MR. PRESIDENT, AUTOGRAPH

Chinmoy Roy

Hi, how are you doing? I am Chinmoy Roy and I am a fashion designer. I stay in Gurugram.

I have been collecting autographs from 2017 and have a collection of 2500 autographs. Philography is one of the best things I do and I have to thank my father in law who introduced me to this fantastic hobby.

Autograph collection was running in his family for generations. Before asking me, he approached my wife to take it forward, but to no avail. He told me how his father had collected the autographs of legends like Mahatma Gandhi, Shri Subhash Chandra Bose, Shri Vallabh Bhai Patel, even Mother Teresa in person! Can you believe it?

As I got married in 2015, my father in law handed over the biggest family treasure to me, THE ENTIRE AUTOGRAPH COLLECTION! It was incredible to see this massive collection of handwritten signatures of such BIG NAMES in history, I was really captivated.

After I agreed to take the baton forward, my father in law would often ask me to meet certain celebrities stationed in different parts of Delhi. Although he stays in Lucknow, he was well versed with Delhi.

In July 2017, I put forward my first step in autograph collection. Can you guess what I did?

I wrote to the then President, Dr Pranab Mukherjee requesting for his autograph!

Trust me, no autograph collector starts his journey by approaching the President himself and hear me out, I wrote this letter in Bengali!

I knew that my letter after reaching the President’s office would first be read by his assistants who may not understand Bengali. In that case, the letter would straight away reach the president’s desk. Smart move, isn’t it?

I mentioned in the letter that I had purchased a book written by him called The Dramatic Decade and I would be honored if he could sign it for me. I posted the letter but I also understood that I had written to one of the busiest men in the country. It was reasonable to not expect a reply.

After a month I got a call in the evening.

 

“Hello Chinmoy speaking…”

“good evening Mr Chinmoy, this is a call from the President’s office.”

“Oh……yes yes!”

“You had requested for the autograph of Dr Pranab.”

“Yes yes I did!”

“You could collect the autograph in person. Dr Pranab would like to see you!”

 

My letter in Bengali had worked its magic. I had written to the President for an autograph, and here I was being invited to sit in front of him face to face! I started shaking from head to toe!

I immediately called my father in law and poured my heart out. He was ecstatic.

I was asked to see Dr Pranab at 11 am the next day.

I wanted to buy something for him, but what could it be? I looked through the internet and found out that he was an avid reader. So I bought the book - Reflections by Swami Vivekananda. I wrote a personal message for him in the book, got it gift wrapped and also purchased a bouquet for him.

I wore my lucky white formal shirt, black trousers, brown belt, trimmed my beard and reached the President’s office at 10:45 am.

After a thorough security check, I was directed to a room where Dr Pranab was sitting. He was writing something.

I entered the room nervous. I realized that in making all the arrangements to meet him, I somehow forgot to plan what I would talk to him about. I was so sure that I was going to look like an idiot now.

But nothing like that happened. He made the environment so comfortable that it didn’t seem like the first meeting at all.

 

“Tumi toh Gurgaon teh thako... ekhane ki kore ele?” (you stay in Gurgaon , how did u travel to the office).

“Sir ami Metro kore esechi (Sir I took the metro).

“Ekhon toh metro connectivity khub bhalo hoye geche Gurgaon theke. (now the metro connectivity has made things much simpler)

“Yes sir.”

“Tumi ekhane ki koro and kotin dhore acho?” (what is your profession and how long have you been here)

“Sir I am a fashion designer... Gurgaon teh ami 3 bochir dhore achi” (I am a fashion designer and I live in Gurgaon from last 3 years)

 

We must have spoken for about 10 minutes after which he suggested that a picture could be clicked. One of his assistants came to click a picture and Dr Pranab stood with me for this photo. I knew that he had trouble standing, but he made that effort for me! That is the reason this picture is so very close to my heart.

 

 

He signed my book with his special green pen that he used for autographs only.

I had gone to meet The President of India, Dr Pranab Mukherjee, but he turned out to be the approachable, adorable and lovable Pranab Da!

 

This article has been written by Pooja Gupta. 

She is a freelance writer, anchor and a former Radio Jockey. She hosts shows all across India and she writes everything from ads, articles, promos, short films, screenplays, dialogues, feature films and even web series. For work, she can be contacted on pooja.gupta2178@yahoo.com.