A ‘rare’ passion

A 78-year-old farmer,Rabi has also trained his older son on how to preserve specimens so that they could carry on this legacy. Although he lives in a thatched house,Rabi keeps his collection of rare specimens in one of his friends’ house to keep it safe.

Till now he has collected around 1,500 specimens of rare items. Former police commissioner Goutam Mohan Chakrabarti had awarded him a certificate for his outstanding collection of rare specimens of various archaeological items. Apart from coins and gems,Halder also has in his collection fossils of anaconda snakes as well as rare teeth of elephants and horns of deer.

“When I left school after class V,I used to go out of my house in the morning and roam about in the nearby villages. After low tide,I used to stay near the river bed and often while digging I found copper coins of the Mughal period,which I kept in my box,” he said.

“Once I went to Tamluk and after excavating deep into Rupnarayan river,I found some coins from the Ramyana period. I have informed the Indian Museum authorities as well as Archaeological Survey of India that I have preserved rare coins,gems and fossils worth Rs 84 crore in my jurisdiction,and that I want to sell those items at Rs 10 crore. Since the items are so costly,nobody is eager to pay such a price,”he added.

“I have been collecting these rare specimens since the age of seven. Now,even if I get a low price for them,I still want to sell them so that people get to see items of such historical importance. Directors of Indian Museum as well as Archaeological Survey of India have visited my place and seen my collection in the past and also assured me of help,but I haven’t heard from them after they went.”

“A month back I met the new director of Indian Museum authority and he assured me that he will help me in selling the antique pieces from the collection,but he too never answered again,Rabi says.