made birthday clocks.
Showing off his three ship clocks, he explains that since a slight change in position could bring the ticking of a wall clock to a halt, a specially-designed clock was made for ships.
Mr Kennedy’s collection also throws light on clock merchants of Chennai as they had ordered clocks with their name on the dial. Today, his collection and effort can bring him a prize which is incalculable. But, he spends Rs. 5,000 a month on the clocks’ maintenance and forgoes the rent the flat may fetch if was let out. “I cannot bring myself to sell them. My heart will stop if the ticking of the clocks stops,” he says, laughing.
