A tale of cities

Unique hobbies

For Annapoorna Ravichander, collecting little magnets started as a pastime. She picked up these souvenirs from the places she has been to, while some were gifted by her family and friends . This passion for magnets bloomed as her collection also grew, from just a few to more than 200 distinct pieces.

Annapoorna, who is the head of communication and policy engagement with the Centre for Study of Science, Technology and Policy, says that her collection varies in design and is from places like Turkey, Nepal, China, UK, Pakistan, USA, Canada, Thailand, Dubai, Malaysia, Singapore, Scotland, Hungary and France.

    “My collection consists of some beautiful pieces from ‘Soul Sante’ too,” she says.  She also has magnets with

images of beaches on them from Goa. There are also some from Mysuru. Annapoorna says that each magnet has a tale or fact associated with it, and she loves this uniqueness about her collection.

Ask her about her favourite ones and she proudly lists, “Though all of them are like my own babies, some are very close to my heart. There’s one from Sri Lanka, which a hearing-impaired father and daughter pair had made. It is simple in its look. My namesake magnet of ‘Mount Annapurna’ from Nepal is very special to me,” she says.

Another one, which is a replica of a bottle of water  from Thailand is an all-time favourite.
   “When people come home and say that they are thirsty, I playfully offer them that,” she says. Magnets from Brighton, Stonehenge etc are also some of the highlights of her collection. “There’s also a Vespa scooter magnet which is dear to me,” she says.

Annapoorna also picks up magnets from a shop behind Safina Plaza, in the City. “There are some nice framed ones from there.”

     She vouches that the creativity on the magnets is a tale in itself. Most of the magnets she possesses are 3D or embossed.

   “There are many which are like these, especially the one which has a polar bear on it. There’s another one which looks like there are many fish floating around,” she says.

Her collection has varied themes. “While some are nice images others are good-luck charms; there are some which are important monuments and buildings like Burj Khalifa, while there are others that showcase the tribal culture of a place,” she elaborates.

    Ranging from a figurine of the Buddha to an elephant, the collection has it all. Of the unique pieces, one is special and is gifted by her friend. It is a replica of an Elvis Presley guitar and disc.

“There are some which are made of waste materials, like the one I bought at the ‘Soul Sante’. It has a witch’s broom and cap,” she adds. Her latest passion is collecting magnets in the shape of animals.

Since she has a big collection, she displays it on magnet panels in a corridor at home. “I used to stick them on the refrigerator earlier, but my husband jokingly warned me that the door would fall off one day. When my passion grew, I decided that I needed to get a dedicated and permanent space for them,” she said.

Annapoorna says that her initial idea was to put the world map on the walls and arrange magnets accordingly. “But it didn’t work out. So I got different panels,” she says.  Ask her how she keeps her collection safe and clean and she says, “I make it a point to clean them myself, one by one. They are dear to me and I’m solely responsible
for them.”