His interest in matchboxes started as a 15-year-old when his father, a chain smoker, brought home different varieties.
In the next 22 years, Arvind Kumar Pai’s collection of matchboxes and labels has grown by over one lakh featuring some 20,000 varieties. More than 70% of the collection was amassed from roadsides, public places and so on during his extensive travels across India.
“My father Muraleedhara Babu was a gentleman but used to smoke 40 cigarettes a day. It could have created a negative impact on me. Fortunately, I was never influenced by his bad habit and rather began stocking matchboxes discarded by him. The hobby got a real shot in the arm when I moved to Chennai for work in 2006. I used to go to local tea shops during night shifts where matchboxes were ubiquitous,” says Mr. Pai from Cherthala who is a government school teacher.
