I ndependent journalist and former editor of several Kannada newspapers, Ishwar Daitota has the most unusual hobby.
He collects pens. The scribe's personal collection numbers a whopping 18,000.
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It just grew into a passion for collecting them. And before I knew it, I had collected 18,000 of them from 56 countries.
I still spend around Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 30,000 on buying pens every year.
As for writing, I do not use any of the pens in my collection!
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My collection comprises every kind
From those made of biodegradable paper mache to waterproof ones that can be used in space and write without gravity, they all find a place. I have a fountain pen that is just 3-cm-long, and I have a custom-made pen of 168 cm, which is my height.
One of my most prized pens
… is one given to me by an Aboriginal child in Australia where I had spent some time working with a community newspaper.
I presented him a sandalwood pen and in return he fashioned a lovely pen carved out of wood in the shape of a crocodile. Another one that deserves mention is an antique 200-year-old style from a Rajasthani royal family.
My collection inspires quite some curiosity
People often ask to come in and have a look. I have to remind them that this is my personal collection, in my house, and not for public display!
I would like to start a museum
I do not have the resources to do so now, but I would like to have a museum for pens one day.
There is a museum of pens in London… I don't see why we shouldn't have one here.
Pens have got to be the perfect invention of humankind — the principle on which they work has remained by and large the same. From the day they were invented, they have been used the same way — between the forefinger and thumb.
Pens will never go out of fashion.
Bill Gates once said he looked forward to a world without pen and paper. But the keyboard can never replace the good old pen!