MAIN CHHOTA HOON PAR MERA COLLECTION BADA HAI

Shrey Mehta

What if you had a collection of more than 4000 autographs at the age of 17? What if you already met the heart throb Salman Khan and he shared his phone number with you?

Meet Shrey Mehta, the youngest member of the Autograph Collectors Club of India. A resident of Rajkot Gujarat, Shrey has just completed his studies of Class 12^th from Commerce.

Shrey was introduced to philography at the tender age of 5 and now it has been 12 years. It was his father, Mr Pranav Mehta who introduced him to this fantastic hobby. Mr Pranav being an avid autograph collector himself, often took Shrey along with him to various cricket matches held in Rajkot. In 2009, after an India - Sri Lanka match, Mr Pranav and Shrey met the cricket legend Muralitharan.

This was Shrey’s first autograph. Imagine a tiny 5 year old asking Muralitharan for an autograph.

For the 17 year old Shrey, his age often plays an advantage when it comes to autograph collection. Famously known as Chhotu in the circuit of local autograph collectors, he often gets the autograph before others.

Shrey has over 4000 autographs. These include autographs of about 1800 cricketers, 500 other sports persons, 1000 bollywood celebs, 250 classical musicians and 1000 politicians, defence personnel, industrialists and others. His notable autographs are those of Pranab Mujherjee, APJ Abdul Kalam, Lata Mangeshkar, the Dalai Lama, Amitabh Bachcan and Ratan Tata.

Believe me, Shrey has an entire room dedicated to his collection.

 

When asked about his favorite autograph memory, he fondly recalls the time when he met Salman Khan.

The movie Prem Ratan Dhan Payo was being shot in Gondal, a village in Gujarat. Gondal is about 45 kms away from Rajkot. Shrey travelled a number of times to Gondal in the hope of meeting Salman, but to no avail. He was then spotted by Mr Anupam Kher who was staying at Rajkot for the shooting of this very film. It was Mr Anupam who finally made Shrey meet Salman. Shrey not only met his favorite star but also saw the shooting for next 4 days.

 

 

Shrey feels that philography is a fantastic hobby to pursue and one needs to have enough research done on the celebrity before approaching him for an autograph. Also, the paper used for the autograph should be durable and a permanent marker should be used.

This article has been written by Pooja Gupta.

She is a freelance writer, anchor and a former Radio Jockey. Currently working on a web series, she has also written many short films, screenplays, promos, articles, dialogues, promos and ads. She travels all across India for hosting shows. For work, she can be contacted on pooja.gupta2178@yahoo.com.