NEW DELHI:In an increasingly digital world, Ram Singh Bouddh remains committed to radio for entertainment and news, always carrying a pocket set — one of 1,400 in his collection that has recently won him international fame.
A retired supervisor at Warehouse Corp. of India, Bouddh has been collecting various items for the past few decades, but it was radios that eventually won and took over his home in Gajraula in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.
He now has the largest collection of radios in the world and last week received certification from the Guinness World Records.
Although Bouddh’s collection consists of 1,400 radios, the guidelines required that each be unique, so the official number is 1,257.
“The process started in December last year and the Guinness World Records verified each model and found 1,257 of them unique and after a long rigorous process, they announced my name,” the 69-year-old told Arab News.
“It gave me immense pleasure to get my name registered.”
Plans to establish India’s first radio museum emerged when Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned the collection in his monthly radio program “Mann Ki Baat” in November last year.
“That gave me lots of encouragement,” Bouddh said. “There is one radio museum in Britain ... and besides that, there is no other.”
The British Vintage Wireless and Television Museum he referred to was established by Gerry Wells at his home in West Dulwich in the 1970s and has 1,300 wireless receivers on show.
Bouddh’s collection is already bigger, with the oldest radio being a 1920 model from Marconi, a British company founded by Italian engineer Guglielmo Marconi — the inventor of radio and a pioneer of mass media broadcasting.
He also has US military models from the 1930s and other vintage sets he bought or received from across India.
“Most of the radios are in working condition,” he said. “I keep them in two big rooms in the school that I run near my house. My family supports me. My wife and two daughters help me in the pursuit of my passion.”
The family’s efforts are now focused on gathering enough funds to open a proper display.
“Radio has been an important part of human life. TV and mobile are the byproducts of radio. Radio has played an important role in our life ... Hope the Indian government helps me in setting up the country’s first radio museum,” Bouddh said.
“My museum is for future generations, and I want them to know that there was this wonderful medium of communication, which once was part of everybody’s life.”
