Prized signatures

What began in the late 1960s with an autograph of General K M Cariappa,has now resulted in a massive collection of 5,500 autographs signed by legends from across the world. His priceless possessions are housed at his Thane residence and his museum in Dombivali.

“I have been collecting these autographs for the past 43 years. I took the first autograph — of General Cariappa — in 1969,when I was in class VII. But sadly,I lost it and I still regret it,as I could not manage to get his autograph again. From then onwards,I decided to create a collection of autographs. During my college days,I had received a prize from cricketer Ajit Wadekar. I took his autograph,and then,there was no looking back,” he says.

Chaphekar,who lives in Thane with his wife Neelima,son Karan and father L.S Chaphekar,has enjoyed a memorable professional career as a teacher and a graphologist. The twists and turns of his life have been chronicled through a collection of autographs from politicians,athletes,celebrities and just about anyone else he’s encountered whom he deems interesting.

He says he built his collection after waiting for hours to get the autographs of famous people. He recollects the challenging task of getting the autograph of actor Richard Gere when the actor had come to Mumbai for an AIDS awareness campaign.

“Gere was supposed to visit a red light area near Grant Road for his campaign along with actress Shabana Azmi. However,due to security reasons,he did not get off his car and left the area. Then I followed him till Oberoi Hotel at Nariman point and as soon as he got off his car,I handed over a letter to him that had my address and a request to send his autograph. Gere sent me his autographed photo in five days.”

Chaphekar has almost 150 autographs of ace Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar,40 autographs of Rahul Dravid and 25 autographs of Swedish tennis player Bjorn Borg. He sent 20 letters to Sir Donald Bradman on his birthdays,requesting him to send his autograph but to no avail. His patience paid off when he finally received Bradman’s autograph,and today it’s one of his most priced possessions.

It was his dream to start a museum of his collection of autographed cricket equipment. He,subsequently,started an autograph museum in Dombivali in 2002. “Today,I have more than 5,500 autographs from famous personalities,which includes 2,000 of sports personalities. Now I have stopped counting them. I would,however,continue to add to my collection.”

Chaphekar feels that with increasing security for celebrities and icons,getting an autograph has become very difficult. However,he says this will not curb his dedication to continue to pursue his love for autographs.